BASKETBALL ROUNDUP:

The Sea View League boys’ basketball race will be decided tonight.

The Huntington Beach Oilers made certain that the title chase would go to the end of the regular season by scoring a thrilling, 67-65 overtime victory over visiting El Toro before a full house at Huntington.

The win moved the Oilers to 7-2 in league and pulled them to within a game of league-leading El Toro, which suffered its first league loss in falling to 8-1. A win by the Chargers would have allowed them to repeat as league champion.

Tuesday’s game also was the second down-to-the-wire game staged between the teams. On Jan. 28, El Toro scored on a last-second basket to pull out a 54-53 home court victory.

“Great game, packed gym, an incredible atmosphere for HS basketball,” Huntington Coach Fabian Luna said of Tuesday’s showdown. “It is really what it is all about and it was fun being a part of it.

“We played well and we controlled the game for the most part, but we just could not put these guys away. They made several late plays and eventually took a lead.”

Zach Kimber scored on a rebound put back for the Oilers to send the game to overtime. In overtime, Kimber, who scored 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds, fouled out. Nick Neser stepped up to make key contributions by hitting a few huge three-point shots. But the game-winning basket went to Neil Negrete, who scored on a lay-up with three seconds left to lift Huntington to an important victory.

Neser finished with a five three-point baskets and a game-best 20 points. Robert Clark scored 12 points and Negrete’s winning basket gave him seven points on the night.

The Oilers end league and regular season play at 7 tonight at Woodbridge. A win over the Warriors, coupled with an El Toro loss today at Foothill, would leave Huntington, El Toro and Foothill, in a three-way tie for the league championship.

In their first meeting with Woodbridge on Jan. 23, the Oilers scored a 62-48 win.

“This was a good quality win for us going into the playoffs,” Luna said. “We are going back to the basics and letting these guys go out and play. Hopefully, with some help from Foothill, we can have a share of the league title we let slip out of our hands this year.

“We seem to be peaking at just the right time. We have had some tough loses this year, games we felt we should have been able to win — a two-point loss to Ocean View, a one-point loss to El Toro, a two-point loss to Foothill and a loss to Canyon — but, our guys have stayed focused and we are zeroed in on winning games right now to give us an opportunity to get to The Pond in our division.”

Edison: Dylan Garrity and Ryan Walker scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, as the Chargers held off visiting Newport Harbor, 47-42, to keep the Sailors winless in nine Sunset League games. Jeff Trojan added nine points and Matt Viles hit a pair of key jump shots in the fourth quarter that held off the Sailors en route to eight points.

The win moved Edison to 6-3 in league.

Edison picked up a key win Friday at Marina by beating the Vikings, 70-62. Garrity scored a game-high 30 points and the Chargers also got key contributions from Jordan Zumwalt, who had 14 points and eight rebounds and Trojan, who came up with seven steals.

“We might have played our best game of the year,” Edison Coach Rich Boyce said of the Marina win. “It was a great win in a great high school environment.

“Newport played very hard and tough and we had to battle to the buzzer to pull this one out.”

Edison ends the regular season at 7 tonight at league champion Los Alamitos.

Fountain Valley: The Barons won their second Sunset League game in nine outings by defeating host Esperanza, 55-43. Niles Marquez netted 25 points and Chris Lee added 18 points for Fountain Valley, which concludes league play at 7 p.m. today with a home game against Newport Harbor.

Marina: The Vikings dropped their second straight Sunset League outing after host Los Alamitos rolled to a 97-52 victory. The win clinched the league championship for the Griffins. The loss dropped Marina into a tie for second place with Edison at 6-3.

Brendan Holmes scored a game-high 21 points and J.J. James added 10 points for Marina, which hosts Esperanza at 7 tonight.

Ocean View: The Seahawks, who already had the Golden West League championship in hand, hosted Westminster in a Golden West League finale for both teams Wednesday night. The score wasn’t available at press time.

Girls’ Basketball

Edison: The Chargers wrapped up the Sunset League championship Tuesday with an easy 63-27 win at Newport Harbor.

Bonnie Samuelson’s 22 points paved the way and Mary Madden also scored in double figures with 11 points.

Edison can complete a perfect league run with a win at 7 tonight at home against Los Alamitos in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Fountain Valley: A fourth quarter rally Tuesday by the Barons fell just short in a 40-39 loss to visiting Esperanza. Helena Robel scored 14 points and Nadine Al Smadi had 10 points for Fountain Valley, which concludes the regular season at 7 tonight at Newport Harbor.

Huntington Beach: The Oilers used a big second half to pull away from visiting El Toro on Tuesday, 60-41. They outscored the Chargers, 35-19, over the final two quarters.

Freshman Kelsey Minato scored 16 points and had eight assists to lead Huntington and senior Noelani Viloria and freshman Maya Kennedy each scored 11 points.

Marina: The Vikings ran their Sunset League record to 7-2 Tuesday by defeating visiting Los Alamitos, 41-30. Gracie Boelsems of the Vikings was the lone player in double figures with 12 points.

Marina ends league play at 7:30 tonight at Esperanza.

Ocean View: The Seahawks shut out Saddleback, 9-0, in the second quarter and went on to post a 37-15 win Tuesday over the host Roadrunners to clinch the Golden West League championship. Sara Mitchell led the way on offense with 10 points.

Ocean View concludes regular-season play with a 7 p.m. home league game today against Westminster.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at [email protected].