Boys’ Basketball: Let the (league) games begin
It’s the first full week of the New Year and with it, comes a new title chase for local teams in league competition.
The races in the Sunset, Golden West and Academy leagues get underway Friday for the locals, some of whom played nonleague games earlier in the week, and some who haven’t played since competing in tournament action during winter break.
On the Sunset League scene Friday, Marina entertains Huntington Beach (6:30 p.m.) in the second Oil vs. Water showdown between the rival schools and at 7 p.m., Edison travels to Los Alamitos in an early showdown between teams that shared the 2015 Sunset title, and Fountain Valley starts at home against Newport Harbor.
A Golden West League season opener at 7 p.m. Friday finds Ocean View, which held a co-championship last year with Westminster, beginning its bid for a title repeat at Segerstrom.
Brethren Christian’s championship hopes in the Academy League start with a 7:30 p.m. league opener Friday at Downey Calvary Chapel.
Edison won its 13th game of the season Tuesday by getting past host Beckman, 80-78. Junior guards Nate Matthews and Randall Walker each scored 25 points for the Chargers who improved to 13-3.
“Not our best defense, but we made plays at the end to hold on,” Edison Coach Rich Boyce said.
“We have been a little inconsistent in preseason, not just game-to-game, but minute-to-minute. That is to be expected from such a young team. We always play hard which makes up for a lot.”
Edison previously competed for the Palm Desert Tournament title and captured third place. In their final tournament game Dec. 30, the Chargers downed Catalina Foothills (Arizona), 63-44. Matthews scored 24, and made the all-tournament team. Walker scored 13 points.
The Chargers won three of four tournament games.
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•Playing its second game in two days, Fountain Valley took on Segerstrom Tuesday and punished the visiting Jaguars, 70-29. Sophomore forward Josh Gray scored 14 points, junior guard Matt Serven 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists, sophomore guard Spencer Serven 10 points, junior guard Adam Trounce nine points, and junior guard Sean Huynh four points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
“We had some of the best ball movement I’ve ever seen and tenacious team defense,” Fountain Valley Coach Steve Schultz said of his team’s performance. “These guys share the ball better than any team I’ve coached in my 13 years at both Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley.”
In a nonleague game Monday, Fountain Valley routed El Modena, 91-43. Trounce had 18 points, six steals and five rebounds, Spencer Serven 17 points and six rebounds, Gray 15 points and six rebounds, and Matt Serven (five rebounds) and fellow junior guard Cody Newsome both scored 14 points.
The Barons completed play Dec. 30 at the Estancia Classic and won the consolation championship title by defeating Garden Grove Pacifica, 59-42. Huynh, who played lock-down defense throughout the tournament, had nine rebounds and nine steals, and was named to the all-tourney team. Gray had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Matt Serven had 18 points and six steals.
The Barons, 13-3 overall, have been without junior guard Mike Lightbody who was injured in a second-round game of the Estancia tournament.
“When we won the Valley Christian Tournament championship (Dec. 12), our starting point guard [Trounce] was out injured the whole tournament and here we go again, losing another starter [Lightbody] for most of this tournament and true to these guys’ team-first attitude, people stepped up their roles, we made adjustments and we found a way to win.
“I love coaching these guys. Every day we ask them to be their absolute best and out-beat their best, and every day they find a way to top themselves. We’ve had to play a wide array of different styles of play because we are so small, but these guys continue to meet the challenge and have beaten every team they are supposed to beat and beaten teams they weren’t supposed to.”
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•Huntington Beach went to Washington state last week to compete at the Bellevue College Holiday tournament, and won one of three games. In their tourney finale Dec. 30, the Oilers were edged, 79-76, by Renton (Washington). Oilers senior guard Nicholas Karidakis was named all-tournament.
“This was a great trip for our guys,” Huntington Coach Billy Thompson said. “We were able to play against some tough competition in Washington and give the boys some new experiences. Although we didn’t win as many games as we hoped, we were able to grow in our team chemistry.”
Huntington, 7-8 overall entering the week, played Northwood Wednesday. The score wasn’t available at press time.
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•Marina, idle over winter break, returned to the court Tuesday for a nonleague game at Woodbridge. The Vikings were outscored 19-3 by the Warriors in the fourth quarter and lost, 59-38. Senior forward Buzz Stafford scored 17 points and junior guard Chance Sommerville 11 points in the loss.
The Vikings are 11-4 overall.
“We just ran out of gas, and didn’t execute our defensive assignments,” Marina Coach Nick Racklin said. “I think our guys were thinking ahead to Huntington Beach this Friday, and our minds weren’t in the right place to battle Woodbridge for a full four quarters.”
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•Ocean View went to Costa Mesa Tuesday and came away with a 69-65 nonleague victory over the Mustangs. Senior guard Zamir Kelly scored 23 points to go with five rebounds, four steals and four assists. Sophomore guard Paul Head and senior forward Christian Anderson both scored 13 points, sophomore center Mehkel Harvey had eight points, five rebounds and four steals, and sophomore guard Bryson Betti, who had been sidelined in the previous eight games due to injury (broken nose), returned to the lineup and scored two points with four rebounds, five steals and five assists.
Ocean View (12-4) outscored Costa Mesa, 8-4, over the final four minutes after the Mustangs had tied the score. Kelly was clutch in the fourth quarter where he scored eight of his game-high 23 points, and Head scored his 13 points in the second half to help keep the Seahawks in control.
“We were not real sharp in this game,” Ocean View co-head Coach Roger Holmes said. “We played well in stretches, but never really had a great run.”
The Seahawks were in Nevada last week for the Las Vegas Invitational, and reached the championship game. In the Dec. 30 final, the Seahawks turned in one of their worst shooting games from the floor (18 for 48) and lost, 61-49, to Santa Maria St. Joseph. Anderson, who made the all-tourney team, had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Head scored 11 points, and Kelly had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
“We made it to the finals and lost to a very good St. Joseph team,” Holmes said. “It was good to get out on the road and test ourselves against some teams from other areas.”
In its tourney opener, Ocean View outscored Las Vegas Mountain View, 30-13, in the third quarter and rolled to a 91-60 victory. Anderson (13/15 from the field) scored 28 points, Kelly (six rebounds) 16 points, Head (eight assists) nine points, and Harvey had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks.
In their second game, the Seahawks trailed in the first half but came away with a 74-67 win over Pico Rivera El Rancho. Anderson posted 22 points, Kelly (six assists) 16 points, Harvey 10 points, Head (five assists) nine points, and senior forward Andrew Reynolds had 12 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.
Ocean View jumped on Hanford West early, opening up a 24-8 lead after one quarter of a semifinal game, and came away with a 58-44 win. Kelly had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Anderson 13 points and 12 rebounds, Reynolds 10 points and 14 rebounds, and Harvey six points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
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•Brethren Christian played in the MaxPreps Holiday Classic last week and went 2-2 overall. In their final tourney game Dec. 30, the Warriors, with only seven players available for the game, defeated Nuevo Nuview Bridge, 51-48. Junior guards Gabriel Reiser and Joey Gutierrez led BC with 15 points each in the fifth-place game. Gutierrez also had seven rebounds and nine assists, and senior center Sam Kennard was perfect from the field (six-for-six) and contributed 13 points and nine rebounds.
“It was good to finish the tournament with a win considering how many of our guys couldn’t play due to illness and injury,” BC Coach Jon Bahnsen said. “Hopefully, we will be full strength as we start [Academy League] play this Friday against Calvary Chapel Downey.”
BC, which entered the week 4-8 overall, took on Saddleback Wednesday. The score from the nonleague game wasn’t available at press time.
