TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS : Ocean View Victory Makes Harris Think of Troubles Ahead

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Ocean View High School Coach Jim Harris managed to find a dark cloud in his silver lining Thursday night.

Sure, the Seahawks held on to defeat Morningside, 59-56, in the quarterfinals of Tournament of Champions at Ocean View, but Harris wasn’t completely happy. He already was thinking about next week, when Ocean View will play in a tournament in Florida.

Because of their victory, the Seahawks will be on display for all to see tonight in the semifinals against Mater Dei. The game will be televised nationally.

Harris could already hear the VCRs running.

“We just gave everyone on the East Coast a free scouting report on us,” Harris said, smiling.

Harris will take it, though. Especially because the Seahawks may be ahead of schedule.

“I knew we were going to be a good team at the end of the season and this shows me we’re getting there,” Harris said.

By beating Morningside, they not only got to the semifinals, but beat a team deep in talent. The Monarchs (5-1) are the No. 1 ranked team in the Southern Section’s 3-AA poll and were coming off a 69-48 victory over Los Alamitos in the first round.

“I saw the six or seven dunks--all on rebounds--they had in that game and knew we would have to do something to keep them off the boards,” Harris said. “We couldn’t let them get going like that.”

Ocean View (6-0) held Morningside in check by slowing the tempo. Instead of running with the Monarchs, the Seahawks chose to work the halfcourt offense.

Marcel Tenberge, a 6-foot-8 center, and Jim Gwaltney, a 6-5 forward, worked off picks for layups and short jumpers. Tenberge scored 14 points and Gwaltney scored 13.

Tenberge also had seven rebounds.

With those two doing most of the damage, the Seahawks built an uncomfortable 46-39 lead after three quarters.

“We have some good size and we want to take advantage of it,” Harris said. “By doing that, we were able to control things.”

Ocean View throughout most of the game, but Morningside made final run with with two minutes left.

A three-point field goal by Martel Bland (10 points) and two free throws by Arthur Savage (16 points) tied the score, 56-56, with 45 seconds left.

But, with 38 seconds, Ocean View’s Greg Evans drove the lane and scored over Savage to give Ocean View a 58-56 lead.

After a turnover, Darren Ernst made a free throw to increase the lead to 59-56. Morningside had two chances to tie the score, but Donald Sanders and Stais Boseman both missed three-point field goal attempts.

In the other quarterfinal:

Long Beach Poly 61, Brea-Olinda 55--Tyus Edney and Roderick Hannibal each scored 16 points to lead Long Beach Poly, which outscored Brea, 19-8, in the fourth quarter. Keith Walker scored 39 points for Brea.

In consolation games:

Muir 39, Servite 38--Laday Smith scored 11 points and Jacque Vaughn 10 to lead the Mustangs. Servite missed a shot at the buzzer. Steve Marusich scored 13 points for the Friars.

Los Alamitos 77, Los Angeles Jefferson 63--Los Alamitos went on a 12-0 run to start the fourth quarter to break open a close game.