ANAHEIM – Yes, Ocean View knows how to win a close game.
Having gone 10-0 in the Golden West League with an average margin of victory of 37 points, and then opening the playoffs with a 34-point win over Pacifica, it had been a while since Ocean View was in a tight one.
The Seahawks found themselves in a squeeze Friday against Servite. They held on for a 56-53 win in a CIF-SS Division 3A second-round boys basketball playoff game at Servite.
Ocean View (25-4) will play top-seeded Rancho Mirage (29-0) in the 3A quarterfinals Tuesday at Ocean View. Rancho Mirage defeated Adelanto, 105-81, Friday.
The Friars (15-15) were not at regular-season full strength. Jacob Hughes, a 6-foot-11 junior center, withdrew from Servite earlier in the week and transferred to El Dorado.
The Seahawks were shorthanded, too. Mehkel Harvey, a 6-6 sophomore averaging nine points a game and best known for his shot-blocking skills, is out because of a patella tendon injury.
Servite took a 40-39 lead into the fourth quarter. Ocean View took the lead for good when Paul Head banked in a deep 3 to put the Seahawks on top, 42-40. The Seahawks quickly pushed the lead to seven points.
Friars point guard Pearson Parker’s driving basket with 57 seconds left pulled Servite within 54-53.
At the other end, with 22 seconds remaining, Ocean View point guard Zamir Kelly scored on a 13-foot jumper from just to the left of the lane to make it 56-53.
Servite had two chances to tie the score in the remaining time. Devyian Roberson’s baseline 3-point attempt went in and out. Then, with 1.6 seconds to go and Servite inbounding the ball from under their defending basket, Alex Rugienius threw the ball all the way to the offensive end where Cameron Griffin leaped to tap it to Roberson, whose 25-foot 3-point attempt bounced off the left side of the rim.
Kelly, a 5-11 senior guard and the likely leading candidate for Golden West League player of the year honors, led Ocean View with a game-high 15 points and senior forward Christian Anderson scored 14.
Parker led Servite with 14 points.
Ocean View co-coach Tim Walsh said he enjoyed the way the Seahawks handled a rare confrontation with adversity.
“We haven’t seen that a lot this year,” Walsh said. “Servite’s a great team, a very well-coached team that defenses the heck out of it and is as tough as nails, and I like the way we responded in this game.”
Anderson said there was a sense of urgency Friday.
“It’s do or die,” he said. “We just came out to compete, rebound as hard as we can and try to score as much as we could.”
In last year’s playoffs, Ocean View lost to Corona del Mar in the 3A second round.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
