GIRLS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Seahawks Start Over, Beat Troy

After two embarrassing losses to top 10 teams, Ocean View canned its offense and defense and went back to the basics this week.

The Seahawks, expected by many to be a top 10 team before the girls’ basketball season is over, now has won two in a row, including Wednesday’s 55-38 victory over Troy to advance to the semifinals of the Brea-Olinda Ladycat Classic.

Troy (4-1), ranked 10th in The Times’ preseason county poll, wasn’t caught off guard. Before the game, Coach Brad Sand said he expected Ocean View (2-2) to find its way into the county’s elite by the end of the season. Afterward, he had not changed his opinion.

“We need to play teams like this,” Sand said. “Someone puts you in a paper top 10, you still have to go out and play and prove it. I just want to see good basketball; if we play good basketball and lose, then that means we lost to a good team.”

But Troy didn’t play well. Seven first-quarter turnovers led to only seven shots--and the Warriors made only one--as they fell behind, 15-4.

The Warriors began to solve Ocean View in the second quarter, lobbing the ball over coverage to 6-foot-3 Jennie Gadd, who helped to pull them within five. But midway through the quarter, Gadd twisted an ankle and Troy’s dependence on the senior was evident: Ocean View outscored the Warriors, 10-2, and took a 31-16 halftime lead. Troy never got closer than 13.

“We were embarrassed our first two games, against Edison (51-27) and Mater Dei (76-32), and that was my fault,” Ocean View Coach Ollie Martin said. “We tried to play the same style as last year when we had three seniors and could do some sophisticated stuff. This year, that didn’t work. We had to go to a real basic, up-tempo style.

“We didn’t even practice it--I just drew things up before (beating Pasadena in the first round on Monday).”

Junior Becky Fraser led Ocean View with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Jennifer Tuiolosega had 12 points.

Gadd returned in the third quarter for Troy, but Ocean View kept her from becoming a factor; she finished five of seven from the field and had 14 points.

“I think this game will give us some momentum,” Martin said. “Troy’s a good team, and Torrance Bishop Montgomery’s going to be tough (in the semifinals), but it’s important for us to get into this style of play; the girls will get better and better.

“We figure we’ll be a top-10 team eventually.”