La Habra’s Success Is Limited Against Pumped-Up Ocean View

Veteran Craig Falconer, the fourth person to coach boys’ basketball at La Habra in the last four years, has ample playoff experience. In five previous seasons he guided Calvary Chapel to more than 100 victories and back-to-back second-place finishes in the Southern Section division finals.

But there was nothing, Falconer agreed, he could do to prepare the Highlanders for Ocean View’s onslaught Wednesday night.

The host Seahawks, 1998 Division III-AA champions, opened their quest for the Division II-A title with a resounding 76-42 victory. Rahshaw McAfee (16 points, five rebounds), Torin Beeler (15 points, eight rebounds) and Tony Dow (14 points, seven rebounds) led the Seahawks (23-5).

Nathan Allard and Adam Provence each scored 10 points for La Habra (12-13).

This was the result most expected, so when it was over, talk quickly turned to how much work Falconer has ahead of him. True, this was the second consecutive playoff appearance for La Habra, but the Highlanders, who return only two players next season, went 1-39 before that. Falconer, hired to bring stability to the program, felt a lack of playoff experience had as much to do with the final score as Ocean View’s extended defense, which forced 22 turnovers.

“Ocean View has a lot more poise than we do,” Falconer said. “Our kids weren’t ready for this. We had one guy during warmups outside the gym looking for some Rolaids. He was so upset about playing.”

The three-point shooting, guard-driven offense that worked so well for Falconer at Calvary Chapel was very apparent. The Highlanders trailed, 16-8, after the first quarter and he encouraged them to challenge the Seahawks man-to-man. But La Habra paid the price, committing nine first-quarter turnovers.

Ocean View, meanwhile, made only six of 18 shots in the first quarter.

“I think we came out and were just too pumped up for this game at the beginning,” Ocean View’s Casey Lawson said.

Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said a lot of that had to do with the Highlanders’ frenetic style of play.

“I think [Falconer has] already made a positive statement there,” Harris said. “Obviously, by the way his team ran his offense, they already believe in his system. He has a style and they did it to a T. The only thing they didn’t do was hit their shots.”

The Highlanders were seven of 23 from the floor in the first half; Ocean View was 10 of 25. But La Habra sent Ocean View to the line 13 times and the Seahawks came away with nine points. La Habra went 0 for six.

“He just doesn’t have the shooters he had before,” Harris said. “But it’s just a matter of time. Once he gets the lower levels to play the way he wants, that program will do well.”

McAfee said the Seahawks made some adjustments in the third quarter, which led to a 23-14 run.

“They got good penetration on us early,” he said. “But then we went on top after them and that made it tough for them.”