Okuda, Vikings shock Los Al

HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Marina High boys’ basketball team was in an unfamiliar position, with a chance to knock off defending league champion Los Alamitos with a basket.

Shooting the three-ball, though? Plenty familiar for Vikings senior Dane Okuda.

Okuda buried a three-pointer from the left wing with two seconds left Friday night, the winning basket as the Vikings stunned the Griffins, 67-66.

“I thought [senior point guard Tyler James] was going to take it and he just passed it,” Okuda said. “I had to shoot it. It was crazy, though. Great pass by Tyler.”

Pandemonium ensued at the Marina gym after Okuda hit his fourth three-pointer of the game, as fans rushed the court thinking the game was over. The officials put two seconds back on the clock, but a long pass was tipped away by Marina senior Dana Gomez and the clock ran out.

Los Alamitos (15-6, 4-1 in league), which suffered its first league loss since 2008, had tied the game with about 10 seconds to go on a leaner from senior James Walker III. But Tyler James hurried the ball up the court for the Vikings (13-6, 3-1) and found Okuda.

“[Okuda] played really well down the stretch,” said Marina Coach Roger Holmes, who announced earlier this week that he would step down after this year. “His biggest thing is just confidence. We talked to him at halftime, told him to really just go for it.”

Marina moved just a half-game behind Los Al, which is ranked No. 8 in the CIF Southern Section Division I-AA poll, for first place in league. The Vikings play at Newport Harbor on Tuesday in a game previously postponed due to a leaky gym.

Senior Brendan Holmes poured in a game-high 34 points for Marina on Friday night, including seven three-pointers of his own. The biggest shot, though, was a three-pointer with about 30 seconds left to tie the score at 64-64.

Holmes’ initial triple was partially blocked, but Gomez tipped it back out and Holmes found the range.

“It was a great job just going to the boards,” Brendan Holmes said. “I just saw it coming and knew I had to hit it.”

Los Alamitos led by eight at halftime, at 34-26, but Marina went on a 10-2 run to open the third quarter and the game was close the rest of the way.

“I knew I wasn’t playing good at all in the first half,” said Tyler James, who scored all seven of his points in that third quarter. “I wasn’t looking to score very much, but then I knew we had to turn it on and get on a run. Once we got on a run, it was easy. The tempo was up.”

For the senior class, a win over Los Al was special. Marina hadn’t beaten Los Al since 2005.

“We got close twice,” remembered James.

This time, the Vikings finished it off. Sophomore guard J.J. James had eight points for Marina.

Walker III, last year’s Sunset League Player of the Year, had 23 points, nine rebounds and four steals for Los Al. Senior center Jack Haley added 15 points and nine boards and Camryn Crocker scored 12.