Plenty on line tonight

Today marks the final day of league play — and season for some — for local prep basketball teams. And what happens on the court tonight will determine plenty.

A league championship in the boys’ Sunset, Golden West and Academy races is still up for grabs, as are crowns in both the girls’ Golden West and Academy leagues. CIF playoff berths also are on the line for several schools.

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Boys’ Basketball

Brethren Christian: The Warriors maintained a piece of the Academy League lead Tuesday by whipping visiting Whitney, 59-32, on Senior Night at Liberty Christian School in Huntington Beach. Senior Daniel Healy led BC with 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks. Seniors Bobby Frisch and Alex Debardalaben both had 13 rebounds and Junior Jazwan Hill had 12 points, three assists and three steals.

BC is 23-2 and 8-1 in league heading into tonight’s 7:30 finale against host Sage Hill. A win would give the Warriors no worse than a share of the league title. St. Margaret’s, also 8-1 in league, needs a win against Crean Lutheran South tonight to also claim no worse than a share of the title.

“Defense will be the key,” Bahnsen said of tonight’s matchup with Sage Hill. “If we can establish our normal defensive gameplan and intensity, then we should come out on top no matter how our offense is playing. Another factor though will be how we react offensively against Sage’s box and 1 or triangle and 2 defenses. When we played them in the first round of league, those defenses gave us trouble, but we have made adjustments and will be ready offensively.”

The Warriors were dropped into a tie for the league lead when they suffered a 41-37 setback Friday at St. Margaret’s, a contest Bahnsen called a “very ugly, defensive game.” BC led the entire game but fell behind in the final two minutes when a three-point shot by St. Margaret’s, the first of the night for the Tartans, put the host team into the lead for good. Healy had 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists a two steals. Thomas contributed 11 points and four assists.

Edison: The Chargers were denied clinching the Sunset League championship Tuesday by host Los Alamitos (7-2 league), which took a defensive battle by a 41-40 score. Dreon Barlett scored 16 points and Dylan Garrity added 10 points for Edison (23-2, 7-2), which needs a victory at 7 tonight at Marina to win or share its first Sunset title in six years.

Fountain Valley: The Barons saw their league record slip to 4-5 Tuesday following a 69-65 loss Tuesday at Newport Harbor. Zach Matar scored 20 points and Judd Chamaa 18 points for the Barons, who host Los Alamitos at 7 tonight.

Cody Caldwell had 32 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Sailors, who picked up their first league win.

Huntington Beach: The Oilers clinched a playoff berth Tuesday by defeating visiting Marina, 48-40. Huntington (18-8, 6-3). Vincent Oe scored 13 points to lead Huntington, which led, 15-3, after one quarter and led by as many as 17 points in the second half.

“It was a good win and it secured an automatic playoff berth,” Huntington Coach Fabian Luna said. “But we need to stay focused and get ready for a good run in the playoffs.

Last Friday, Huntington avenged an earlier one-point loss at home to Fountain Valley by pulling away in the second half to beat the host Barons, 56-32.

The Oilers outscored the Barons, 32-14, in the second half.

“It was really nice to see our guys put together two great defensive quarters, which led to our offensive flow by getting into transition,” said Luna, whose squad was led by Jordan Reise’s 21 points and Dirk Cason’s 11 points.

Marina: The Vikings fell behind early to host Huntington Beach and couldn’t recover in a 48-40 loss to the Oilers. JJ James scored 15 points for Marina, which fell to 2-7 in league.

The Vikings, who also fell, 63-37, Friday to Los Alamitos, host Edison at 7 tonight.

Ocean View: The Seahawks (15-9) have been in a recent slump, dropping three of their last four games, but still have the Golden West League championship in sight. On Wednesday night, they played a league game at Santa Ana. At 7 p.m. Friday, they’ll host Loara in a crucial league contest that could determine who wins the league title.

Ocean View, 6-2 in league, was one game behind Loara and Segerstrom in the league standings heading into the week. Loara and Segerstrom met Wednesday night, with the winner of that game taking over the league lead.

The Seahawks dropped a 67-51 nonleague game Saturday to Colony at the Nike Extravaganza. Conor Clifford had 17 points and Billy Keller 14 points for Ocean View. In a league game played Friday, Ocean View saw a 10-point second-half lead disappear against visiting Segerstrom, which rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out a 58-56 win. Clifford and Keller had 23 and 17 points, respectively.

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Girls’ Basketball

Brethren Christian: The Warriors gave a “very good effort,” Coach Jeff Wallace said, Tuesday against Academy League leader Whitney but fell to the visiting Wildcats, 51-39, on Senior Night at Liberty Christian School. Senior Madison Desler led BC with 11 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Sophomore Sara Hodges had eight points and Kirsten Sakata six points.

Whitney (9-0 league) was held 19 points below its scoring average (70) and the Warriors’ 39 points was 17 more than what the Wildcats had been giving up per game (22), Wallace said. BC also managed to hold Whitney’s leading scorer Rachel Nagel to half (14) of her 28 points-per-game average.

The Warriors can secure an outright or tie for second place in the league standings at 6 tonight with a win at Sage Hill.

Edison: The league champion Chargers ran their Sunset League record to 9-0 Tuesday by rolling past visiting Los Alamitos, 64-34. Bonnie Samuelson scored 22 points, Karlie Samuelson 18 points and Monay Lee had nine points for Edison, which hosts Marina at 7 tonight.

Fountain Valley: The Barons saw a 10-point halftime lead over Newport Harbor dissipate Tuesday as the visiting Sailors rallied in the second half to post a 41-37 Sunset League victory. Leslie La scored nine points for Fountain Valley (1-9 league), which ends its season at 7 tonight at Los Alamitos.

Huntington Beach: The Oilers, who took on Marina Tuesday in a battle for second place in the Sunset League, used a huge three-point shot by Kelsey Minato to force overtime and went on to pull out a 62-55 win over the host Vikings. Minato, whose three from the corner tied the score with three seconds left in regulation, scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds. Sophomore center Jill Nakaso had 15 points and seven rebounds.

“This was an amazing game. We are fortunate to win,” said Huntington Coach Russ McClurg, whose Oilers (7-2 league) travel to face Newport Harbor at 7 tonight.

In a previous league game Feb. 3, McClurg got his 250th career coaching win when Huntington beat Fountain Valley, 66-41. The Oilers’ Maya Kennedy led the oilers with 18 points and Minato had 17 points.

“It was great to get it at my alma mater,” McClurg said of his milestone victory.

Marina: The Vikings (16-9, 6-3) fell into third place in the Sunset League after falling in overtime Tuesday to visiting Huntington Beach, 62-55. Alyssa Kinoshita’s 15 points led three Vikings in double figures, with Sloan Turner scoring 13 points and Loren Dorame 12.

Marina, which has secured a playoff berth, plays at 7 tonight at Edison.

Ocean View: The Seahawks lost, 49-34, Tuesday to host Segerstrom, which won the Golden West League championship with the victory. Francis Oda and Mari Shigewasa each had eight points and Shantay Bowden scored seven points for Ocean View, which ends league play at 7 tonight at home against Santa Ana.