Ocean View Rallies to Beat Erratic Aztecs

If they were to visit an amusement park, the Esperanza boys’ basketball players would no doubt choose to ride the biggest roller coaster they could find, over and over again.

The Aztecs took another wild and somewhat painful ride Wednesday night, squandering a 14-point lead late in the third quarter and losing to Ocean View, the county’s second-ranked team, 65-62, in a nonleague game at Esperanza.

It was the 400th victory for Ocean View Coach Jim Harris, who is in his 22nd season. And it left both sides shaking their heads.

The coaches agreed that it was more a case of Esperanza (5-6) coming from ahead to lose than Ocean View (10-1) pulling out a tough one.

“I don’t know how we did it,” Harris said. “We were out of sync. They took us out of sync with their press. We just didn’t play well.”

The game unraveled for Esperanza in the final seconds. With the score tied, 62-62, Ocean View guard Marques Crane stole the ball after some poor ball-handling by Esperanza against the Seahawk press.

Crane, whose long three-pointer had tied the score with 15 seconds left, controlled the ball just inside the 10-second line, drove to the basket and was fouled as he scored the game-winner. As the Aztecs stared at each other in disbelief, Crane, who finished with 21 points, sank the ensuing free throw to seal the win with three seconds to play.

Despite getting a game-high 24 points and six three-pointers from swingman Doug Brown, the Aztecs, who began the season ranked No. 6 in the county, continued their up-and-down season. They have victories over No. 9 Newport Harbor and No. 10 Brea Olinda, but consistency has been a big problem. Coach John Cyrus termed Wednesday’s outcome “a sick loss.”

Esperanza appeared to have taken firm control with a 16-6 run for a 53-39 lead with 44 seconds remaining in the third period.

But Ocean View responded with an 11-2 run that included six points from Crane.