BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Gonzalez, Huntington Beach Hold Off Servite to Win, 54-46

It wasn’t pretty, but Huntington Beach, led by Tony Gonzalez’s 18 points and 13 rebounds, had enough firepower to hold off Servite for a 54-46 Sunset League victory Saturday night at Huntington Beach High.

The teams were tied at halftime, but Huntington Beach outscored Servite, 12-2, over a 6-minute, 9-second span in the second half to open a 44-34 lead. The Oilers then made nine of 10 free throws in the final two minutes to ice the victory.

Huntington Beach (9-6, 3-0 in league) remained in first place with the victory. Servite falls to 9-5, 2-1, and had its seven-game winning streak broken.

“We didn’t get it done offensively tonight,” Servite Coach Scott Hamilton said. “Maybe we were just flat after winning two league games (last) week, I don’t know. Huntington Beach is a fine team, but we had some opportunities and didn’t execute.”

Servite shot 30% (13 of 43) from the field, and after David Downs, who had a team-high 19 points, scored on a drive to cut Huntington Beach’s lead to 35-34 with 1:56 remaining in the third quarter, the Friars went scoreless for the next 5:15.

During Servite’s scoring drought, Gonzalez fed Matt Jones, who had 10 points, for a layup to start a 9-0 run.

Clay Chilcott made a three-pointer and a 12-foot bank shot in the run, pushing Huntington Beach’s lead to 44-34 with 7:22 remaining.

Although Servite’s defense held Gonzalez, who made 10 of 12 free throws, to one second-half shot and 10 points in the final three quarters, the rest of the Oilers picked up the slack.

“Of course, most teams will focus on Tony,” Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller said. “But the other kids picked it up tonight and that’s what we needed.”

Jones had six points in the third quarter, when the Oilers outscored Servite, 18-10. Josh Holland had nine points and Matt Malmquist added seven.

Kristian Vallas had 15 points for Servite, but 6-foot-9 center Mark Seaton was limited to five points, making one of 10 shots.

In other Sunset League boys’ games:

Fountain Valley 42, Marina 36--Daniel Keller had 13 points for Fountain Valley (10-4, 2-1). Louis Worthy had 12 points for Marina.

Edison 74, Westminster 65--Micah Kroeger scored 22 points for Edison (8-4, 1-2). Mark Steele scored 13 points for Westminster (0-3 in league).

Ocean View 55, Santa Ana 46--Mike Carney scored 17 points to lead Ocean View (8-7, 3-0). Juan Corral had 18 points for Santa Ana (0-3 in league).

In nonleague boys’ basketball:

Liberty Christian 63, La Verne Lutheran 62--Dave Vacarro made two free throws with eight seconds left to put Liberty Christian (4-8) ahead by three, then blocked a three-pointer in the final seconds. Bob McClung had 27 points, including four three-pointers, for the Minutemen.

Sierra Madre Maranatha 91, Southern California Christian 73--Josh Cameron scored 38 points to lead SCC (3-9).