10 Foolproof Reasons Why You Should Go on Saturday

First, the precedent for this was my discovery that Ocean View is trailing Foothill by over 100 fans on Facebook. How is that possible? I don’t even know where Foothill is! There are over 20 High Schools by the name of Foothill, all of them somewhere in California. Anyways, here are my 10 reasons as to why you should go out to the game (starting with 10, working up to the best reason I can offer you)

10. It’s the Honda Center

Home to the Anaheim Ducks, and the 2010 CIF-SS Championships

Ocean View has played in two prestigious venues in the past two years, Legendary Pauley Pavilion, and the dump that is Arco Arena. Honda Center has played host to more than just Stanley Cup Finals (Pretty exciting alone huh?) it has seen players such as Russell Westbrook, Darren Collison, Acie Law, Matt Barnes, Baron Davis, Kevin Love, just to name a few. This venue is a huge stage for any sport, so the pressure is definitely on the Hawks in this awesome arena.

9. Its Basketball

For amateur sports, this is basically it for the year, UCLA is pathetic, and USC exiled their basketball team. Mater Dei is before this game, so how can you possibly pass up the last CIF Matchup of the year?

8. “Fandemonium” or whatever Mater Dei Varsity, er- OC Varsity calls it

Ocean View and Foothill have two of the best student sections in Orange County. I can guarantee you that Ocean View has some tricks and pranks up their sleeve, and I’ll bet you that Foothill does as well.

7. It’s a 1 vs. 2 Seed Matchup

It is, quite simply, the best game that you can find. In Division 3, it is rare to find two teams in the top 10 in the county, but when two teams are in the top three and they just happen to play each other- not in some exhibition at Occidental College, but in the CIF Championship game in the best venue in all of Orange County.

6. Steve Fryer says so

I don’t have a problem with Steve, especially when he picks us all the time, but mostly blindly and because of two players, not six or seven. Anyways, here’s what he said;

It makes sense, and dollars and cents, to have the Foothill-Ocean View boys basketball game in the marquee position as the 8:15 p.m. game Saturday at the Honda Center for the CIF-Southern Section championships. That much-anticipated game might provide the highest ticket sales of any of the six games there Saturday,

Predictions for the boys and girls championship games involving county teams… boys 3AA, Ocean View over Foothill

The top 5, and more, after the jump (hit read more)

CIF Round 3 (Elite 8): OV vs. La Habra

After last week’s road trip, OV is carrying plenty of momentum into this elite 8 matchup, it will be tough to knock them off this week. However, La Habra is a worthy (finally) opponent of Ocean View. The Highlanders are 17-12, and the Seahawks are an outstanding 25-3.

Surprising for an Elite 8 team, La Habra averages 56.5 PPG, while Ocean View has the upper hand easily with 76 PPG. On the boards, Ocean View also has the advantage with 36.3 RPG to La Habra’s 28.7 RPG. As for spreading the ball around, Ocean View averages 19.3 assists per game, while La Habra has 13.7 per game. The closest categories are on defense; Ocean View averages 11.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game, while La Habra is in a close trail with 10.6 steals per game, and 3.0 blocks per game.

Just taking a look at the stat rundown, Ocean View has every advantage possible, but La Habra is above the national average  in every category as well. All that means is that we are finally into the “tough teams,” in other words, the competition will be through 4 quarters from here on out.

Let’s break it down position by position:

Guards:

Ocean View is lead by superstars Anthony Brown and Avery Johnson, Brown leading the team with 17.2 PPG, and Johnson is leading the team with 4.9 APG, and 2.5 SPG. Billy Keller is still an integral part of the starting unit; if he isn’t 100 percent, it will be hard for Ocean View to separate from the Highlanders early in the game. Aaron Delgado is one of the most underrated parts of the offense, especially because of his team-mates, something tells me he’ll have a good game and that will be an important part of Ocean View’s offensive, and defensive arsenal. First off the bench is Steven Yoon, a huge part of the depth for Ocean View, and I have a felling that he’ll have a good game as well.

La Habra has a trio of important guards on their team: #3 Trent McShane, #23 Burresch Joshua, and #25 Ben Hall. The most important is Burresch Joshua- he averages 13.2 PPG and 2.2 Steals per game. He’s 6’0″, and is the most dynamic scorer for La Habra. Next is Ben Hall, Hall averages 8.4 PPG, but has practically no range for a guard, but being 6’0″ gives him a small excuse. Trent McShane averages 6.4 PPG, and is a pretty good rebounder with good size at 6’2″.

Forwards:

Ocean View has quite a few different combinations at forwards- the starters have the most traditional lineup though. Anthony Brown might be 6’5″, but he is really a guard. The only true post player is Ryan Okwudibonye, who has really impressed me in the past two rounds. Expect a good competition in the paint between Ryan and La Habra’s big man.

La Habra’s big man Marcus Wimberly is listed as a forward, but is extremely physical at 6’6″. He averages 5.4 RPG, but is a legitimate post threat on defense only, with a relatively small low post offensive arsenal. Much like Keauyon Fields from Apple Valley, the athletic type player should be a real challenge for Ocean View.

Predictions

Quite honestly, if Ocean View isn’t in the game mentally, they can easily fall to the Highlanders, but if they buckle down and separate early, they should be able to outrun the Highlanders in the fourth quarter. Notice how I didn’t say the second half, but the fourth quarter- this will be a competitive game, but Ocean View is just the better team.

Ocean View 71

La Habra 54

The game is at 7:00 pm, and don’t forget to wear white! We are going for a packed house!

To anyone who is dissappointed

I would like to personally apologize for the lack of emotion and energy at the recent games at Ocean View; for one, I know ASB just had a huge discussion on how we can “pump up” the crowd. For one, I want to have this kind of crowd (rallied up, and hungry to help their team) in the regular season. I’m not guaranteeing it to happen, but I can definitely prove to you that I will try my best to put it out there.

We’ve used the Cameron Crazies as a model… again, not saying that it will happen, but expect a much more energized fan base out there this Friday.