Locals have high hopes

The CIF Southern Section playoffs can be tough to predict, especially in basketball, where a hot-shooting team can seemingly pull off an upset on any given night.

Huntington Beach high school boys’ teams this year, though, have enough talent to make it a February — or maybe even a March — to remember.

Ocean View is the top seed in Division III-AA, Edison is the second seed in Division II-AA and Brethren Christian is the third seed in Division V-A.

Those three teams have a combined record of 66-11.

Throw in a dangerous Marina team that’s the 16th seed in Division II-AA, and Liberty Christian in Division VI-AA and Surf City is definitely well-represented.

Ocean View is looking for its second straight CIF title and would love to make a return appearance at the CIF State finals after losing there last year in Sacramento. This year, the state finals are in Bakersfield.

Yet, Coach Jim Harris is refusing to let the Golden West League champion Seahawks (23-3), led by seniors Anthony Brown and Avery Johnson, get ahead of themselves. Even if they have won 13 straight games and are ranked No. 8 in the state by CalHiSports.com.

“They talk about a state championship,” said Harris, whose team opened CIF at home against Agoura on Wednesday and with a win will play either Apple Valley or Norco in Friday’s second round. “People talk about, ‘Well, you should be right back there,’ but there’s a lot of good teams in CIF.”

Harris said after the team suffered two of its three losses at an Arizona tournament in late December that they recommitted to defense and fundamentals and the results have showed.

“It’s easy for the talent to take over and leave the fundamentals behind,” Harris said. “But these kids are not big headache kids. They’re really great about that. They expect to win, but they’re not cocky about it. I can honestly say this season has gone way too fast. It’s been a joy to be a part of it.”

Edison (22-4) has also expected to win, even after losing leading scorer Kyle Boswell to a broken hand early in the season. The Chargers, led by junior Dylan Garrity and senior Ryan Walker, stayed ranked near the top of the division all year. They opened CIF against El Dorado on Wednesday and with a win could play either Whittier or Aliso Niguel on Friday in the second round.

“Losing Kyle was a big blow, but the kids have really picked it up,” Coach Rich Boyce said. “People thought our season was over and the kids didn’t see it that way. They have been in a ton of really tough games and we’re a totally different team than we were [earlier in the season].”

Academy League champion Brethren Christian (21-4) is trying to get past the CIF quarterfinals, where the Warriors exited last season.

Led by seniors Austin Loeb and Austin Wenger, Brethren opened at home Wednesday night against Laguna Blanca. With a win, it will play either No. 12-seeded Aquinas or Frazier Mountain on Friday at home.

Coach Jon Bahnsen said Brethren Christian won CIF in 1993 and last made the semifinals in 2002.

“All four of our losses were to ranked public school opponents in bigger divisions,” Bahnsen said. “We’ve exceed our expectations. Austin Wenger and Austin Loeb, they’re both our go-to guys on offense.”

Marina, led by seniors Brendan Holmes, Tyler James and Dane Okuda, opened Division II-AA play at Canyon Springs on Wednesday. If the Vikings win, they could play top-seeded Summit on Friday night, although that game would be at Marina.

Liberty Christian, the third-place team from the Express League, opened the Division VI-AA playoffs at home Wednesday against No. 3-seeded Orangewood Academy. A Liberty Christian upset would put the team against either Baker Valley or the California School for the Deaf on Friday.

All games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Planting The Seed

Area teams and their CIF seeding heading into the playoffs:

Division II-AA: 1. Summit; 2. Edison; 3. Canyon; 4. Alta Loma

Division III-AA: 1. Ocean View; 2. Foothill; 3. Elsinore; 4. Sonora

Division V-A: 1. Renaissance Academy; 2. Besant Hill; 3. Brethren Christian; 4. Sierra Canyon