Vikings take the third

Mike Sciacca, Independent

Nine days ago, Marina High girls basketball coach Butch Fredlow

knew the agony of defeat. It was the night of Feb. 3, and his Vikings

somehow let a game they had in hand, slip away at Huntington Beach High.

That, however, was then, and this is now, the present taking shape

because of one surprise during the final week of Sunset League play.

Marina and Huntington Beach met Friday for the third time in league play,

this time, in a one-game playoff showdown to determine which of the two

teams would finish third in the league standings. But this time, the

Vikings didn’t fold down the stretch as they held off the Oilers, 59-54,

on a neutral floor at Edison High.

Marina, which held a 16-9 lead after one quarter, never trailed from that

point on, and finished the regular season 18-9 overall. The Vikings will

enter the CIF Southern Section Division I-A postseason next week.

Huntington Beach, which ended the regular season in a tail spin, losing

its final three games after forming a five-game win streak, had its

record slip to 14-13. The Oilers, however, figure to earn a playoff

berth.

The leadership of senior Nikki Lee down the stretch keyed Marina’s

ability to hold off Huntington, which was led by sophomore Amy Sanders’

23 points.

“Amy’s a great player, but I want to give a lot of credit to Allison

Brennan, because I thought she did an excellent job guarding Sanders,”

Fredlow said. “She made Amy work for those 23 points.

“I was really proud of the way our girls came back with two big wins to

close out the regular season. We played like a team tonight and

hopefully, we can keep with that mentality in the playoffs.”

Lee netted 11 points, but it was Miranda Emde’s 23 points that led the

Vikings.

In addition to Sanders’ 23, the Oilers received 18 points from guard

Michelle Ito, who hit four three-point baskets.

The showdown was the second game in a 24-hour period for both teams. On

Thursday, Marina used Emde’s 15 points and nine rebounds to upend Los

Alamitos, 51-41, while Huntington dropped a 50-30 decision to Edison.

At the beginning of the week, the Oilers led Marina by one game in the

standings, and after Tuesday’s action, the Oilers still were a game up

after they were upset at Los Alamitos, and Marina lost at Esperanza.

Huntington’s surprising loss to Los Alamitos set the stage for the

playoff game.

“It was tough for the teams to play on consecutive nights, but it was

a good game,” Fredlow concluded. “I thought my group played a solid

game.”