SPORTS ROUNDUP:

Holiday hoops action is in the books.

It’s time now for the local boys’ and girls’ prep basketball teams to turn their attention to league play.

In girls’ action tonight, Edison, Fountain Valley and Marina begin their Sunset League schedules and Huntington Beach does the same in Sea View League circles. Ocean View, which faces Pacifica at 6 tonight and Fountain Valley Saturday in nonleague play, doesn’t launch its Golden West League season until Tuesday against Segerstrom.

Tonight, defending Sunset champion Edison hosts Esperanza, Marina entertains Fountain Valley and Huntington is home to Foothill, with all three games tipping off at 7.

The boys take the court Friday for their respective 7 p.m. league lid-lifters: Edison travels to Esperanza and Marina is at Fountain Valley in Sunset play, Huntington welcomes Foothill in Sea View action and Ocean View begins defense of its Golden West League title by hosting Segerstrom.

Below is a team-by-team look at how the local teams fared during holiday play:

  Boys

Edison: The Chargers earned victory No. 10 of the season Tuesday by rallying late to defeat visiting Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana in overtime, 49-45, in nonleague play. Sophomore guard Dylan Garrity led all scorers with 18 points and teammate Ryan Walker scored 12. Garrity also poured in a game-high 28 points Monday as Edison began the week with a 53-50 nonleague win over visiting Temescal Canyon.

The Chargers also went 3-1 at the Coast Christmas Classic at Estancia over the holiday break, losing only the Dec. 30 title game to Long Beach Wilson (49-36). The Charges scored victories over Vista Del Lago (78-39), Aliso Niguel (43-42) and Laguna Hills (64-59, overtime) to reach the finals. They did it, too, with two key players sidelined by injury: Kyle Boswell and Mikey Rivera.

Chargers Coach Rich Boyce said that Boswell is out “indefinitely” with a back strain as the team prepares to face Esperanza on Friday.

“The Sunset league will be very tough as all six teams have played well in the preseason,” Boyce said. “Los Al is the favorite, but any team can beat any other on a given night. Fountain Valley looks solid and Marina has a couple of great scorers. Esperanza is very team oriented and Newport has good height and plays hard. It will be a very fun and competitive league.”

Fountain Valley: The Barons bring a three-game winning streak into Sunset League play. In a nonleague home game Tuesday against Chino, Niles Marquez scored 17 points and Artie O’Keefe had 12 in a 54-40 win over the Cowboys.

Fountain Valley also competed at the Coast Christmas Classic at Estancia and won its final two games to finish 2-2 at the tournament. The Barons lost to Ayala (49-38) and Mission Viejo (49-40), but bounced back to defeat Schurr (60-57) and Sammamish, Wash. (43-31).

Huntington Beach: The Oilers head into Sea View League play having won 13 of their first 15. On Tuesday, they edged Capistrano Valley, 57-56, in a game that was part of the Sea View League-South Coast League Challenge at San Clemente High. Nick Neser topped Huntington in scoring with 21 points. Zach Kimber scored 15 and David Swartz had 12 points.

In posting its 13-2 record, Huntington won the championships at the Pio-Turion Tournament (hosted by Cypress and Western) and La Quinta Classic and finished second last week at the KSA Holiday Classic in Orlando, Fla.

In Orlando, Huntington scored a 49-47 overtime victory over Cocoa of Florida to hand the Tigers their first defeat of the season and beat both Cherokee High of Georgia (63-46) and Alvik of Sweden (68-45). The Oilers lost to La Mirada in the title game.

“I think that we have been inconsistent since the Fountain Valley game that put us at 9-0,” Oilers Coach Fabian Luna said of a Dec. 16 home nonleague win over the Barons. “We have not shot the ball well and our intensity has not been very good.

“Going into league, we need to get back to playing tough defense, taking good shots, taking care of the ball and hitting free throws to put us in a position to win league. I know going in we are considered the favorite, but again, we need to play at a higher level to match the intensity of other teams trying to knock us off. I also think we need to go back to playing unselfish basketball. We are very talented, but at times we seem to be off from a chemistry standpoint. We need to put individual needs aside and start jelling a little better as a team to take advantage of our talent and win games against good teams. It should be a good one Friday night.”

Marina: The Vikings go into league play on roll.

“We feel fortunate to be heading into league with a five-game win streak and 13-3 overall,” Marina Coach Roger Holmes said. “The Sunset League is traditionally one of the toughest leagues in Orange County. No matter how teams are doing in their pre-league games, the league games are always a battle each and every night. Los Al is the favorite and is having an outstanding year. Edison has been playing short-handed, but is highly regarded and will be ready for league.”

Marina ended nonleague play Saturday and defeated host Westminster, 65-55. The Vikings came on strong in the second half, limiting the host Lions to just 16 points after the break to get the win. Garrett James and Brendan Holmes both scored 23 points and Jacob Tricarico hauled in 17 rebounds, to go along with seven points.

At the Alavrez Holiday Classic at Prescott Valley, Ariz., over the holiday break, a flu-ridden Marina team defeated four of the five Arizona schools it faced. Brendan Holmes scored all eight of Marina’s points in the final minute of regulation to wipe out an eight-point deficit against Pueblo. Holmes would go on to finish with a game-high 35 points and Marina would earn an 83-81 victory. The Vikings also scored wins over Mayer (78-51), Marana (73-60) and Catalina (63-51), but lost to Perry (62-52).

Ocean View: The Seahawks won their ninth game of the year Saturday by holding off Mission Viejo, 40-39, in the lowest-scoring game of the year for both teams. Ten Seahawks scored, with Mason Jones leading the way with nine points.

  Girls

Edison: The Chargers (11-4) rallied in the second half of Saturday night’s nonleague game against Tartan of Minnesota to post a 48-40 victory. Bonnie Samuelson scored 18 points and Mary Madden had 10 points for the Chargers. Edison also took third place at the Larry Doyle Orange County Championships tournament Dec. 30 by defeating Mira Costa, 52-35. The Chargers also defeated Dana Hills (61-47) and Laguna Hills (50-42), but lost to undefeated and eventual tournament champion Foothill (48-36) in an event the Chargers hosted with Marina.

Fountain Valley: The host Barons stormed to a 15-point halftime lead on visiting Huntington Beach in nonleague play Monday, only to see the Oilers stage a big, second-half comeback to pull out a 54-48 victory. Helena Robel scored 14 points and Sammi Little had 10 for Fountain Valley (7-8).

Previously, the Barons won their final two games at the Costa Mesa Winter Classic, routing San Ramon Valley (46-30) and San Pedro (57-23). LaRee Reeves scored 16 points in the win over San Ramon Valley and Diana Marley had 10 points in the win over San Pedro.

Huntington Beach: By rallying to defeat Fountain Valley (54-48) on Monday, the Oilers improved to 12-3. Noelani Vilora posted a game-high 23 points and Meghan White added 12 points with 12 rebounds.

“The game was a lot tougher than we thought, and we might have been looking ahead to the Foothill game Thursday,” Huntington Coach Russell McClurg said. “Hats off to Fountain Valley and (Coach) Saki Takamoto for coming up with a good game plan. Meghan had been our rebounding force inside, as she is third in Orange County.”

The Oilers also finished runner-up at the San Marcos (San Diego) Tournament. They defeated La Jolla (61-30), host San Marcos (64-39) and Torrey Pines (84-69), but lost the title to Vista Del Lago, 43-37. Vilora was named tournament MVP.

“The girls did a fine job, competing very hard during a tough nonleague schedule,” McClurg said. “We are currently 12-3 and much better then I thought after losing senior Maddie McKinley to an ACL injury. I think the loss of Maddie will hurt our depth. Maddie was a tough competitor and solid on the boards.”

When Huntington opens Sea View League play at home today against Foothill, it will do so against an undefeated Knights team (13-0) that is the defending league champion.

Marina: A late basket by Rene Lindquist sent Marina into overtime Tuesday against visiting El Toro and then the Vikings went on to claim a 51-47 victory for their 10th win of the year. Rita Sitivi scored a game-high 23 points and also collected 13 rebounds.

The Vikings also won their final three games at the Larry Doyle Orange County Championships, capped by a 54-45 win over JW North that gave Marina the consolation championship. Sitivi had a game-best 21 points. The Vikings also beat El Dorado (51-34) and Sunset League foe Esperanza (45-32) and lost in overtime to Mira Costa (50-39).

Ocean View: The Seahawks held off a second half rally by visiting Capistrano Valley on Saturday to come away with a 47-46 nonleague victory. Rachel Sweezy and Sara Mitchell both scored 16 points and Sweezy collected 15 rebounds.

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