Ocean View’s Turnovers Help Bakersfield Foothill Advance

Ocean View had the size, the talent and the record that should have sent it through to the second round of the Southern California Division II regional playoffs, but Bakersfield Foothill’s speed proved to be too much as the Trojans knocked off the Seahawks, 61-54, at Foothill High.

Foothill’s trapping defense forced 21 Ocean View turnovers in a sloppy display of offense. The tallest player on the Foothill roster is 6-4, but the team’s quickness caused problems for the Seahawks.

“We didn’t come to play tonight and they came out hungry,” Ocean View Coach Jim Harris said. “Our team had a lack of desire tonight and we didn’t come to battle. It’s really disturbing.”

Ocean View did control the boards with a 38-29 rebounding advantage. Torin Beeler and Jeremiah Bell pulled in 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively. But it was speed, not size, that helped the Trojans jump out to a 13-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game.

Foothill had the Seahawks stymied with its spread offense that created room for the guards to penetrate and either score or dump the ball off to Daniel Lee and Anthony Robinson for layups.

“When we found out that we were playing Ocean View, the kids ignored the records and said that we were even at this point,” Foothill Coach Tom Adame said. “We knew it would be tough but we came out and played our game.”

After trailing 28-23 at the half, Ocean View came out in a 2-3 zone that surprised Foothill and helped the Seahawks take their first lead of the game, at 39-38, on a three-pointer by Beeler with one minute remaining in the third quarter.

But Adame made adjustments and the Trojans outscored Ocean View, 23-15, the remainder of the game.