Oxnard Has the Stuff for 67-32 Rout

As dunks go, it registered about a three on a scale of one to 10.

But when Tramaine Murray of Oxnard High rattled in a dunk with five seconds left in a Pacific View League boys’ basketball opener against Channel Islands on Friday night, it put an exclamation point on the Yellowjackets’ stunning 67-32 victory.

Oxnard (13-4) won the inaugural Pacific View title with an 8-0 record last season, but six of those victories--including two against Channel Islands--were tight games.

This was supposed to be close, but Oxnard used an 18-2 run in the last 5:40 of the second quarter and a 13-0 run in the first 4:23 of the third to take a 41-13 lead.

“All we could do was to . . . play good defense,” Coach Henry Lobo of Oxnard said. “We had two goals. The first was to shut down their best two players. The second was to make it as hard as possible for their other guys to score.”

Oxnard, the No. 5-ranked team in the region by The Times, achieved both goals.

Forward Manny Berrelleza, averaging 16.9 points, was held scoreless and center Mike Keddington, averaging 10.1, managed just six for Channel Islands.

Keddington, a 6-foot-6 senior, did have 15 rebounds, but the Raiders shot a horrific 19.1% (13 of 68 shots).

“That was a spanking,” said second-year Coach Mike Murray of Channel Islands. “That was a spanking.”

Channel Islands (9-7) made only four of 19 shots in the first quarter, yet the Raiders took an 11-10 lead early in the second quarter when Keddington scored after getting an offensive rebound.

Channel Islands made only one of 12 shots and committed four turnovers for the rest of the half.

Oxnard made six of 12 shots in that span, including three of five three-pointers.

Jason Parker started the Yellowjacket run with a three-pointer from the left side and capped it with a layup on an assist from Ricky Hernandez.

Five Yellowjackets scored in between Parker’s baskets, including Hernandez, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Hernandez, a stocky 6-1 senior forward who has been slowed by gimpy ankles, scored 11 of Oxnard’s 22 points in the third quarter when the Yellowjackets stretched a 28-13 halftime lead to 50-17.

“We knew that if we came out and played hard, we would win comfortably,” Hernandez said after sitting out the final nine minutes of the game.

Oxnard’s domination was particularly surprising because the Yellowjackets did it without a big offensive game from 6-6 junior center Nicholas Curtis.

Curtis, who had 20 points and 20 rebounds in a 74-60 victory over Buena on Wednesday, had nine points to go with his 12 rebounds.

Oxnard, which played all 15 of its players, was a modest 10 of 24 in the first half, but made nine of 13 shots in the third quarter.

Hernandez got Oxnard’s 13-0 run started by scoring a basket on an offensive rebound with 7:17 left in the third quarter. Matthew Merricks capped it on a three-pointer with 4:23 remaining.

The Yellowjackets made five of six shots and two of two free throws during the run while committing only one turnover.

Merricks had seven points and nine rebounds in the game while point guard Jonathan Davis had seven points and six assists for the Yellowjackets.

Alex Solis had eight points for Channel Islands, which was “devastated” by the enormity of its loss, according to Murray.

“This was just one of those games where everything they did went their way,” Murray said. “And we couldn’t do anything right.”