Crane Struggles, Ocean View Falls

Ocean View usually goes the way of its star guard, Marques Crane. When Crane is on, so are the Seahawks. When Crane struggles, Ocean View is in turmoil.

So there were plenty of anxious looks on the Seahawk bench early in the Division II-A boys’ basketball semifinal against top-seeded Lakewood Mayfair Friday at Cerritos Gahr High when Crane missed a few easy shots underneath the basket.

There was good reason for concern. Fourth-seeded Ocean View went on to miss its first 10 shots and shot 19% from the field in the first half in losing to the Monsoons, 61-40.

“If Marcus doesn’t have a decent game, we’re in trouble,” said Seahawk Coach Jim Harris, whose team was looking to play in its third section championship game in four seasons.

Instead, Mayfair, which lost to Ocean View in last year’s semifinal, will play Redondo Union in Saturday’s final at the Arrowhead Pond. Redondo Union defeated Pasadena Muir, 58-37, Friday.

The Monsoons (25-3) advanced because of big games from role players Justin Hawkins and Matt McCraw. Hawkins, only a sophomore, led all scorers with 16 points, and McCraw added 12 points.

“That just shows we can win with other guys,” Lakewood Coach David Breig said. “We don’t necessarily need Josh [Childress] to score.”

Childress, the Stanford-bound guard, finished with six points. His ineffectiveness was largely a result of a fine defensive effort by Crane, who blocked six shots and grabbed nine rebounds.

“Marques negated Childress. He was not a factor,” Harris said. “But Marques wasn’t much of a factor except on defense.”

Crane scored all 13 of his points in the second half as the Seahawks tried to erase a 24-14 halftime deficit. The closest Ocean View would come was seven points with 2 minutes 40 seconds left in the game, but swingman Torin Beeler fouled out on the next play and the Seahawks were held scoreless the rest of the way.

Crane was the only Ocean View player to score in double figures. Beeler finished with seven points and guard Kevin Chow added eight. Three-point specialist Steve Clarke and big man Neal Smith, both starters, did not score.

Both teams were beset by sloppy ballhandling throughout the game, but Mayfair won the rebounding war, 34-23.

Breig said his players were motivated by last year’s loss to the Seahawks. “We’ve been waiting for this,” he said.