Ocean View Gut Check Looks Empty in Defeat

Ocean View Coach Jim Harris entered his team in last weekend’s Top Flight MLK Classic and Saturday’s Nike Extravaganza to find out if it was ready for the playoffs.

Harris doesn’t like what he’s finding out.

A week after losing to Upland by 15 points, Ocean View turned in a lackluster performance in a 55-48 loss to Long Beach Poly at Long Beach State’s Pyramid. For the second consecutive time against a quality opponent, Ocean View appeared to play scared and with little emotion or aggression.

The Seahawks, ranked third in the Southern Section Division II-A poll, fell behind by 20 points in the first quarter and never got closer than seven until the final minute.

Ocean View’s defense offered little resistance as Poly (17-5), ranked third in Division I-AAA, hit seven of its first eight shots and finished the first quarter with 31 points.

“That was a sorry display in the first quarter,” Harris said. “We were hesitant, and we weren’t aggressive defensively. Normally, we don’t allow teams to do that to us. But we didn’t seem to care.

“I don’t see how you can come in and let someone grab the heart out of your chest and not be upset about it.”

The only Ocean View player who seemed to care was forward Marques Crane, who scored 15 points, grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and had three assists and two steals. But Crane wore down in the second half, scoring only one point and missing all six of his shots.

“Marques was dog-tired,” Harris said. “But the bigger the game, the better he plays.”

But Crane was the only Seahawk in double figures and he grabbed half of his team’s rebounds. Poly outrebounded Ocean View by 17, but the Jackrabbits missed 27 of 32 shots from the field in the second half and the Seahawks stayed close. Poly also made only two of seven second-half free throws.

“In the last two minutes, we could have won this game,” Harris said. “They missed their shots, they turned the ball over . . . But we didn’t show any aggression.”

Poly was led by forward Reggie Butler, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and point guard Carlos Rivers, who had 14 points and four assists. Forward Mercedes Lewis had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Ocean View (15-5) made 17 of 51 shots from the field and seven of 14 from the free-throw line. Forward Torin Beeler, Ocean View’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, scored seven points on three-of-12 shooting and had only three rebounds.

Forward Steve Clarke, who made three of six from the field, was the only Ocean View player to shoot 50%. Harris refused to blame his team’s poor shooting on the unfamiliar background at the Pyramid.

“If you’re not confident, you’re not going to shoot well,” Harris said. “And it’s obvious we’re not a very confident team right now.”