Seahawks reach deep, defeat Santa Ana Valley

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Jim Harris has to be the envy of his Orange County coaching

brethren.

Not only is the Ocean View High boys basketball head honcho knee-deep in

talent, but he has depth to spare, as was evident Wednesday night when

the host Seahawks tamed a pesky Santa Ana Valley team, 58-44, in

nonleague action.

The Seahawks, who are now on a modest seven game win streak, improved to

20-2 overall, marking the fourth consecutive year that the school has

reached the 20-win plateau.

“I told these kids that that’s a fact that they can be very proud of,”

Harris said following a very brief team meeting following the game. “Hey,

at 20-2, there’s not much to say. The kids know what to do at this

point.”

The Seahawks have hardly missed a step since losing starting senior

forward Jeremiah Bell to an ankle injury last week. Harris mixed up his

lineup frequently Wednesday, and inserted sophomore guard Steve Clarke

into the starting lineup.

Also seeing plenty of playing time was freshman guard Casey Ortiz, who

finished with five points.

“Not only do both Steve and Casey have little varsity experience, they

also have very little high school basketball experience,” Harris said. “I

thought the two of them played very well. Clark (five points) is known to

be a very good shooter, but he wasn’t as on as much as he would have like

to be tonight.”

With Bell out, Ocean View was missing 16 points and 11 rebounds per game.

But talented junior forward Marques Crane was his usual self, although he

was below his 22.8 scoring average.

Crane led all scorers with 17 points and also added eight rebounds and

three blocked shots.

Another standout was former Seahawk, now current Seahawk, Torin Beeler.

Beeler, who transferred to Calvary Chapel prior to the start of the

1999-2000 school year, is back once again at Ocean View. He has been in a

Seahawk jersey for a little more than a week, and Wednesday, he

contributed 12 points.

Beeler played at Ocean View his first three years before transferring to

Calvary Chapel.

“Torin’s a true Ocean View basketball player, through and through,”

Harris said. “We’re glad to have him back.”

In addition to Crane and Beeler, Ryan Westbrook (nine points, seven

assists), junior Jason Roth (three points), and Ortiz, all drew praise

from Harris.

“I thought those five guys played exceptionally well tonight,” he said.

Ocean View led 20-8 after the first quarter and 23-8 on Clarke’s

three-point play in the first minute of the second period. That’s when

Santa Ana Valley (9-12) pieced together a nice 9-0 run, led by guard Alex

Landa, to close to within 23-17.

But Crane, who sat on the bench during the Falcons’ scoring spree,

returned, came up with a monstrous block of Eddie Navarette’s shot inside

the key, and Ocean View went on to score the final four points of the

half for a 27-17 lead at the break.

Clarke’s follow shot with 1:44 to play in the half was the first Ocean

View basket in 5:16 span.

It was the scoring and rebounding of Beeler, who scored on a three-point

play off an offensive rebound and moments later, came up with a steal and

lay in, that sparked a 15-2 Seahawk run in the third quarter that took

Ocean View from a 32-21 lead into a 45-23 advantage.

That gave Harris the luxury of, once again, going deep into his bench,

working on various lineup changes.

The chemistry worked.

“We have a very talented, unselfish team on our hands,” Harris concluded.

“The kids really enjoy one another, root for each other. They’re having a

great time out there.”

Ocean View, ranked 15th in the state, will open the second half of Golden

West League play Friday, hosting Saddleback in a 7 p.m. tip-off.”