Oilers hang on, 53-52

HUNTINGTON BEACH ---Meghan White has 353 rebounds this year, third in Orange County.

None was bigger than the one the Huntington Beach High senior got Thursday night, in a first round CIF Southern Section Division II-AA playoff game.

White’s offensive rebound of a free throw miss with six seconds to go denied visiting Thousand Oaks a chance to try for a potential game-tying shot, and the Oilers hung on for a 53-52 victory.

No. 7-seeded Huntington Beach (21-6) will play at Roosevelt of Corona in the second round Saturday night. Roosevelt got past Katella, 44-41, in another first round game.

“I was just focusing on it,” said White of the ball after an Oilers player missed the front end of a one-and-one. “I had this feeling where it was going to go off, and I just caught it right when it came down. It was awesome.”

Huntington Beach knew visiting Thousand Oaks (16-11) would be tough, and the game was back-and-forth, especially in the second half. But sophomore Maya Kennedy had the game-winner for the Oilers, who rallied from a three-point deficit in the final minute.

Kennedy had lost the ball on the previous possession, leading to a layup for Thousand Oaks’ Katie Deamer. But Kennedy hit a jumper with 43 seconds left to pull the Oilers within one. Then, fellow sophomore Kelsey Minato tipped away the inbounds pass and it went to senior Merwa Azizi, who immediately passed it back to Kennedy.

She then hit another jumper, giving Huntington the 53-52 lead. Thousand Oaks was called for a double-dribble and had to foul, setting up White’s big offensive board.

“In the first quarter Maya really stepped up,” said Coach Russ McClurg of Kennedy, who finished with a team-high 19 points. “She kind of carried us.”

But Minato came on strong in the second half to score 17 points of her own. And Azizi hit two big three-pointers in the fourth quarter. The last one pulled Huntington within a point with about 1:30 to go.

“The first half she didn’t make any, so they didn’t respect her,” White said. “But we trust Merwa. We know she can make big shots.”

Senior forward Amber Page scored twice in an active first half and the Oilers also got good minutes off the bench from Sasha Mancisidor, Jill Nakaso and Michelle Goodman.

“It was a team win, a good team win,” Azizi said. “Everyone pitched in.”

Deamer had 19 points to lead Thousand Oaks.

Huntington Beach is now one win away from the CIF quarterfinals.

“Our goal this year was to get 15 wins and we’ve got 21 wins right now,” Minato said. “Hopefully we can keep on winning as they playoffs go on.”