Chargers, Oilers capture titles

The girls’ basketball teams at Huntington Beach and Edison traveled to Arizona last week to test the competition at the prestigious Phoenix NIKE Tournament of Champions, and both the Oilers and Chargers returned to Surf City with division championship trophies.

Huntington took the Red Division championship Dec. 22 by running past Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth, 75-55, at Chandler, Ariz. Kelsey Minato had six three-point shots and 32 points and was named MVP of the division. Maya Kennedy scored 16 points and was named to the division’s all-tournament first-team. The Oilers, who shot 65% from the field for the game, jumped out to a 16-0 lead on the Trailblazers.

“This was a great experience for our team because it taught us a lot about how important team chemistry is,” Huntington Coach Russ McClurg said. “This tournament was great for the younger players and they learned a lot from it.”

Huntington began play Monday at the Winter Classic at Costa Mesa High and scored a 62-21 win over Bolsa Grande. Stephanie Louie hit three three-point shots and finished with 13 points for the Oilers.

Undefeated Edison, the top-ranked team in CIF Division 1A, won the Anderson Division at the NIKE Tournament of Champions Dec. 22 by edging previously undefeated Etiwanda, 58-54. Bonnie Samuelson netted a game-high 31 points and Karlie Samuelson had 19 points for the Chargers, who outscored the Eagles (8-1) by five points (31-26).

Edison continued holiday play Monday at the Best of the West tournament at Ayala High and routed Palmdale, 77-32. Bonnie Samuelson poured in 29 points, Karlie Samuelson 16 points and Lauren Grego 10 points for the Chargers, who improved to 10-0.

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In other girls’ basketball:

Brethren Christian: The Warriors won their opening-round game Monday at the West Coast Jamboree in Antioch, 42-38 over Bret Harte Union (Angels Camp) to run their win streak to 10 games. BC overcame a sluggish first half — the Warriors trailed, 14-11 at the half, by outscoring the Bullfrogs by seven (12-5) in the third quarter. The Warriors then hit 10 of 13 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to get the win. BC’s balanced scoring was led by Kirsten Sakata with 10 points followed by Sara Hodges with nine, Rebekah Rudd with seven and Madison Desler and Kate Jensen each contributed five points.

Fountain Valley: The Barons dropped a 41-39 first-round game Monday to Long Beach Wilson at the Winter Classic at Costa Mesa High. Jasmine Matar had 10 points for the Barons. In a nonleague game played Dec. 23, Kimi Kamada scored 17 points and Kelcie Mayott had eight points for the Barons in a 53-24 romp past La Quinta.

Marina: The Vikings, along with Aliso Niguel, Esperanza, JSerra, J.W. North, Laguna Hills, Palos Verdes, Paso Robles, San Clemente and Santa Margarita, are competing this week at their own Larry Doyle O.C. Championships tournament. The championship game is 7:30 p.m. today at the Marina gym.

Ocean View: The Seahawks opened play Tuesday at the VCA Tournament in Santa Maria. The Tournament continues today.

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Boys’ Basketball

Edison: Dylan Garrity became Edison’s career assists leader and also earned game MVP honors at the North/South Classic at El Toro High Dec. 23 after the Chargers rallied to defeat Tustin, 48-36. Edison outscored the Tillers, 18-3, in the fourth quarter to pull out the win, which gave the Chargers a 10-0 start to the season. Garrity had 23 points to go along with three assists, three blocks and two steals and surpassed Eric Ferraro as the school’s all-time assists leader. Ferraro (376 assists) set the previous record in 2009. Dreon Barlett also had 12 points for the Chargers.

On Monday, Edison ran its record to 11-0 by scoring a 73-48 first-round victory over Desert Hot Springs at the Desert Heat Invitational in Palm Desert. Garrity nailed seven three-point shots en route to a game-high 34 points, Barlett had 10 points and Zach Bauer had nine points.

Fountain Valley: The Barons played two games on the opening day of the Alvarez Tire Classic at Bradshaw Mountain High in Prescott, Ariz. on Monday and won both. They began the tournament with an easy 60-39 win over Camp Verde (AZ.). Fountain Valley, which jumped out to an 18-3 lead to start the game, got 11 points from Jacob Bracken and 10 each from Sean Myers and Zach Matar.

The Barons, the lone California team in the event, came back later in the day to edge Catalina (Tucson, Ariz.) in overtime, 65-54. Fountain Valley led, 48-42, after three quarters in a game that was close throughout until Catalina went on a 14-1 run to take a 56-49 lead with 4:30 to play. Judd Chamaa and Nathan Moss hit big three-point shots to tie the score and send the teams to overtime. There, Matar hit a free throw with four seconds left for the winning point. Moss had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Chamaa led the Barons with 17 points, Zack Richartz had 13 points, Myers five points and seven assists and Moss four points and five assists.

“(It was) a really good game for us to play as it went right down to the end,” Fountain Valley Coach Roger Holmes said. “Every possession was critical and it was good for us to be in that type of situation as we move toward league play.”

At the North/South Challenge at El Toro High Dec. 23, Fountain Valley fell, 61-54, to San Clemente, which jumped out to a 13-point first-quarter lead and got 36 points from Dominic Fashing. Chamaa had 11 points and Tanner Trounce 10 more for the Barons.

Brethren Christian: Also at the North/South Challenge Dec. 23, the Warriors held off a fourth-quarter charge by Saddleback Valley Christian to hold on for a 56-55 victory. Riley Thomas led four Warriors in double-figures with 14 points. Zach Luce, Bobby Frisch and Dakota Warren each had 12 points. Luce was named the game’s MVP.

On Monday, the Warriors started play at the World Youth Basketball Tournament in Kona, HI., with a 60-33 victory over the Kealakehe WaveRiders of Kailua Kona, HI., at Kealakehe High.

Huntington Beach: The Oilers also took part in the North/South Challenge at El Toro High and used a big second half to defeat Dana Hills, 58-42. Four Oilers were in double-figures with Mackey Clustka, Jordan Reise and Andrew Tenbrink each scoring 11 points and Dirk Cason finishing with 10 points.

Cason, Reise and David Pinault each had 10 points and Tenbrink nine points for the Oilers who had 10 player score in a 57-40 win Monday over Westminster in the first-round of the Orange Holiday Classic at Chapman University.

Marina: The Vikings started play Monday at the Coast Classic at Estancia High and, Coach Jerry Simon said, “played well for three quarters” against undefeated Mission Viejo. But Marina fell to the Diablos, 47-32. JJ James had nine points to lead the Vikings.

Ocean View: The Seahawks improved to 8-2 Monday by pulling away in the second half to defeat West Torrance, 67-55, in first-round action at the Santa Barbara Tournament. Point guard Billy Keller scored a game-high 23 points and Conor Clifford and Cristian Rivera both had 11 points for Ocean View, which outscored the Warriors by eight in the second half.