Ocean View edges Huntington Beach

When Fabian Luna became head coach of the Huntington Beach High boys’ basketball program three years ago, he said one of the first things he did was get on the phone and try to secure games against local schools. One school to take up his offer was Ocean View.

Last year, the Oilers and Seahawks finally met on the hardwood and Huntington came away with a home court victory.

Monday, the Seahawks welcomed Huntington to the Ocean View gymnasium, then promptly showed the Oilers the backdoor.

As in, backdoor play.

Avery Johnson took a pass from teammate Anthony Brown and hit a lay-up with five seconds left to provide the winning points as Ocean View survived Huntington, 66-64, in a thrilling neighborhood match-up.

Despite Johnson’s basket, the Seahawks could only watch and hold their collective breath, as the Oilers’ Zach Kimber launched a three-point shot from roughly 30 feet. His shot had the distance but bounced off the backboard and glanced off the rim as time expired.

An exasperated Kimber also expired to the floor after his missed attempt, overcome with disappointment in a game where both teams made big runs, countered with key baskets and came up with clutch plays.

“It was as great game and it’s good to have a neighborhood rivalry game like this,” Huntington Coach Fabian Luna said. “We never gave up and both teams exchanged punches.

“But you have to hand it to those guys. They hit some tough shots and responded every time we came right at them. That’s a very good team we just lost to.”

Ocean View co-head coach Jimmy Harris felt the same about the Oilers.

“I actually can’t gather my thoughts right now because that was one of those classic games,” he said. “Neither team gave in. I was impressed with Huntington’s offensive sets they had for (David) Swartz and Kimber. They were successful in utilizing their strengths. It was a great game between these schools.”

Ocean View never trailed in the game. On three occasions, the Seahawks led by as many as eight points, the final time after Johnson completed a three-point play with 7:12 left to play to put Ocean View up, 52-44. The Seahawks still led by seven (53-46) with 6:42 remaining but Huntington went on a 11-4 run to tie the score at 57-57 midway through the fourth quarter. Nick Neser hit a pair of three-point shots during the run, the last of which knotted the score. It was the game’s first tie since 5-5 in the first quarter.

Ocean View, which improved to 14-6 overall, got a three-point shot from Brown to take a 62-59 lead but almost immediately, Kimber hit a smooth three-pointer to draw the Oilers even again (62-all), with 3:13 left.

Huntington was down, 66-62, with two minutes left after Brown scored on a follow shot off a Johnson miss, but David Swartz hit a bank shot and later scored on a lay-up with 29 seconds left to tie the score, 66-66.

Swartz topped all scorers with 23 points. Kimber had 19 points and Clark 13 more for the Oilers who fell to ‘6-3.

Brown led three Seahawks in double figures with 22 points. Jones scored 17 and Johnson finished with 16.

Ocean View returns to Golden West League play Wednesday. The Seahawks play at 7 p.m. at Saddleback.

Huntington resumes Sea View League play at 7 p.m. Friday hosting Woodbridge.

Both the Seahawks and Oilers are 3-0 and lead their respective league races.