SUNSET LEAGUE BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Oilers Finally Put Away Ocean View

Don’t forget Tony Gonzalez’s 25 points, nine rebounds and strong inside play.

And be sure to make note of Bryan Chang’s nine points, including seven on free throws, in the final 1 minute 10 seconds.

But the key to Huntington Beach’s 63-54 Sunset League victory over Ocean View Saturday night might have come at a Seahawk pep rally several days before the game.

At least that’s what Gonzalez thought.

“We heard Ocean View had done a lot of talking,” said Gonzalez, whose 10 third-quarter points put the Oilers ahead to stay. “They said at a pep rally that Matt Ambrose and I were overrated and that they were going to kick our butts.”

It didn’t work out that way, but the unranked Seahawks did give the Oilers, ranked second in Orange County and fourth in the state, one of its toughest league games of the season.

The Oilers’ average margin of victory in nine previous league games was 25 points. But the Oilers needed free throws--lots of them--to pull this one out.

Huntington Beach made 14 of 15 attempts in the fourth quarter, including eight of nine by Chang, to improve to 20-3 and extend its winning streak to 11 games.

More important, the victory gave Huntington Beach a 10-0 league record and a two-game lead over Ocean View with six to play.

“We had been hearing all along that Ocean View was going to take it to us, and they did,” Huntington Beach Coach Roy Miller said.

Huntington Beach got off to a miserable start, making only nine of 27 shots in the first half and trailing, 26-25, at halftime.

Gonzalez took over in the third quarter, scoring 10 points as Huntington Beach outscored Ocean View, 18-8. The Oilers also capitalized on seven Ocean View turnovers in the quarter.

“We made some modifications in our offense at halftime to get the ball inside more,” Miller said. “We were relying too much on our perimeter game in the first half.”

Chang added six points in the third quarter, but he was even more valuable down the stretch, when Ocean View made it close.

Sparked by Jim Harris’ eight fourth-quarter points, Ocean View cut an 11-point Huntington Beach lead to 50-47 with 1:20 left.

Then the Seahawks made a mistake. They started fouling Chang.

He made six consecutive free throws, three on the front end of one-and-one situations, as Huntington Beach stretched its lead to 60-54 with eight seconds left. He also added a three-point play off a steal with four seconds remaining.

Harris and Sean Goodgame had 13 points apiece to lead Ocean View (12-7, 8-2).

In other league games:

Edison 66, Fountain Valley 61--Micah Kroeger scored 22 points for visiting Edison (15-6, 7-3). Ara Petrosian scored 27 for Fountain Valley (11-9, 5-5).

Marina 74, Santa Ana 66--Kevin Sullivan made seven three-pointers and scored 35 points for host Marina (10-12, 3-7). Charlie Thomas scored 14 points for Santa Ana (7-13, 3-7).

Servite 50, Westminster 37--Mark Seaton scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half and had 12 rebounds and six blocked shots for host Servite (7-13, 3-7). Lac Tan scored 12 points for Westminster (7-12, 1-9).