Marina edges rival Barons

Marina turned a big third-quarter performance into a key Sunset League girls’ basketball road victory Tuesday as the Vikings defeated Fountain Valley, 43-29.

Marina pulled away from a one-point halftime lead (16-15) by outscoring the Barons, 14-2, in the third quarter to take control. Alyssa Kinoshita hit three three-point shots and scored a game-high 16 points, Sloan Turner contributed 10 points and Melissa Lindquist played “very solid basketball,” Marina Coach Butch Fredlow said.

“We played very tight in the first half, but in the third quarter we were able to gain the upper hand on Fountain Valley, holding them to two points,” Fredlow said. “In the last 24 meetings, we have defeated Fountain Valley 23 times and we now have a distinct advantage in securing our 12th consecutive automatic playoff berth. It was a good team effort and focus.”

The Vikings improved to 14-8 and 5-2 in league. Their win, coupled with Huntington Beach’s loss Tuesday to Edison, moves them into a second-place tie with the Oilers.

Kimi Kamada had nine points, Toyen Le eight points and Leslie La seven points for the Barons, who fell to 1-6 in league.

In league games Jan. 27, Marina downed Newport Harbor, 45-30 and Fountain Valley fell, 69-30, to Edison. Fredlow called Heather Hollander’s performance against the Sailors (1-6 in league) “her best game of the year,” after the senior hit a pair of three-pointers en route to a game-high 14 points.

“It wasn’t the most beautiful thing to see, especially with our student-athletes in the midst of finals, so to say that their ‘heads were somewhere else,’ would be fair,” Fredlow said of his team’s showing against the Sailors, who fell to 1-6 in league. “We were able to keep Newport Harbor to single-digit scoring in all four quarters and we did a solid job of defending their two best post players.”

At 7 tonight, Marina hosts Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley entertains Huntington Beach. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Vikings are home to Huntington Beach in a pivotal game and the Barons host Newport Harbor.

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Brethren Christian: The Warriors improved their Academy League record to 5-2 Tuesday by defeating Oxford Academy, 41-20. Madison Desler led all scorers with 11 points, with nine coming on three-point shots. Sara Hodges and Diannia Demaziliere each added eight points.

The Warriors also picked up a league win Friday against Crean Lutheran South. BC opened the game with a 30-4 run that led to an eventual, 57-23 triumph. Kirsten Sakata and Rebekah Rudd had nine points apiece and Desler scored eight, each scoring all their points in one quarter of play.

On Saturday, BC took on Pacifica (Garden Grove) and the Warriors, ranked fourth in Division 5A, scored a 54-51 nonleague victory. The senior trio of Sakata, Rudd, and Desler “came up large again,” BC Coach Jeff Wallace said, with 15, 10 and eight points, respectively.

The Warriors travel Friday to face league foe St. Margaret’s looking to avenge a first-round league loss to the Tartans.

Edison: The Chargers, the top-ranked team in CIF Division 1A, distanced themselves from the rest of the Sunset League pack Tuesday by handing host Huntington Beach a 67-52 defeat. Karlie Samuelson (22 points), Bonnie Samuelson (17) and Christina Marquette (10) scored in double-figures for the Chargers, who are 7-0 in league and opened up a two-game lead on Huntington and Marina.

In a big Division 1A showdown Saturday at Troy, Edison knocked off the second-ranked Warriors, 46-32. Bonnie Samuelson had 17 points, Karlie Samuelson 12 points and Rilee Horton eight points for the Chargers.

Edison (22-2) plays at Newport Harbor at 7 tonight. The Chargers play a nonleague game against Orange Lutheran on Friday at Mater Dei High.

Huntington Beach: The Oilers were looking to hand Edison it’s first Sunset loss Tuesday but instead suffered a 67-52 defeat. Kelsey Minato led all scorers with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Paola Roa added 10 points for Huntington, which slipped to 5-2 in league, both losses coming to Edison.

In previous league play Jan. 26, the Oilers defeated Los Alamitos, 45-33, behind Minato’s 18 points and six three-point shots by the team.

Huntington travels today (7 p.m.) to play Fountain Valley and Tuesday (7 p.m.) plays at Marina.

Ocean View: The Seahawks held off a second-half rally Tuesday by visiting Loara to defeat the Saxons, 54-48. Hannah Ferguson scored 17 points and Kelli Berry 14 points for Ocean View, which improved to 6-1 in league, good for first place.

The Seahawks play today (7 p.m.) at Westminster.

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Boys’ Basketball

Brethren Christian: The Warriors (22-1) pushed their Academy League record to 7-0 Tuesday by winning, 58-37, at Oxford Academy. Riley Thomas led four Warriors in double figures with 19 points. Bobby Frisch had 13 points, Danny Healy 12 points and Dakota Warren 10 points.

On Friday, BC routed visiting Crean Lutheran South of Irvine, 72-43, at Ocean View High. Thomas paced BC with a game-high 23 points, Healy turned in another balanced performance with 12 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists and seven steals and Jazz Hill came off the bench to contribute 14 points and three steals.

The league-leading Warriors have a huge test Friday (7:30 p.m.) at Sage Hill. BC did receive a big assist Tuesday from Crean Lutheran South, which upset Sage Hill, 44-43, that outcome giving the Warriors a two-game lead over the Tartans.

Edison: The Chargers completed a Sunset League sweep of rival Fountain Valley on Friday by posting a 72-48 road win. Dylan Garrity netted a game-high 24 points, Dreon Barlett added 20 points, Kris Wolfe 11 points and Wolfe and Tyler Fields “did a great job defensively,” Edison Coach Rich Boyce said.

Edison’s win, coupled with Huntington Beach’s loss Friday to Los Alamitos, put the Chargers in sole possession of first place.

The Chargers (21-1, 5-1 in league heading into this week’s action), host Newport Harbor at 7 p.m. Friday.

Fountain Valley: In the Barons’ 72-48 loss to Edison, Zach Matar and Sean Myers had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“Edison jumped on us early and we never recovered,” Fountain Valley Coach Roger Holmes aid. “They are playing really well right now and are just so solid in all aspects.”

The Barons, 14-7 and 3-3 in league entering the week), host second-place Huntington Beach at 7 p.m. Friday in a key league encounter. Fountain Valley is a game back of the Oilers and Los Alamitos in the league standings.

Huntington Beach: The Oilers lost their portion of the Sunset League lead Friday when a tough third quarter performance led to an eventual 42-36 loss to visiting Los Alamitos. Only four Oilers scored, with Andrew Tenbrink leading the way with 13 points.

Huntington was a miserable 13 of 66 from the field (19.7%) and just three of 26 from three-point range (11.5%).

“We just were not able to hit a shot and Los Al did a good job of controlling tempo and when we don’t score, it is hard to get into what we want to do defensively,” Huntington Coach Fabian Luna said. “This week is a big one as we play at Edison (Wednesday) and Fountain Valley. We are 16-7, 4-2 in league and to have any chance at a share of the league title, we would need to win out the last four games. It is a tough task, but we just need to take it one game at a time.”

Huntington, travels Friday (7 p.m.) to face Fountain Valley.

Marina: The Vikings picked up their second Sunset victory of the season, both coming at the expense of Newport Harbor, a team Marina defeated, 68-54, Friday on the Sailors’ home floor. Matt Swartz led four Vikings in double figures with a game-high 18 points. Ian Scharf had 12 points, JJ James 11 points and Josh Long 10 points.

“The kids played great against Newport,” Marina Coach Jerry Simon said. “They played hard, smart and had fun doing it.”

The Vikings (7-15, 2-4) travel Friday for a 7 p.m. tip at Los Alamitos.

Ocean View: The Seahawks fell behind host Loara by 13 points at the half and couldn’t recover in a 78-69 loss Friday to the Saxons. Billy Keller matched Loara’s Howard Gauta for game-high scoring honors with 32 points. Cristian Rivera had 12 points for Ocean View, which fell into a first-place tie with the Saxons. The outcome left both teams at 5-1 in league.

The Seahawks host Segerstrom at 7 p.m. Friday.