Ocean View Tops Bolsa Grande

There was snickering among coaches when the boys’ basketball playoff pairings were released. That’s when most found out that Ocean View, which had recently submitted new enrollment figures to the Southern Section, had been bumped into Division III-AA and had been awarded the top seeding.

Most predicted the Seahawks would win the title handily because the opposition wasn’t that tough.

Ocean View did move into the III-AA semifinals with its 74-55 victory over Bolsa Grande Tuesday at Fountain Valley High. But the Seahawks’ 13th consecutive victory was anything but easy. It took a 25-point fourth quarter to outpace the pesky Matadors, who refused to go away.

Center Kevin Hanson (20 points, 13 rebounds) paced Ocean View (23-4), which advances to play Pomona. Bolsa Grande, which got 18 points from Duc Nguyen, 14 from Jon James and 12 from Ryan Pham, finished 21-7.

Ocean View guard Casey Lawson fought off the effects of the flu and a nasty cut above his eye to score 14 points. Teammate Tony Dow added 14 points and seven rebounds and reserve senior forward Jason Martini had 10 points and five rebounds.

Bolsa Grande trailed, 49-47, moments into the third quarter and had several opportunities to pull even. But Ocean View, which held a 51-19 advantage in rebounding, began to pull away with several key rebounds and baskets down the stretch by Hanson and Martini.

Lawson, charged with defending the lightning-quick Duc Nguyen, contributed offensively with a basket for a 53-47 lead with six minutes 53 seconds left. Bolsa Grande’s Ryan Pham scored, but the Seahawks got a three-point play from Hanson and Martini’s bank shot for a nine-point lead.

Bolsa Grande got a basket from James with 5:07 left, but Ocean View ran off the next six points for a 64-52 cushion with 3:57 to play.

“We haven’t played the last two games with the focus that we did during the league season,” Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said. “It’s like we are back in December again. We’re doing things that I thought we got rid of a long time ago.”

This evening got off to a bad start before the game began when the scoreboard malfunctioned and forced a 29-minute delay.

In another Division III-AA game:

Pomona 98, Magnolia 84--Jerry Green scored 41 points for host Pomona (21-6), 13 coming in the fourth quarter. Magnolia trailed by one with five minutes remaining before Pomona pulled away.

Point guard Zamiro Bennem scored 26 points for the Sentinels (23-5).