Ocean View Has Big Fourth Quarter to Defeat Mayfair

They played what was shaping up as a high school boys’ basketball classic Tuesday night at Bellflower High before a blowout broke out in the fourth quarter.

Second-seeded Ocean View ran away with the once-tight contest in the final eight minutes for a 71-56 victory over third-seeded and defending champion Lakewood Mayfair in a semifinal of the Southern Section Division II-A playoffs.

The streaky Seahawks, who had rallied to tie the score, 44-44, heading into the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as seven points in the third, scored 12 of the first 14 points in the fourth to take control.

“We’ve been doing it all year where we’ll have these explosions,” said Ocean View Coach Jim Harris. “It’s what we do.”

Junior guard Marques Crane scored 21 of his game-high 23 points--including all four of his three-pointers--in the second half for the Seahawks. Junior guard Torin Beeler added 19 points and senior guard Ryan Westbrook had 14.

Beeler and Westbrook’s best work might have come on the defensive end, where they limited Mayfair phenom Josh Childress to two points in the second half and eight for the game.

Jeff Bonds led the Monsoons with 17 points.

Ocean View (29-2) clinched a berth in the state playoffs and will play top-seeded Lakewood Artesia, in the section championship game Saturday at the Pond. Artesia routed Pasadena Muir, 70-36, Tuesday.

“I’m very excited,” said Beeler, who like many of his Seahawk teammates is making his second trip to a title game in three seasons. “The finals are a once-in-a-lifetime thing. It’s going to be great to be there.”

Ocean View looked like it was headed nowhere after Mayfair (25-5) scored the last nine points of the second quarter and added a basket to start the third for a 31-24 lead. That’s when Crane made three three-pointers the rest of the quarter as the Seahawks clawed back to tie the game.

Then Ocean View simply took over. Senior forward Jeremiah Bell, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, drove into the paint for a basket. Beeler drained a long jumper. Then, after Mayfair’s Jeff Bonds scored on a putback for the Monsoons’ last meaningful basket of the game, Beeler hit a three-pointer for a 51-46 advantage.

The Seahawks put the game out of reach when two free throws and a three-pointer by Crane gave them a 56-46 lead with 3:42 left. Mayfair came no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Ocean View now faces the daunting prospect of playing Artesia, a team that has shown opponents no mercy on its march toward the final round.