No boys’ teams left

Edison and Brethren Christian, the remaining two local prep boys’ basketball teams to enter the week still alive in postseason play, are standing no more.

In quarterfinal-round play of the CIF Southern Section playoffs Tuesday, both the Chargers and Warriors, who enjoyed highly successful seasons, suffered season-ending defeats.

Fifth-ranked Edison traveled to Compton to face the Moore League co-champion and fourth-ranked Tartars and lost, 73-57, in a Division 2AA game. Sixth-ranked Brethren Christian was on the road in Van Nuys and fell, 70-48, to the fourth-ranked Montclair Prep Mounties in Division 5A action.

Compton got the upper hand on Edison in the second quarter of their showdown, where the Tartars outscored the Chargers, 28-5, to wipe out a 14-8 first-quarter deficit. Senior guard Dylan Garrity, Edison’s all-time career scoring leader, netted a game-high 25 points in his final game. Junior Dreon Barlett contributed 16 points.

Garrity ends his Edison career as the program’s all-time leader in points, assists and games played.

Edison, co-champion with Los Alamitos of the Sunset League, ends a great campaign at 26-3. The 26 wins is a school single-season record, Edison Coach Rich Boyce said.

Boyce called Tuesday a “tough loss,” adding that Compton was “too athletic and they shot lights out.”

“We played hard to the end,” he said. “Very proud of the effort of the players, especially when they were picked to finish third in league and maybe win 15 games.”

The Chargers advanced to the quarterfinals by going on the road Friday to Simi Valley, where they defeated the 12th-ranked Pioneers for a second time this season. They scored a 53-43 over the Marmonte League co-champions. Barlett and senior guard Kris Wolfe each scored a game-high 16 points.

A flu-riddled Edison team — the Chargers had four starters hit by the bug— began its postseason run Feb. 16 by squeaking out a 56-54 victory over visiting Sunny Hills, the No. 3 team from the Freeway League. The big news coming out of the win for the Chargers was the team setting the school record for wins in a single-season and Garrity becoming the school’s all-time scoring leader. His 32 points for the game gave him 1,692 for his career and topped the previous record for career points (1,686) set last year by Kyle Boswell.

In Brethren Christian’s loss to Montclair Prep, senior guard Riley Thomas hit four three-point shots en route to a game-high 21 points, senior guard Daniel Healy scored 12 points with nine assists and senior post Bobby Frisch and junior guard Jazwan Hill each scored seven points for the Warriors, who played without third-leading scorer Dakota Warren, who broke his foot in a second-round win over Desert Christian Academy last Friday.

Brethren Christian closed out a 26-3 season that included sharing the Academy League title with St. Margaret’s.

“We ran into a very good team,” BC Coach Jon Bahnsen said of the Mounties, whose starting front line included three players listed at 6feet 7, 6-7 and 6-4. BC’s starting front is 6-4, 6-3 and 6-0.

The Mounties outrebounded the Warriors, 34-17.

Brethren Christian started postseason play Feb. 16 with a 67-46 home court win over New Community Jewish High. Four Warriors scored in double figures: Healy had 13 points and 12 assists, Thomas a game-high 21 points, Frisch 13 points and Warren 10 points. Hill added nine points and four assists coming off the bench.

The Warriors on Friday scored a 47-45 road win in Bermuda Dunes over 11th-ranked Desert Christian Academy (Victory League No. 1). Thomas led the Warriors in scoring with 18 points. Healy had 11 points and nine assists and Frisch had 17 rebounds.

The five local prep boys’ basketball teams in the playoffs went five-for-five on a perfect night Feb. 16 during the opening round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs. In addition to Edison and Brethren Christian moving on, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Ocean View also were first-round winners.

Fountain Valley had reason to celebrate in Whittier on Feb. 16, not only for keeping their season alive, but for picking up the program’s first playoff win in 10 years. The 13th-ranked Barons did so by knocking off host California, 51-31, in a Division 1A game.

“We came out and played solid defense,” first-year Fountain Valley Coach Roger Holmes said. “We dominated the boards the entire game and never trailed.”

Sean Myers led the Barons, an at-large playoff entry from the Sunset League, with 15 points and Zach Matar and Tanner Trounce each scored eight points against a Cal Hi team that finished third in the Del Rio League.

“It was great to bring home a playoff win for Fountain Valley for the first time in 10 years,” Holmes said. “The players did a good job controlling the glass and running our stuff. The game was a little sloppy, but we did enough to lead throughout the game and hold off any serious threats.”

Fountain Valley, an at-large entry from the Sunset League, was eliminated from title contention Friday after a 44-33 loss at fourth-ranked Downey, champion of the San Gabriel Valley League.

In Division 2AA, 11th-ranked Huntington Beach also traveled to Whittier on Feb. 16 to take on Del Rio League co-champion La Serna and returned home with a 40-30 win over the Lancers. The 11th-ranked Oilers were only up, 23-21, at the half but held the Lancers to just two third-quarter points to surge to a 38-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Jordan Reise scored 14 points and Mackey Clustka added 12 points for Huntington.

“I was proud of the effort,” Huntington Coach Fabian Luna said. “Anytime you walk into somebody’s gym and get a victory, it feels good, especially in the playoffs.

The Oilers saw their season end Friday in a 68-50 second-round home loss to sixth-ranked Summit (Sunkist League No. 1). Dirk Cason led Huntington with 14 points and Vince Oe finished with 10 points and Reise scored seven.

Huntington, which has won 20 or more games in three of the last four years, ended its campaign at 20-9.

Ocean View, tri-champion of the Golden West League, knocked off visiting Patriot, 53-42, the No. 15 team in a Division 2AA first-round game Feb. 16. Senior guard Billy Keller had 20 points and senior center Conor Clifford posted a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Seahawks.

On Friday, Ocean View had its season end up north as Ventura, the division’s top-seed and champion of the Channel League, posted a 73-59 win. Keller had a game-high 24 points and Cristian Rivera 18 points for the Seahawks, who ended the year 18-10.

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Girls’ Basketball

Edison, Huntington Beach and Brethren Christian were still alive in the postseason entering the week.

Sunset League champion Edison, the No. 1-ranked team in Division 1A, had little trouble in the second round Saturday against Arcadia (Pacific League at-large) and blitzed the visiting Apaches, 84-46. Bonnie Samuelson had 26 points, Christina Marquette 17 points and Karlie Samuelson 12 points for the Chargers.

The win sent Edison into a Wednesday at Corona, an at-large entry from the Big VII League. The score from the quarterfinal matchup wasn’t available by press time. The winner of the Edison-Corona game advances to face the winner of a second-round game between No. 5-ranked Villa Park (Century League No. 4) and fourth-ranked Rancho Cucamonga (Baseline League No. 2) in a semifinal game at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Third-ranked Huntington Beach, the No. 2 team from the Sunset League, won its first two Division 2AA playoff games to advance to a Wednesday quarterfinal game against fifth-ranked Canyon of Canyon Country. The score wasn’t available by press time.

“We are very excited to be back in the quarterfinals,” Oilers Coach Russ McClurg said.

Huntington scored a 61-34 first-round victory over Valencia/Placentia on Feb. 17. Two days later, the Oilers won, 43-37, at 15th-ranked Esperanza (Century League at-large). Kelsey Minato had a game-high 22 points and Maya Kennedy hit three three-point shots to finish with 13 points. Minato also dropped 22 and Paola Roa scored 10 points in the win over Esperanza

The winner of the Canyon-Huntington game advances to Saturday’s semifinals (7 p.m.), where it will face the winner of Murrieta Valley and Buena.

Brethren Christian also won its first two games of the Division 5A playoffs. First, the fifth-ranked Warriors routed host Avalon (San Joaquin League co-No. 2), 45-20 on Feb. 17, then came back Saturday to win at 14th-ranked AGBU (Westside League co-No. 2) of Canoga Park, 59-46.

Brethren Christian, the No. 3 team from the Academy League, hosted fourth-ranked Holy Martyrs (Liberty League co-No.1) in a quarterfinal round game Wednesday. The score wasn’t available at press time. The winner of that game advances to face either No. 1-ranked Poly/Pasadena (Prep League No. 1) or eighth-ranked Linfield Christian (Ambassador League co-No. 2), who also played Wednesday.

Fountain Valley, Marina and Ocean View also competed in postseason play last week, but each had it season come to an end.

Fountain Valley was an at-large entry from the Sunset League and played a Division 1A first-round game Feb. 17 at fourth-ranked Rancho Cucamonga, the No. 2 team from the Baseline League. The Barons suffered a 74-27 loss Feb. 17 to the host Cougars.

Marina, the No. 3 team from the Sunset League, traveled to Saugus Feb. 17 to face the 13th-ranked Centurions (Foothill League No. 3) in a Division 2AA contest. The Vikings fell, 45-33, in what would be Butch Fredlow’s final game as head coach at Marina. Fredlow is leaving his post after 12 years.

Ocean View, which tied for second in the Golden West League and was the No. 14-seed in the Division 4AA playoffs, was edged at home Feb. 17 by unranked Lawndale, 55-54. The Cardinals are an at-large playoff entry from the Pioneer League.