Oil wins! HB Oilers sweep against Marina
For the second year in a row, the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams from Marina and Huntington Beach met in a doubleheader dubbed the Oil vs. Water showdown, and the rivalry matchups Friday served as Sunset League openers for all four squads.
After three hours of competition, it was the Huntington Beach Oilers who earned a sweep.
In the first game before a boisterous and near-capacity crowd in the Marina gymnasium, the Huntington girls rolled to a 65-24 victory. Junior guard Kaylyn Nakaji scored a game-high 22 points and junior guard Frankie Wade-Sanchez added 10 points for the Oilers who improved to 16-5 overall. Vikings fell to 6-10.
In the night cap, Huntington led from start to finish to knock off Marina.
Marina boys’ Coach Nick Racklin knew what his team had to do, and the game plan, he said, seemed simple: “Don’t let No. 33 shoot the ball,” he said.
Racklin was referring to Huntington shooting guard Noah Gonzalez, but No. 33 still managed to hit plenty of game-turning three-point shots to key the Oilers in their 59-55 victory. The junior went on scoring spurts early in the second quarter and at the outset of both the third and four quarters, to spur the Oilers into double-digit leads.
“We just didn’t follow the scouting report,” Racklin said. “[Gonzalez] got open and hit his shots, and we just couldn’t get going tonight.
“Huntington does two things really good, press and shoot the ball. They did both tonight, and that caused problems for us.”
Gonzalez scored eight consecutive points for Huntington, which included a pair of three-point shots, early in the second quarter to give Huntington (8-9) its first double-digit leads (23-13, 26-15). He nailed his first two three-point shots of the second half less than a minute into the third quarter, and scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter on a pair of three-point shots and three free throws after being fouled on a three-point shot attempt from the top left-side of the key.
That sizzling 9-0 spurt gave the Oilers their largest lead of the game, 54-40, with six minutes remaining.
Gonzalez finished with a game-high 25 points.
“Noah worked really, really hard on his shot during the off-season, and it shows,” Huntington Coach Billy Thompson said. “He had a big shooting night and really sparked us.”
“We sure got better than our last game (a 62-42 loss Wednesday to Northwood). We got our fast-break going and pushed the ball up court tonight.”
To its credit, Marina (11-5) never quit. The Vikings clawed back each time Huntington staked its way to a double-digit lead, yet couldn’t get over the hump to complete their comeback. Missed free throws — 11, total, from a team that Racklin said had hit 80% from the foul line in its first 15 games, and squandered possessions late in the game cost the Vikings.
Huntington opened the scoring in each quarter.
Huntington scored the first six points of the game and took a 16-9 lead through the first eight minutes which saw the Oilers lock down defensively and hit the boards on the offensive glass that led to second-chance possessions. After Gonzalez hit his second three-pointer of the second quarter for a 26-15 lead, the Vikings went on a 7-0 run to close to within 26-22 with 1:28 to go before halftime. A free throw by Oilers senior guard Sean Strom, who had just re-entered the game, ended the run and was the first point scored by the Oilers in more than three minutes.
A driving lay-in by Marina senior guard/forward Buzz Stafford with 38 seconds left brought the Vikings to within 29-26 at the break.
Gonzalez hit a three-pointer 27 seconds into the second half and later in the third quarter, a follow shot by Strom from under the basket pushed Huntington back up 10, 41-31, with 3:04 left. A baseline jumper by senior guard Nick Karidakis a minute later extended the lead to 43-31.
Again, Marina whittled away at the deficit. A couple of baskets and a free throw by Stafford, and a three-point play by senior guard/forward Ethan Young, allowed the Vikings to finish the quarter on a 9-2 run and pull within 45-40.
Gonzalez’s torrid start to the fourth quarter looked as though it would allow Huntington to pull away with its 14-point lead (54-40) but again, Marina responded this time, with its biggest run yet. An 11-0 tear began with a with a lay-in by Young, included a three-point shot by Stafford (20 points) and ended when freshman forward Jakob Alamudun (14 points) dropped in two free throws. With 2:32 remaining, the Vikings were within 54-51.
The Vikings could get no closer. A free throw by Strom, Huntington’s first point in early four minutes since Gonzalez’s 9-0 scoring run opened the quarter, and a key, put-back shot by senior forward Reed Slack with just over a minute to play, put the Oilers in control.
“The Sunset League is going to be so tough this year,” Thompson said. “To get one [win] here against a good Marina team is a nice way to start league play.”
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Friday Scoreboard (league openers)
Girls
Sunset League
Huntington Beach 65, Marina 24
Golden West League
Segerstrom 41, Ocean View 39
Boys
Sunset League
Huntington Beach 59, Marina 55
Los Alamitos 61, Edison 51
Newport Harbor 61, Fountain Valley 51
Golden West League
Ocean View 87, Segerstrom 51
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Tuesday’s Game Schedule
Girls’ Basketball
Sunset League (7 p.m.)
Edison at Marina
Fountain Valley at Los Alamitos
Newport Harbor at Huntington
Golden West League (6:30 p.m.)
Loara at Ocean View
Academy League (6 p.m.)
Crean Lutheran at Brethren Christian
Boys’ Basketball
Academy League (8 p.m.)
Crean Lutheran vs. Brethren Christian
(at Liberty Christian School)
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Wednesday’s Game Schedule
Boys’ Basketball (7 p.m.)
Sunset League
Marina at Edison
Los Alamitos at Fountain Valley
Huntington at Newport Harbor
Golden West League
Loara at Ocean View
