High School Roundup: Oilers reach semifinals

Huntington Beach High made its second consecutive trip to the CIF Southern Section Division 1 boys’ water polo semifinals last week and for the second-straight year, the Oilers had their bid for a section title end in a Final Four matchup.

The No. 3-seeded Oilers fell behind early to Studio City Harvard-Westlake and couldn’t recover, and the defending champion Wolverines powered their way to a 12-9 victory Nov. 18 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine.

Harvard-Westlake, the No. 2-seed, scored the first four goals of the game, then pulled away from a 5-3 halftime advantage by scoring the first five goals of the second half.

Attacker Skyler Munatones led Sunset League champion Huntington with three goals, attacker Ethan Wojciechowski scored twice, and Patrick Saunders had nine saves.

“Harvard-Westlake is a great team, and we congratulate them on the win,” Coach Sasa Branisavljevic said. “We needed to play a perfect game to beat them, and I thought we played well but we made some critical mistakes in critical moments.

Huntington ended the year 23-7.

“I thought we had a great season,” Branisavljevic said. “It feels great to

In the Division 1 final Saturday, a repeat of the 2014 final between the schools and won by Harvard-Westlake, Mater Dei claimed the crown this time by knocking off the Wolverines, 9-8.

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Cross-Country

The Ocean View boys’ team and individual athletes from Huntington Beach, Edison and Fountain Valley competed Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Cross-Country Championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Ocean View placed 15th in the Boys’ Division 3 team standings. Individual times for the Seahawks: senior Eric Jimenez (16:07.6, 32nd); junior Ryan Pierre (16:28.8, 49th); junior Jesus Fuentes (16:49.5, 71st); freshman Edwin Montes (16:53.3, 74th); sophomore David Brito (17:17.7, 92nd); junior Adam Carles (17:33.6, 103rd); senior Luis Montes (17:35.4, 104th).

Individually, Huntington Beach senior Cassie Durgy (19:22.3) finished in 34th place in the Girls’ Division 1 race, and Fountain Valley senior William Hua (16:13.0) and Edison junior Gus Weiss (16:14.5) placed 54th and 58th, respectively, in the Boys’ Division 1 race.

The CIF State Cross-Country Championships are Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

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Basketball

Coaches for a Cause

Eight games over a 12-hour period will be played Saturday at the Ocean View High gymnasium with the fifth edition of the Coaches for a Cause event.

Local boys’ teams Ocean View and Marina, and the Ocean View girls’ team, will compete Saturday. Marina takes on Saddleback at 10:30 a.m. and the Ocean View boys’ team faces Mission Viejo at 6 p.m. The Ocean View girls’ team will play at 3 p.m. against Lakewood St. Joseph.

Proceeds from the event benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Coaches for a Cause Game Schedule

9 a.m.: Central City vs. Fairmont Prep

10:30 a.m.: Marina vs. Saddleback

Noon: El Modena vs. Sage Hill

1:30 p.m.: Dominguez vs. Oakwood

3 p.m.: Ocean View girls vs. St. Joseph

4:30 p.m.: Troy vs. JSerra

6 p.m.: Ocean View boys vs. Mission Viejo

7:30 p.m.: Orange Lutheran vs. Bishop Montgomery

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Jim Harris Memorial Tournament of Champions

The Ocean View gymnasium also is the site of the Jim Harris Memorial Tournament of Championships which gets underway Monday and runs through Dec. 5. Ocean View will face Bellflower in a pool-play game at 4 p.m. Monday.

Jim Harris Memorial Tournament of Champions

Monday Schedule

4 p.m.: Ocean View vs. Bellflower

5:30 p.m.: Saddleback Valley Christian vs. LACES

7 p.m.: Foothill vs. Dominguez

Tuesday Schedule

3 p.m.: Central City vs. Oakwood

4:30 p.m.: LACES vs. Ocean View

6 p.m.: Long Beach Wilson vs. Dominguez

7:30 p.m.: Clovis West vs. Bellflower

Wednesday Schedule

3 p.m.: LACES vs. Central City

4:30 p.m.: Foothill vs. Long Beach Wilson

6 p.m.: Ocean View vs. Clovis West

7:30 p.m.: Bullard vs. Oakwood

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CIF Preseason Rankings

Boys’ Soccer: Edison (No. 4, Division 1).

Girls’ Soccer: Huntington Beach (No. 7, Division 1); Edison (No. 10, Division 1); Ocean View (No. 6, Division 5).

Girls’ Water Polo: Ocean View (No. 2, Division 6).

Wrestling: Fountain Valley (No. 8, Coastal Division).