Ocean View takes control in second half

HUNTINGTON BEACH- Jim Harris has more than 600 victories in 30 years of coaching, but this has never happened.

For the first time, he gets to coach in a CIF Southern California Regionals final, and for the first time he gets to coach at Pauley Pavilion, at UCLA.

Ocean View's 66-57 home victory Thursday over Canyon in the Regionals Division III semifinals sends the Seahawks (26-7) to Westwood to play Harvard Westlake (27-6) in the final Saturday at noon.

"I remember when I was a freshman coach at Fountain Valley," Harris said, "and every year I'd take those kids to UCLA to watch Coach Wooden practice."

Ocean View will be in the building John Wooden made famous thanks to senior Mason Jones' 27 points, junior Ryan Okwudibonye's 16 rebounds, and an outstanding second half by other Seahawks.

They ended Canyon's wining streak at 19 games, a skein that included a CIF-Southern Section Division III-AA championship. The Comanches (26-7) had not lost in 2009 until Thursday.

Canyon had a one-point lead at halftime. The Seahawks then went on a 7-0 run that gave them 32-26 lead, and Canyon would not regain the lead. Jones scored 10 points in the quarter and Christian Rivera came off the bench to score seven in the period.

But the biggest contribution from the Ocean View reserves was made by Okwudibonye, a 6-foot-8 center. Along with all of the rebounds, he had three blocked shots and scored six of his seven points in the fourth quarter.

"He's doing," Harris said, "what we've asked him to do - rebound and play defense."

Okwudibonye has played well enough to break into the starting five.

"I feel like we've got seven starters, really," Harris said. "But when you're rolling, you don't want to change anything."

Canyon cut its deficit to one point in the third quarter, but the Seahawks finished strong in the final moments. Jones made a 3-pointer and scored on a drive, and Rivera popped in a 3-pointer to give Ocean View a 45-40 lead going into the fourth.

The Seahawks kept the momentum. Anthony Johnson hit a fall-away 15-footer, Okwudibonye scored on a tip-in and short jumper, Johnson made a three-pointer and Okwudibonye scored on a rebound of his own miss, and Ocean View had a 12-point lead with 3:08 remaining.

Canyon fought back, and a 3-pointer by Chris Nelson with 29 seconds to go trimmed the Ocean View lead to seven. Anthony Brown made four free throws in the remaining time to secure the victory for the Seahawks.

Brown finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Chris Anderson led Canyon with 15 points. Senior Braden Priest scored 12, including three 3-pointers in the second quarter.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com