Marina goes overtime to down Griffins

Mike Sciacca

A buzzer-beater at the end of regulation was just the set-up of more

great things to come for the Marina High boys’ basketball team, which

went on to upset Los Alamitos, 71-61, at Marina.

Jeff DeLaunay scored at the end of regulation to tie the score at

58-58. The Vikings went on to outscore Los Alamitos, 15-3, in the

extra session, to hand the Griffins their first league loss.

“It was a pretty exciting game,” Marina coach Roger Holmes said.

“We have been playing everyone pretty tough, and we have lost three

games in league and we had a shot to win at the buzzer in each of

them. Luckily, Jeff DeLaunay made this buzzer shot and we took

control in overtime.

“We start three sophomores, so we are getting better under fire.

Los Al was ranked 25th in Southern California, so it was a big one

for us.”

That setback dropped Los Alamitos into a first-place tie with

Edison, who played host to the Griffins Tuesday night in a battle to

break the first-place tie. The score was not available at press time.

DeLaunay went on to finish with 16 points, but it was the red-hot

shooting of senior point guard Matt Molino, whose 26 points led all

scorers. Molino also dished out 10 assists and DeLaunay had 10

rebounds.

Troy Lewis, a sophomore forward, had a big offensive output and

finished with 15 points and Mike Kinoshita, a sophomore guard,

finished with 10 points. Marina, which trailed by four at the half,

hit 13 of 23 three-point shot attempts.

What made Marina’s overtime win even more striking, is that the

Vikings were coming off a 57-54 loss at Fountain Valley, which was

tied for fifth-place. Molino also led the Vikings in that game, this

time by scoring 24 points.

In other boys’ basketball action, Edison grabbed a share of the

Sunset lead with a 63-39 whipping of host Huntington Beach.

T.J. Lipold netted 19 points, Jeff Golden scored 11 and Tony

Ziemann contributed 10 more to lead the Chargers. Greg Bartolme’s 13

points topped the Oilers.

Edison also went on the road and posted a 48-44 victory at

Esperanza. Lipold again paced the Chargers, getting 17 points.

Ocean View won its sixth Golden West League contest by handling

visiting Costa Mesa, 57-43. The Seahawks’ Brad Sweezy topped all

scorers with 19 points.

Previously, Ocean View fell at league-leading Estancia, 36-34.

Clint Amberry’s nine points led the Seahawks.

Ocean View also took part in the Nike Extravaganza at the Anaheim

Convention Center, where it met Villa Park. The Seahawks held an

early lead, but the Spartans came back to post a 67-53 victory.

Amberry led Ocean View with 21 points and Sweezy scored 16.

In girls’ basketball, Marina won for the seventh time in eight

Sunset League games by defeating host Los Alamitos, 41-30. Allison

Budzinski, Rachael Maulit, Mo Holloway and Erin Barney each scored

eight points for the Lady Vikings.

In its previous outing, Marina won at Fountain Valley, 49-43, as

Maulit and Budzinski scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Marina also took care of visiting El Modena, 66-39, in nonleague

play. Twelve Lady Vikings broke into the scoring column, led by

junior guard Lindsey Schulze’s 19 points, and 13 from Barney.

Esperanza remained the leader in the Sunset girls’ race by

defeating visiting Edison, 43-33. Rebecca Kepilino scored 12 points

for the Chargers.

Ocean View grabbed a 57-47 Golden West League victory over host

Costa Mesa. Erica Congelliere scored 16 points and DJ Butler provided

16 more for the Seahawks.

In girls’ soccer, Edison scored in the 82nd minute to upend

Esperanza, 1-0, and avenge a first-round league loss to the Aztecs.

Sophomore wing Brenna Boies placed the ball directly in front of

senior Christina Clifford, whose diving header found the net for the

win.

Edison next took care of Huntington Beach, 3-1. Clifford scored

for the Chargers in the first half, but the Oilers got the equalizer

when striker Megan Martinez, making it a 1-1 match at the half.

The second half belonged to Edison, however. The Chargers scored

consecutive goals, the first, coming eight minutes into the second

half when junior Erin Benton scored off an assist by Clifford.

The Chargers’ final goal came when junior Kaitlin Thulin scored

off a Boies assist.

Edison’s defense was led by senior Nicole Lawrence and sophomore

Kim Mercurio, whose play keyed a second half shutout.