Chargers, Oilers reach CIF quarterfinals

For the Edison High girls’ basketball team, it was a junior who broke a scoring record Saturday night. For Huntington Beach, it was a couple of sophomores who provided most of the points.

But both the Chargers and Oilers moved into the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoffs with victories Saturday night. Edison, the No. 3 seed, advanced with a 54-37 win at Tesoro, a game that saw junior guard Bonnie Samuelson break the school single-season scoring record.

No. 7-seeded Huntington Beach advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006 after topping Roosevelt of Corona, 61-48. Kelsey Minato had a game-high 21 points and fellow sophomore Maya Kennedy had 15. Senior center Meghan White added 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Both teams played quarterfinal games Wednesday; Edison at No. 6 Canyon of Canyon Country and Huntington Beach at No. 2 Villa Park. The semifinals are scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday; the two Surf City teams could play each other if both win Wednesday.

Samuelson, who scored 24 Saturday, now has 696 for the season, bettering the mark of former UCLA player Marie Philman, who scored 695 for the Chargers in 1993.

Edison (22-4), which breezed through the Sunset League, was tested Saturday for the first time since December.

The Chargers had a 22-19 halftime lead but came out strong after the break.

“I told them to settle down, take a deep breath and calm down,” Coach Dan Wiley said. “We didn’t play a great first half; I thought our defense wasn’t that good. But they responded.”

It was a good team effort. Freshman guard Karlie Samuelson scored 11 and sophomore Lauren Grego scored nine. Sophomore Rilee Horton and junior Christina Marquette had five each.

Horton was particularly active on the boards, with 12 rebounds, as well as six steals.

“We knew what we had to do,” Horton said. “I think teams are going to start to guard Bonnie and Karlie with everything they have. We need to step up and knock down the shots.”

Huntington Beach (22-6), meanwhile, was pushed to the limit in its first-round game Feb. 18 before outlasting a tough Thousand Oaks team, 53-52. Kennedy made two jumpers in the final minute to help secure the victory and White got a key offensive rebound with seconds to go, helping the Oilers run the clock out. Senior Merwa Azizi also hit two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

“It was a team win, a good team win,” Azizi said. “Everyone pitched in.”

The Oilers expected a big challenge against Villa Park, though.

“In order to beat them, we’ll have to play our best game of the year,” Coach Russ McClurg said.

In other local girls’ basketball playoff action:

 Chino Hills 46, Marina 31: The Vikings fell in the Division I-A first-round game Feb. 18.

 El Segundo 50, Ocean View 46: The Seahawks battled but fell at home to the No. 15-seeded team in the Division IV-AA first round Feb. 18.

 Montclair Prep 70, Brethren Christian 42: The Warriors advanced to the Division V-A second round before falling to No. 2-seeded Montclair Prep on Saturday at Liberty Christian.

Stacy Helfer had 15 points and Madison Desler had 12 for Brethren, including four three-pointers.