Ocean View in good hands

They’re the two names that have meant everything for the Ocean View High boys’ basketball team for the last few years.

Rarely is one heard without the other. For your convenience, the first names are even close enough together, rolling off the tongue. Anthony and Avery. Avery and Anthony.

“We’re in the business of developing players,” Coach Jim Harris said, but rarely in Harris’ 32 years as head coach have players like these come around.

Both like to throw down a dunk from time to time and both are listed as guard/forwards, although Brown is 6 feet 7 and Johnson is 6-3. Yet it might not surprise those close to the program that both players are averaging 17.5 points per game heading into Saturday night’s CIF Southern Section Division III-AA championship game against Foothill.

Brown has scored 526 points this season. Johnson has scored 525.

These statistics could be higher in other programs, but Ocean View has always played the team game. Brown and Johnson, the co-CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA players of the year a year ago, don’t seem to mind. Brown has a scholarship to Stanford and Johnson has offers from the University of the Pacific, University of Portland and UC Riverside. He said he’s also going on official visits to Oregon and USC later this month.

“Just focus on winning and everything will take care of itself,” Johnson said.

Ocean View’s done a lot of that lately. The Seahawks won the Division IV-AA title last year and advanced to the CIF State Division III finals. Brown and Johnson have been in the spotlight, and time and time again they have delivered.

The only egos may come during video game basketball sessions, though.

Brown will go with his NBA team of choice, the Oklahoma City Thunder, featuring his favorite player Kevin Durant. Johnson’s favorite is LeBron James, and he’ll probably counter with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“He’s ‘the chosen one,’ ” Johnson said, flashing his trademark big grin. “The best player in the world.”

James and Durant are arguably the front-runners for the NBA Most Valuable Player award this year. Good luck trying to figure out Ocean View’s MVP.

Johnson leads the team in assists (4.8 per game) and steals (2.4). Brown leads the team in three-pointers made (47) and is second in rebounding (6.9 per game).

Both fill up a stat sheet, for sure. Then again, it’s been that way ever since they met in the seventh grade, when they played for the same National Junior Basketball team. They also play together on the SCA club team, along with Seahawks senior center Ryan Okwudibonye. Guard Mason Jones, who graduated last year, was also on the team.

“It’s a real big factor,” Brown said of the familiarity factor. “We always know where each other’s at. We run in transition a lot, and you have to make plays instinctively and on the move. If you know where someone’s at, you can just play instinctively, instead of just trying to think a lot.”

On defense, those instincts lead to steals, which in turn lead to the fastbreaks that often key Ocean View runs. It happened in the second quarter of the CIF semifinals against Palm Springs. Consecutive steals, leading to a Brown dunk then a long three-pointer by junior guard Billy Keller. Then, another steal and a lay-up by Johnson.

After being down four after a quarter, suddenly Ocean View was up, 30-21, and had all the momentum.

“They impact the game everywhere,” Harris said. “Across the board, you can see their total impact, which is good. At the next level, you can’t just be a scorer.”

They have the college game — and so did their dads. Quentin Brown played at UC Irvine, and Sherman Johnson at San Diego State.

Avery Johnson, whose older brother Wynton also played for Ocean View and later at Long Beach City College, is a four-year varsity player. Avery Johnson’s freshman year, the Seahawks lost in the CIF semifinals to Norco, but two years later they got their ring.

Anthony Brown played on junior varsity that freshman year.

“He needed to play,” Harris said. “We knew he would star on the JV team. Nothing beats game experience.”

Now Anthony Brown, with his ridiculous wingspan and long-range abilities, has been the player more recruited by colleges. But Avery Johnson’s choices aren’t so bad either, and Harris said he has three other seniors — Okwudibonye, guard Steven Yoon and forward Chris Martinez — who are drawing interest.

And Anthony Brown, for one, loves it.

“[Signing with Stanford] was a weight off my shoulders, just being able to focus on the team and not have to worry about getting good stats to impress college coaches,” he said. “Also, I just wanted to help out my teammates, the people who I’ve been playing with forever, to get [college] looks as well. That was a big thing.”

Avery Johnson and Anthony Brown are so confident in their team, they said they long for an opportunity to play Mater Dei, the top-ranked team in Orange County all year long. The Monarchs play Etiwanda in the Division I-AA final Saturday, immediately preceding Ocean View vs. Foothill.

“We know they’re not better than us,” Anthony Brown said of Mater Dei.

But that’s out of the Seahawks’ control, and a big win over Foothill would say plenty.

“I came to Ocean View wanting to win a CIF championship,” Avery Johnson said. “Getting one last year was a big goal, and to have an opportunity to do it twice is even better.”

Stat-Stuffers