Teams in playoff mode
When the CIF Southern Section boys’ basketball playoff pairings were announced Sunday, the names of six local teams were found among those selected to compete for various division championships.
Golden West League champion Ocean View, Sunset League teams Edison, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Marina, and Brethren Christian of the Academy League, each were awarded invites to the postseason which got underway with first-round games Wednesday. Scores from those games weren’t available at press time.
Divisional second-round games are at 7 p.m. Friday, and quarterfinal games are at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
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•Ocean View waltzed past visiting Santa Ana Friday, 104-51, to complete a 10-0 run through Golden West League competition. Senior guard Zamir Kelly led the charge with 23 points with five rebounds and four assists, and sophomore guard Bryson Betti was six for seven from three-point range and had 20 points and five assists. Sophomore guard Paul Head had 11 points, six assists and four steals, senior forward Christian Anderson 10 points and four rebounds, senior forward Jordan Petty nine points and five rebounds, and senior forward Andrew Reynolds eight points and four rebounds.
Ocean View put up 59 points in the first half, then went on a 33-10 run in the third quarter, in improving to 23-4 overall.
“We came out with great energy and our press got things going to the pace that we love,” Ocean View Coach Roger Holmes said. “As always, our goal is to win the league championship. We were favored in every game that we played in this league season but rarely lost focus and played pretty well every game.”
Ocean View hosted Garden Grove Pacifica (Empire League at-large) in a first-round Division 3A game Wednesday. The winner moves on to a second-round game Friday to face the winner of the Wednesday first-round game between Servite and Hacienda Heights Wilson.
Holmes said the Ocean View program has made the postseason each year since the school opened, and made its 38th consecutive appearance this week.
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•Edison tied for second place in the Sunset League, sharing that spot with Newport Harbor after the host Sailors upended the Chargers, 61-51, in a league finale Feb. 11. Junior guards Randall Walker and Nate Matthews scored 18 and 16 points, respectively for the Chargers who, like the Sailors, went 6-4 in league play.
“We did not play very well but much of that has to do with the effort and energy Newport played with,” Edison Coach Rich Boyce said.
At 20-7 overall, Edison is the No. 2 seed in the Division 2AA playoffs. The Chargers opened postseason play hosting Segerstrom (15-10, Golden West League No. 3) Wednesday. The winner advances to a second-round game Friday to face the winner of the Wednesday first-round game between Arroyo Grande and Alhambra Mark Keppel.
Edison finished runner-up to the 1A Division title last year.
“We need to get back to playing like we did early in the year, which was play defense and move the ball on offense,” Boyce said.
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•Fountain Valley ended Sunset play Feb. 11 with a 68-62 home loss to Huntington Beach. Barons junior guard Matt Serven hit six three-point shots and led all scorers with 25 points, and fellow junior guard Adam Trounce hit three threes and had 15 points.
Fountain Valley finished league play 1-9 (sixth place) and is 16-12 overall. The Barons earned an at-large bid to the Division 1AA playoffs and traveled Wednesday to face South Coast League champion San Clemente (20-6). The winner moves on to a second-round game Friday to face the winner of the Wednesday first-round game between Downey and Montclair.
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•Huntington Beach put three players — junior guard Alekos Mitchel (16 points), senior guard Josh Benitez (13 points) and sophomore center Justin Brodt (12 points), in double figures in its 68-62 victory Feb. 11 at Fountain Valley. The win squared the Oilers’ league mark at 5-5 (fourth place) and put them at 12-14 heading into the postseason.
“This was a very hard-fought game on both ends,” Huntington Coach Billy Thompson said. “Fountain Valley came out ready to play and our guys knew what kind of implications this game could have on our potential playoff berth. Fortunately, we made enough winning plays to get it done.”
Huntington opened Division 1A playoff action Wednesday as an at-large entry from the Sunset League and played at Pacific View League champ Oxnard (19-7). The winner advances to a second-round game Friday and will take on the winner of the Wednesday first-round game between Fullerton Troy and Temecula Valley (Thompson’s alma mater).
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•Marina’s final Sunset matchup came against league champ Los Alamitos, and the Vikings were defeated by the Griffins Feb. 11, 77-57. Senior forward Buzz Stafford scored 13 points and freshman forward Jakob Alamudun had 12 points for the Griffins.
“Los Al is in the Open Division of CIF playoffs for a reason, they are top 20 in the state, and we battled as hard as we could,” Marina Coach Nick Racklin said.
The Vikings finished league play 2-8 (fifth place) and ended the regular season 13-13. They received an at-large berth to the Division 2A playoffs — their first postseason appearance since 2012, and traveled Wednesday to play at Pacific Coast League champ Northwood (22-5). The winner advances to a second-round game Friday to play the winner of the Wednesday first-round game between Cerritos and Riverside Norte Vista.
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•Brethren Christian is in the Division 5A playoffs as an at-large entry from the Academy League. The Warriors (6-20 overall) had the task Wednesday of taking on the top seed in the division, Playa Del Rey St. Bernard (11-10, tie second-place Del Rey League). The winner goes on to a second-round game Friday to face the winner of the Wednesday first-round game between Cambria Coast Union and AGBU Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High/Pasadena.
BC ended its Academy League season Feb. 10 and scored an 84-66 victory over Cypress Oxford Academy. Senior center Sam Kennard led the scoring with 30 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Junior guard/forward Joey Gutierrez had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and sophomore guard Isaiah Vargas 15 points (three three-pointers) and seven assists.
“We finally played the way I envisioned when we beat Oxford Academy,” said BC Coach Jon Bahnsen whose Warriors went 2-10 in league for sixth place. “It was only the second game all season where we had all 12 boys dressed and available to play.”
