Ocean View hosts Verdugo Hills at 7 tonight in the second round of the SoCal regional. A win and the Seahawks (28-4) could face top-seeded Serra on the road Saturday in a Division III regional semifinal.
“We can’t get down on the Foothill game,” junior guard Billy Keller said. “We can’t let that get to our heads. We need to come back out and try to prove a point, that we can still come back and get this.”
Senior center Ryan Okwudibonye had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Anthony Brown added 13 points for Ocean View, which pulled away in the second half after trailing late in the first.
On the defensive end, Keller had a team-high four steals, also scoring seven.
“I was just putting some shots up after Saturday, working on my game,” said Johnson, whose 30 points tied a season-high. “I got held to seven [against Foothill], and that’s just unacceptable for me.”
Harris said he hopes his team might have a bit of a chip on its shoulder after failing to win its second straight Southern Section title. Now, they want a repeat performance that could land them in the CIF State Division III championship game, which is where they went last year.
“We talked about that,” Harris said. “Just because you’re favored, that doesn’t put the points on the board. We needed to redeem ourselves [from Saturday], and [Tuesday’s win] was a beginning. We have a chance to do some big redemption if we can keep going.”
In the CIF Southern Section Division III-AA championship Saturday night at the Honda Center, Foothill won its first CIF title in boys’ basketball in its first finals appearance.
The Knights denied Ocean View its second straight title and third overall in the process. And it all started on the defensive end.
