Ocean View girls' basketball gets back on track with win over Santa Ana

Ocean View's Bella Caiazzo drives to the basket against Santa Ana's Melina Rueda in a Hawk Holiday Classic game on Tuesday in Huntington Beach.

By Andrew TurnerStaff Writer

Dec. 3, 2019 6:47 PM PT

It had been a week since the Ocean View High girls’ basketball team had played a game.

When playing well, such a break could be the last thing that a team would want, but this was not one of those times for the Seahawks.

Ocean View had struggled to score, averaging less than 30 points over its previous two games.

The Seahawks had the foundation of an inside presence, and on Tuesday, they found the missing component of outside shooting.

Bella Caiazzo had a team-high 19 points to lead the host Seahawks to a 59-36 victory over Santa Ana in a Soaring Flight game of their Hawk Holiday Classic.

The junior shooting guard made three of four three-pointers in the second quarter, taking Ocean View (2-2) from a 14-13 deficit after the first quarter to a 33-21 halftime lead.

“My shot has been off the past couple of games, so I’ve been trying to put in work on at least my form,” Caiazzo said. “I always thought that it looked good, but obviously, I needed to get in more reps. It paid off.”

Before games, Seahawks coach Kim Morris has her players write down their individual goals. Junior guard Emma Beard felt that the team was successful in achieving her goal after Ocean View outscored Santa Ana by 24 points over the final three quarters.

Ocean View's Emma Beard (12) shoots a jumper over the hand of Santa Ana's Evelyn Torres in a Hawk Holiday Classic game on Tuesday.

“I wrote down to have a good mindset and don’t get down,” Beard said. “Keep trying, don’t give up.”

Beard contributed nine points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Freshman guard Haley Bae had 10 points, three rebounds and two steals.

Junior center Iris Garibay had eight points and 11 rebounds, and sophomore power forward Marisabel Alcaraz also had eight points.

Santa Ana (1-6), which shared the Orange Coast League championship with Costa Mesa last season, held its biggest lead of 12-8 after Halle Broadnax banked in a shot with 2:22 to go in the first quarter.

Alcaraz had five points over the remainder of the period to keep Ocean View close.

“We haven’t been playing well, and we’ve been struggling to score, but where the points have been coming from consistently is our post [players],” Morris said. “Now, we’re just adding the final piece to it in being able to get some offense from our perimeter players.”

Broadnax had a game-high 20 points for the Saints. She scored 12 points in the first quarter, largely on the strength of a trio of three-pointers.

Julianna Robles and Esme Aguilar each had six points, and Samantha Flores added four points, four rebounds and three assists for the visitors.

Ocean View only had one senior take the court in its opening game of the tournament. Morris hopes that her young team will see the fruits of their labor when all is said and done.

“That’s my hope for this group because they’re pretty special human beings, all of them,” Morris said. “I always have great kids, but the collective character in all 13 of these girls is pretty amazing.

“Iris Garibay and Sandra Gonzalez, sometimes they can’t make practices. We practice at 1 o’clock in the afternoon on holidays and Saturdays so that they can try to make it because they work with their parents.”