Vikings have a bloody good time

Mike Sciacca, Independent

It might not be the intense rivalry that it once was, but Friday

night’s Sunset League match up between Marina and host Huntington Beach

still was a heated affair.

There was no standing room only crowd on hand at Elmer Combs Gymnasium,

only a boisterous one, and it was the Marina contingent which had the

most to cheer about as the Vikings outscored Huntington Beach, 14-2, in

the game’s final 3:43 to win going away, 72-50.

In winning for the 10th consecutive time, Marina (3-0 in league, 17-2

overall) won by 22 points despite having two of its key players, senior

forward Dustin Kaatz and junior guard Beau Brown, held to limited roles.

Kaatz, the Vikings’ top scorer, was bloodied in the game’s first 20

seconds, after taking a blow to the bridge of his nose. He was forced to

leave the game time and again during the opening half, and played

sparingly. Brown, who came in averaging 13 points per game, was held

scoreless the entire way.

Yet Marina displayed its balance throughout the contest, with several

other players picking up the slack. Among them were 6-foot-5 junior

forward Chris DeLuca, senior guard Randy Masada, and senior center Eric

Duke.

Despite being sidelined by his injury, Kaatz was hardly missed under the

basket, with DeLuca scoring nine of his 15 points in the first quarter.

Masada was steady throughout the night and hit a couple of key

three-point shots to finish with 11 points. Duke came off the bench and

contributed 10 points but more importantly, crashed the boards with

force.

“We showed our balance tonight,” Marina Coach Roger Holmes said. “With

two of our key players (Kaatz and Brown) basically ineffective for parts

of the game, a lot of the other guys really stepped it up. DeLuca was

huge, and Duck was outstanding.

“This is a group of guys who have won a lot of basketball games during

their years at Marina, so they know how to handle game pressure.

Huntington Beach played a great game. They’ve been playing very well and

with a lot of confidence, and I think they’re much better than their

record might indicate.”

The Oilers (4-15, 1-2) led early at 7-0, but played a game of catch up

the rest of the way. They trailed 32-25 at the half, but twice trimmed

their deficit to three points - the final time on Bart Kubelka’s lay up

off a Mike Allen feed, 38-35, with 3:23 to play in the third quarter. But

Masada quelled the comeback with a three-point basket, Duke scored on a

lay up, and after a Kubelka basket, Kaatz scored the next five Viking

points as Marina built its lead up to eight, 43-35.

It was the first full quarter of play for Kaatz, who scored nine points

as Marina took a 50-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Vikings expanded their lead to 58-42 midway though the final period

before Huntington Beach made one final move. Back-to-back three-point

baskets by Matt Sanders and Allen brought the Oilers to within 10, 58-48,

with 3:43 to play. But for every time Huntington Beach challenged

Marina’s lead, the Vikings had an answer.

The Oilers had a chance to further cut into that 10-point deficit when

they got the ball back following Kaatz’s miss on a turnaround jumper, but

Allen had his behind-the-back pass in the key stolen by Kaatz under the

Oiler basket. Kaatz turned the theft into a finger roll basket at the

other end of the court, making it a 60-48 game with 2:56 to play.

Kaatz came up with a blocked shot on the Oilers’ ensuing possession, then

scored on a follow shot. Following a Duke free throw, Kaatz, who led all

scorers with 24 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, canned a

three-point basket with a minute to play to make it 67-50.

The Oilers were done.

“You know, I was telling our guys before the game that Huntington really

is our chief rival,” Holmes said. “I tried to give them a bit of history

in regards to this rivalry, so that they would have a better

understanding of what this game meant to the players, students, and fans

of the two schools. We had a good crowd on hand tonight, and the two

teams played with a lot of intensity. That’s what you like to see.”

Next Wednesday at 7 p.m., Marina will play at Esperanza while Huntington

Beach, which received 18 points from Allen and and 10 from Sanders, will

travel to play Los Alamitos, which shares the Sunset lead with Marina.