Local squads will be tested in TOC

Jim Harris wonders why more Orange County teams don’t enter the Ocean View Tournament of Champions boys’ basketball tournament, which begins Monday at Ocean View High.

His Seahawks and the Huntington Beach High Oilers are the only county teams in the draw of the prestigious tournament, which has 13 teams this year.

“I think Orange County schools in general make a mistake by not entering this tournament,” said Harris, now in his 32nd year as head coach at Ocean View. “It serves a great purpose for those who are willing to step up. These are the kind of teams you eventually run into in the playoffs. I have to applaud the coach at Huntington [Fabian Luna] to step up and [play]. He’s got a real young team and they’re just going to get better.”

Ocean View, the defending CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA champion and CIF State Division III finalist, is in a pool with Lakewood and Rancho Verde. The Seahawks open their tournament against Rancho Verde at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, then play Rancho Verde at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Oilers are in a pool with Clovis West, Long Beach Jordan and St. Mary’s. They open Wednesday against Clovis West at 4:20 p.m. and will play again Thursday.

How strong is the TOC? Last year’s Division III-A champion, Harvard-Westlake, is also in the tournament, as is Division II-AA runner-up Leuzinger. Harvard-Westlake and Leuzinger are ranked No. 5 and 11, respectively, in Southern California preseason rankings by the Los Angeles Times; No. 7 Serra is also in the tournament as are the No. 13 Seahawks.

“You may take some losses in this tournament, but they’re good losses,” Harris said. “They’re great learning experiences. You usually learn a lot about yourselves.”

Ocean View, which opens its season at a tournament in San Luis Obispo today, finished fourth at its tournament last year. Westchester, which won the tournament last year, is not entered this year.

 In other boys’ basketball action this week, Marina opened its season Monday with a 75-33 pasting of Costa Mesa at the La Quinta Tournament. Senior Brendan Holmes, who has recently committed to Dominican University, had a team-high 18 points, and he and J.J. James (15 points) each had three three-pointers.

Fountain Valley fell to San Juan Hills, 64-56, in the opening round of the Mission Viejo tournament.

 In boys’ soccer, Huntington Beach topped Orange Lutheran, 2-1, in its season opener Monday behind goals from Thomas Harer and Max Talbert.

 In girls’ soccer, Ocean View topped Santiago, 2-0, in its season opener Tuesday behind a pair of goals from Maddie Koci. Andrea Ecker had an assist and Brittany Hitchcock and Kalie McColloch combined for five saves.