Nike Showdown Goes to Fairfax

For a time, the boys’ basketball game between Los Angeles Fairfax and Huntington Beach Ocean View looked more like UCLA vs. Princeton, only one-on-one at the high school level.

Josh Shipp of Fairfax, who signed with the Bruins in November, and Princeton-bound senior Matt Sargeant of Ocean View, took turns one-upping each other at the Nike Extravaganza until Fairfax, ranked No. 2 in the Southland by The Times, finally pulled away to win, 84-73, in double overtime Saturday night at Loyola Marymount.

“So close,” Sargeant said. “We played great but it’s kind of bittersweet. We wanted that win.”

Shipp, a 6-6 forward, scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter and overtimes, including a three-point basket with 55 seconds remaining in the second extra period, giving the Lions (16-2) a 79-73 lead.

Sargeant scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to rally the No. 19 Seahawks from a 48-43 deficit at the start of the quarter. Sargeant, a 6-3 guard, also blocked Shipp’s shot late in regulation and again just before the end of the first overtime to keep his team’s chances alive.

“It’s ironic,” Sargeant said. “I’ve been playing with or against Josh since I was 8 years old and we had never guarded each other before.”

Shipp said Sargeant surprised him with his shot-blocking ability.

“He came with it today,” Shipp said.

Ocean View (15-6) played well from the start. The Seahawks opened an 18-13 lead late in the first quarter on Clint Amberry’s three-point play, but fell behind after getting outscored, 19-8, in the third quarter. Amberry, a 6-9 freshman center, scored 21 points to lead Ocean View and teammate Greg Okwudibonye had 19.

Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy 77, Westchester 62 -- Oak Hill, the top-ranked team in the nation, jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter and shot 68.2% from the floor to maintain a 14-point lead at halftime.

Gabriel Pruitt scored 31 points to lead Westchester, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times. Pruitt, a 6-5 senior guard, hit seven of 12 three-point shots, scoring 27 of his points in the second half after getting in early foul trouble. He sat out the last seven minutes of the second quarter.

“They were tough and very athletic,” Pruitt said. “We came out with some jitters. I guess we gave them too much respect.”

Josh Smith, Oak Hill’s 6-8 forward who has signed with Indiana, had 21 points and 10 rebounds and junior point guard Rajon Rondo scored 20 for the Warriors (22-0), who shot 57.4% from the floor.

After Oak Hill took its early 14-point lead, the Comets (17-2) scored five straight points to cut the lead to 18-9, but never got any closer. Westchester shot 28.6% from the floor in the first half and 35.9% for the game.

Long Beach Poly 61, Villa Park 56 -- Marcus Lewis had 15 points and 17 rebounds to lead No. 6 Long Beach Poly (17-3) to the victory.

Villa Park cut the Jackrabbits’ 40-27 halftime advantage to 58-56 on a three-point basket by Drew Viney with 19.7 seconds left, but Long Beach Poly’s Kevin Buggs sank two free throws stretch the lead to 60-56 with 15.5 seconds to go.

Kyle Johnson had 14 points to lead Villa Park (14-7).

Crenshaw 61, El Toro 52 -- Sone Finister had 25 points and seven rebounds to help Crenshaw (13-4), ranked No. 11 by The Times, take a 14-0 lead to open the game.

Jonathan Johnson and Darryl Best each scored 14 points and Kelvin Kim had 12 points for El Toro (16-4), which played without top player Tyler Gottstein. Gottstein suffered a calf injury in the Chargers’ victory Friday over San Clemente.

El Toro, which missed all 18 shots it took from three-point range, cut its first-quarter deficit down to two points at one point in the third quarter after trailing 29-21 at halftime.

Santa Margarita 67, Long Beach Millikan 40 -- Todd Follmer, a 6-11 senior center, had 11 points and seven rebounds and was one of twelve players who scored for No. 22 Santa Margarita (19-2), which led 36-15 at halftime.

The Eagles shot nearly 51 percent from the floor, while Millikan made just under 35 percent of its shots, going 3-for-17 from three-point range. Trent Scott led the Rams (11-7) with 11 points.

Orange Lutheran 59, Verbum Dei 33 -- Sean Luecke had 15 points and nine rebounds and Travis Tanner added 12 points and five assists for Orange Lutheran. Mike Pagan had seven points for Verbum Dei, which shot 23.5 percent from the floor.

Servite 80, Nogales 59 -- Garrett Love made five of nine shots from three-point range and finished with 25 points and Chris Kanne hit four of nine three-pointers and scored 20 points for Servite (16-5), which was nine of 22 from long range as a team and led 23-11 after the first quarter.

Alex Sanchez had 21 points and Darryl Peterson added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Nogales (5-15).