MARINA TOURNAMENT : Downsized Huntington Beach Beats Rancho Bernardo

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  Huntington Beach overcame a big height disadvantage with a tough swarming defense to defeat Rancho Bernardo, 64-46, to win the Marina girls’ basketball tournament Wednesday night.

“We were the smallest team in the (16-team) tournament and they were the tallest, so we had to press continuously,” Huntington Beach Coach Nick Bartlett said.

Rancho Bernardo (8-2), featuring three 6-1 players, held a 19-rebound edge at halftime but it was Huntington Beach which enjoyed a 34-23 advantage on the scoreboard.

Tournament most valuable player Clare Walker paced Huntington Beach, which is ranked seventh in Orange County, with 29 points.

The two teams battled in the first quarter to a 14-14 tie. Huntington Beach (10-2) took the lead for good on a basket by Deana Itow early in the second quarter. The Oilers continued to increase their lead with Mindi Adam ending the half with a three-pointer.

Huntington Beach scored the first two baskets of the second half to take a 38-23 lead and then both teams went cold with neither scoring for a five-minute span. By the end of the third quarter, Huntington Beach had a 11-point edge.

The Oilers built up a 52-34 lead early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

“It was a classic ‘David vs. Goliath’ battle,” Bartlett said.

Itow had 17 points and Adam and Stefanie Noffsinger each scored seven for Huntington Beach.

Rossie Cella scored 18 points to pace the Broncos of the San Diego Section.

In other tournament games:

Marina 57, Mission Viejo 39--The host Vikings forced 14 Mission Viejo turnovers in the first quarter and raced to a 19-4 lead. Marina led 32-15 at the half and cruised to an easy victory in the third-place game. Aimee Periolat scored 15, Karla Orosco 14 and Jessica Trippet 12 for Marina (7-3), ranked third in the county. Trippet added 11 rebounds. Kortney Okura had 12 points and 10 rebounds and Shandy Robbins had eight points for No. 4 Mission Viejo (10-3).

Newport Harbor 47, Ocean View 41--Senior forward Michaela Ross, who was named to the all-tournament team, had 25 points, helping Newport Harbor (5-5) win the fifth-place game. Kerri Umehira had 12 points and Farrah Magee had 10 for Ocean View (6-5).

Rancho Alamitos 78, Katella 47--Timerie James scored 25 points and Akilah Rodgers added 19 for Rancho Alamitos (8-4) in the consolation championship. Kelsi Armbruster and Rachel Davis each had 16 points for Katella (8-2). Rancho Alamitos led 38-21 at halftime.