Ocean View opens with victory

Kicking off the start of its own Tournament of Champions on Monday, Ocean View jumped out to a big lead on Lakewood, withstood a second-half run by the Lancers and then went on to post a 69-56 win in boys’ basketball action.

It was the opening game of the 20th annual tournament, which continues today and Friday, and concludes with championship-round action Saturday.

Seahawks senior guard/forward Takeshi Clifford took over the first-half scoring, where he produced all of his game-high 21 points.

Fifteen of those points came during a first quarter that saw Ocean View storm out to a 24-6 lead. The Seahawks led 38-25 at the half, but Lakewood chipped away at that lead and cut its deficit to 50-42 at the end of three.

The Lancers drew to within six points three times in the fourth quarter but could get no closer. The last time came at 56-50 with 4:45 to play, but a jumper from the right-side of the key by Anthony Brown, and another jumper by Steven Smith, put Ocean View into a double-digit lead once again, 60-50, with 3:32 to play.

A steal created by Anthony Pancoast led to a jumper by Brown. That was followed by a turnover created by Brandon Ishimoto, and Brown picked up the loose ball and then fed Pancoast for an easy lay-in.

The defensive-led scores upped the lead to 64-50 with 2:02 remaining and put the Lancers away.

“What stood out foremost to me was the play of our guards. Their play was impeccable,” Ocean View co-head coach Jimmy Harris said of the defensive efforts of Ishimoto, Billy Keller, Steven Smith and the guard rotation of Brown, Steven Yoon and Avery Johnson.

“We held their big shooter in check, even though he ended up getting some points.”

Harris was referring to Lancers guard Kevin McClelland who did finish with 17 points, which is a points per game average.

  Marina

Marina ran “The System” to near perfection Tuesday against Anaheim in the opening round of the Beckman Tournament, using the three-ball to rout the Colonists, 105-67.

The Vikings drained several three-point shots to race out to a 32-13 lead in the first quarter.

They led 65-36 at the half.

Fifteen different players scored for Marina, which nailed 16 three-point shots.

Garrett James scored 25 points and Brendan Holmes added 18 points. Dion Douglas had 11 points, Deondre Moss eight and Andrew Moore seven points.

Rebounding-wise, Chad Lewis finished with seven, Dana Gomez with six and Steven Murray pulled down five.

“It was a great team effort and the players ran ‘The System’ to perfection,” Marina Coach Roger Holmes said. “The team is playing well right now and will have a real test against El Modena on Wednesday.”

Previously, Marina won three games to capture third place at the Fullerton Tournament. The Vikings defeated American of Fremont. (83-69); La Serna (87-84) and Kennedy (97-90).

In the win over Kennedy, James netted 34 points, Holmes and Douglas each scored 18 points and Tyler James recorded 10 assists.

James was named to the all-tournament team.

“We played pretty well in three pretty close games,” Marina Coach Roger Holmes said. “Our pressure worn down our opponents and we took over in the latter part of each game.”

  Huntington Beach

Huntington went 3-1 at the La Quinta Tournament. The Oilers began the tournament with a 72-64 win over host La Quinta, a game in which starting senior guard Trevor Carroll sat out due to an injured knee. Huntington also was without senior guard Raja Rabat, who is sidelined with a broken foot.

Huntington then suffered its only loss of the tournament in a 53-53 setback to Edison. The Oilers were in control at the half, leading by 15 points. They still led by two after three quarters and maintained a five-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Chargers took the lead with under two minutes to play. Carroll was still hampered by the deep bone bruise to his right knee but did see limited playing time.

In other tournament wins, the Oilers built a 25-point fourth-quarter lead on Servite and went on to topple the Friars, 90-75, and also throttled University of Irvine, 86-62.

Nick Becker poured in a game-high 33 points and Zach Kimber scored 21 in the win over Servite. Kimber scored 17, Nick Neser 15, Becker 14 and Carroll 12 in a balanced scoring attack against University.

  Edison

Edison reached the third-place game of the La Quinta Tournament where the Chargers lost 49-46 to Corona del Mar, 49-46. Kyle Boswell scored 21 points and Eric Ferraro 10 to lead the Chargers.

Also at the tournament, Edison, in addition to rallying in the second-half to defeat Huntington, defeated Brentwood (58-49). The Chargers also lost to JSerra, 74-50.

In the 53-39 win over Huntington, Boswell had a game-best 22 points and Carl Eberts scored 19.

In girls’ basketball

Huntington hammered visiting Fountain Valley Monday in nonleague play, 67-34. The Oilers held a commanding, 34-11 lead at the half.

Noelani Viloria posted a game-high 22 points and Oilers teammate Sarah Hoagland scored 11.

Marina picked up its first win of the season and squared its record at 1-1 by pounding El Modena, 50-24, at University High. Nine Vikings scored led by Rita Sitivi’s 10 points.

Edison, which hasn’t played since defeating Huntington in the title game at the Century Tournament on Dec. 1, plays a nonleague game tonight (7 p.m.) at Northwood.

The Chargers are 4-0 entering tonight’s game.

At the Century Tournament, junior Kelly Peterson, was selected MVP and freshman Bonnie Samuelson and senior Victoria Lokhorst were named to the all-tournament team.

“I am happy with how the girls are playing,” Edison Coach Corey Kelly said. “I think we can be a very solid team, however, we need to continue to work hard everyday, like we have been, to improve throughout the year.