Oilers soak it up in Maui

Christmas has come early for the Huntington Beach High boys’

basketball team, which is in Hawaii today to open up play in the

Lahainaluna Tournament on the island of Maui.

The Oilers arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and played host

Lahainaluna High in a nonleague game that night.

Huntington Beach is scheduled to play Provo, Utah tonight in a

first-round tournament game.

“The trip should be a great experience for our entire program,”

Huntington Beach coach Richard Alvarez said. “We’re really looking

forward to being in Hawaii. You really can’t do much better than

playing in a holiday basketball tournament in paradise.”

The Oilers entered the week with a 3-2 record. They got the season

off to a promising start by finishing fourth in last week’s Aztec

Classic at La Quinta High.

Huntington Beach had reached the tournament’s semifinal round but

lost to Sunset League rival Edison on a three-point shot at the

buzzer.

In the third-place game, the Oilers fell to Orange Lutheran,

45-39.

“We got off to a really great start in the tournament, but things

got a bit rough after that,” Alvarez said. “I had to keep the kids

focused on the tournament at hand and not have them be thinking about

Hawaii. But with itineraries floating around and talk of Maui, it was

hard to keep their mind off the upcoming trip.”

After their return home next week, the Oilers will play in one of

Orange County’s oldest tournaments, the Orange Holiday Classic.

Huntington Beach begins play on Dec. 26 against Ontario at Chapman

College.

Two other local boys’ basketball programs also will compete in

holiday tournaments.

Edison, which defeated University in the championship game at the

Aztec Classic, will play in the Coast Classic Tournament Dec. 26

through 30 at Estancia High.

Marina will play in its second tournament of the season Dec. 26

through 28 when the Vikings travel north to compete in the Atascadero

Tournament.

Ocean View, which started the season by playing 13 games in 16

days, is competing today and Friday in the final rounds of the Arroyo

Grande Tournament.