Boys’ Basketball: Noah has hot hand
Billy Thompson got his first chance to coach high school boys’ basketball because of Roger Holmes four years ago. Thompson served as an assistant under Holmes, who was in charge of Fountain Valley at the time.
Both have moved on from Fountain Valley, as Thompson is in his third season at the helm of Huntington Beach and Holmes is in his third season as a co-coach at Ocean View.
Thompson’s team and Holmes’ team got together Tuesday night, and the Oilers and Seahawks sure run many of the same offensive plays. Tim Walsh, who shares the coaching duties with Holmes, believed that might be beneficial to Ocean View.
“We thought we would be better on defense because we knew what they were going to do, but that wasn’t the case,” Walsh said. “They shot the ball really well. Every time they got an open shot, they knocked it down.”
Noah Gonzalez was on fire from behind the arc for the Oilers, draining seven three-pointers to finish with 21 points to lead Huntington Beach to a 76-59 nonleague win at Ocean View.
As a team, Huntington Beach made 13 of 26 threes. Four of those successful three-pointers and one three-point play completed at the free-throw line helped the Oilers pull away from the Seahawks in the third quarter. They outscored the hosts, 23-12, to take a 59-46 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball, and when they get hot like that, they’re fun to watch,” Thompson said.
The opening eight minutes featured a lot of three-pointers.
The first six successful shots came from behind the arc, each team knocked down three three-pointers. Ocean View’s Paul Head, who finished with 16 points, hit a deep one and Vincent Caiazzo nailed one from the corner, giving the Seahawks a 6-0 lead in the first 57 seconds.
Drake Sueda and Gonzalez answered for Huntington Beach. During a 33-second stretch, Sueda made a three from the corner and Gonzalez from up top to even things up.
Gonzalez kept firing away from three-point range. He put the Oilers up, 10-9, with 5:18 left in the first quarter. Two minutes later, Gonzalez swished another three, his third, to give Huntington Beach another lead.
The Oilers and Seahawks both made four threes in the first quarter, and they were tied at 18-18. But in the waning seconds, Alekos Mitchel stole the ball near midcourt and drove in for two to put Huntington Beach ahead.
The first half was tight, and Huntington Beach again closed out a quarter strong. Mitchel (11 points) and Gonzalez both made a three-pointer late, as the Oilers went into halftime ahead, 36-34.
Gonzalez opened the second half by hitting a three, and Huntington Beach’s lead grew to five. The advantage continued to increase, as Sueda, Nick Saccacio, Hayden Moore (11 points) and Cade Ortiz each produced a three-point play.
The Oilers (7-4) were on the way to their second win in four days. Next up for them is a game against Aliso Niguel in the Orange County North-South Challenge at El Toro High on Thursday.
As for the Seahawks (7-4), they don’t play again until the day after Christmas. They’re traveling to the Rail City Classic tournament in Sparks, Nevada.
“We have a long, long way to go to become the team we want to be,” Walsh said. “Frustrating night tonight, but we’re just going to hope we keep getting better.”
Nonleague
Huntington Beach 76, Ocean View 59
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Huntington 20 – 16 – 23 – 17 — 76
Ocean View 18 – 16 – 12 – 13— 59
HB – Gonzalez 21, Moore 11, Mitchel 11, Sueda 9, Starkel 9, Saccacio 7, Brodt 5, Ortiz 3.
3-pt. goals – Gonzalez 7, Moore 2, Ortiz 1, Sueda 1, Mitchel 1, Saccacio 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
OV – Head 16, Mishler 12, Harvey 10, Roberts 6, Slusher 5, Caiazzo 5, Kurtz 3, Washington 1, Nielsen 1
3-pt. goals – Mishler 4, Head 2, Roberts 2, Harvey 1, Kurtz 1, Caiazzo 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
