Oilers keep on winning

The Huntington Beach High boys’ volleyball team went to San Diego County this past weekend to compete at the Best of the West Invitational where it added to its victory total and continued its tournament dominance.

The Oilers won the Best of the West championship for an unprecedented third consecutive year. They went undefeated over two days and in doing so, extended their national-record winning streak to 120 consecutive matches.

Last year, Huntington had become the first program to win tournament in consecutive years.

“This tournament was big for us,” Huntington Coach Craig Pazanti said. “It’s the toughest tournament every season, and to come out of it 7-0, is a huge accomplishment. The best part about it, was that it was a total team effort. We had different guys leading us each match, and after looking at the stats from the final match, we are getting contributions from everyone.”

The 32-team tournament got underway Friday. Huntington, the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 1, was the No. 1 seed in Pool 1. The Oilers went 3-0 in pool play Friday, defeating El Segundo (2-0), San Diego Del Notre (2-1) and Highland (Gilbert, Ariz., 2-0). Advancing to the Gold Division bracket Saturday, they proceeded to defeat Clovis Buchanan (2-1), San Clemente (2-0), Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (2-0, semifinals) and in the final, took down Sunset League rival Newport Harbor in a sweep, 25-17, 25-18.

In the title match, Oilers senior outside hitter Sean Morrissey had seven kills, senior outside hitter Eric Beatty and senior middle blocker Davey Kim had six kills each, and senior middle blocker Shane Holdaway and junior middle blocker Noah Franklin each had four kills.

Holdaway also had four blocks, sophomore Grant Guinasso had six digs, and senior setter Tanner Woods 25 assists.

Beatty was named tournament MVP and Woods was named to the all-tourney team.

The tournament run put the Oilers at 16-0 overall.

“Maybe even more important than bringing home the trophy this weekend, this team is starting to believe in itself,” Pazanti said. “I hope this weekend will be the catalyst that pushes this group to the level that we need to play at all the time. We were challenged by great teams all weekend. Ideally, we can use this experience to create some momentum as we move into a tough Sunset League, and the CIF playoffs.”

In other boys’ nonleague volleyball action last week, Corona del Mar, then ranked second behind Huntington in CIF-SS Division 1, posted a 25-21, 25-20, 17-25, 25-15 victory over visiting Edison. Trent Williams had 13 kills, Tyler Power 10 kills, and Corey Taylor 27 assists for the Chargers.

In other boys’ volleyball news, the Orange County Championships, a tournament hosted by Edison, runs Friday, Saturday and Monday. Edison Coach Matt Skolnik said Monday that tournament details would be finalized Wednesday. Game sites are Edison, Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar.

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Boys’ Basketball

Edison, runner-up to the CIF-SS Division 2AA title for days earlier, opened the CIF Southern California Regional Division III tournament March 9. The No. 2-seeded Chargers had their season come to an end after a 65-58 home loss to No. 15-seeded San Diego Kearny, the CIF San Diego Section Division 1 champion.

Junior guard Randall Walker scored 20 points, senior guard Jake Burton (three three-pointers) 13 points and junior guard Nate Matthews nine points for the Chargers who held a late lead in a game that was close throughout. They were outscored by the Komets, 18-11, in the fourth quarter.

Edison Coach Rich Boyce called Kearny (31-4), which was eliminated from the tournament Saturday after a 59-57 second-round loss to No. 7-seeded Calabasas, a “very talented team.”

“They were tough to guard, especially when their 6-9 center (Robby Robinson, 27 points) stepped out and hit three-pointers,” he said. “[Our] players gave me everything they had, as they have all season. So proud of their effort.”

Edison, which tied for second place in the Sunset League, concluded a 24-9 campaign which Boyce said was a “very unexpected season, considering we only had three returners.”

“The kids worked hard and fought for everything they got,” he said. “All credit to them.”

The two regional semifinal games Tuesday pitted No. 1-seeded Chino Hills Ayala, which defeated Edison in the CIF-SS Division 2AA final March 5, against No. 5-seeded Oak Park, and No. 6-seeded La Verne Bonita against Calabasas. Scores from the semifinal games weren’t available at press time. The winners advance to Saturday’s regional final.

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Wrestling

Twins Justin and Jeremy Thomas, residents of Huntington Beach and seniors at Santa Ana Calvary Chapel High, both won individual weight class titles at the 44th annual CIF State Boys’ Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

In two of 14 weight-class finals, Justin Thomas won the 160-pound class over Clovis Buchanan senior Abner Romero (Sudden-Victory-1 5-3), and Jeremy Thomas won the 170-pound class over Palm Desert junior Anthony Mantanona (Fall, 5:26).

Calvary Chapel finished in fifth place in the team standings. The tournament was won by Buchanan.

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Football

Justin Schaeffer has been hired as the head football coach at Fountain Valley High, the school announced in a press release Friday.

Schaeffer comes to Fountain Valley after serving seven years as the founding head football coach at Murrieta Mesa High. He built the school’s football program from the ground-up, starting with an all-freshman class in the school’s 2009-10 opening year. Last fall, the Rams turned in their strongest showing in the CIF Southern Section Southwestern League (2-3 league, 5-5 overall).

In addition to his time at Murrieta Mesa, Schaeffer, who has more than 21 years of coaching experience, served two sets of seven consecutive years as defensive assistant coach and defensive coordinator at both Southwestern Community College and his alma mater, Chula Vista Hilltop High.

“It was clear from the start of our process that Coach Schaeffer embodied all the qualities we were looking for in our next head coach,” Fountain Valley Principal Dr. Morgan Smith said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to the outstanding leadership he will provide and develop in our student athletes.”

In addition to taking on the head coaching duties of Barons football, Fountain Valley co-Athletic Director Steve Eggert said Tuesday that Schaeffer will teach in the special education department at the school.

“We are absolutely thrilled that Justin has decided to join the Baron family,” Eggert said in a statement. “His experience, personality, temperament, and energy, are what we are looking for in our new coach to lead Baron Football, and we welcome Justin and his family to the Baron Community. Coach Schaeffer has been successful at every stop of his career and came highly recommended as an incredibly hard-working, family man of high character.”

Schaeffer replaces Ray Fenton who left Fountain Valley in January when he was hired as the new head football coach at Los Alamitos.

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Water Polo

Diggy Riley, longtime boys’ and girls’ water polo coach at Edison, announced his resignation March 9 from both positions. Riley coached the boys’ program for 15 years, and the first 10 of his 11 girls’ teams advanced to the CIF-SS playoffs.

Riley remains as head coach of the Edison swim program.

“My focus right now is on swim season and trying to win a league championship for both teams,” he said.

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CIF Weekly Rankings

Boys’ Volleyball: Huntington Beach (No. 1, Division 1).