Lobos can’t survive Oilers

Huntington hoops team scores victory over Los Amigos in La Quinta Invitational.In the first few weeks of the 2005-06 prep basketball season, the camaraderie that coach Richard Alvarez said was evident on his team during preseason practice has translated well onto the court.

Monday, on the opening night of pool play at the La Quinta Invitational, Huntington collected its fourth victory of the young season by routing Los Amigos, 71-30.

Alvarez, in his fifth-year with the Oilers, said the 41-point margin of victory ranks right up there with his teams’ biggest wins.

“We really shared the ball well,” Alvarez said of the Oilers’ offensive flow against the Lobos. “Defensively, we’re always pretty solid. We also tried to stay focused and disciplined, and I told the kids not to look at the scoreboard.

“I told them it didn’t matter if they were 20 points ahead or 20 points behind, that they just needed to play the way they were capable of playing. They played pretty well all the way through.”

Despite racing to a 33-16 halftime lead, Alvarez thought his squad was a “bit sloppy” in the opening half.

But the Oilers weren’t sloppy when it came to ball placement on offense. Senior wing Brian Gee came off the bench to score what turned out to be a game-best 18 points.

“Our guys were able to spot him up, and he hit a couple of three-point shots,” Alvarez said. “I was really happy with our distribution of the ball.”

Point guard Nick Becker scored nine points and also had six assists.

Previously, Huntington defeated host Norwalk, 60-51, in nonleague play, and went 2-2 to open the season at the Buena Park Tournament.

The Oilers defeated Sunny Hills and Foothill at Buena Park.

Huntington returns to La Quinta Invitational action today at 8 p.m. against University.

The Oilers’ victory wasn’t the only lopsided win Monday at the invitational: Edison rolled to a 74-40 win over Westminster. The Chargers were in command of the Lions by half, leading 37-17.

T.J. Lipold poured in a game-high 24 points for the Chargers.

Also Monday, Marina opened its season against Brea in opening round pool play at the Fullerton Tournament, and the Vikings suffered a 71-59 loss to the Wildcats.

“We made a lot of first-game mistakes, that’s for sure,” Marina coach Roger Holmes said. “We’re definitely a work in progress.”

Marina trailed the Wildcats by one at the half, 29-28, and were trailing by two with four minutes to go, but the Vikings could get no closer.

Break hit 10 of 11 free throw attempts down the stretch to pull away.

Marina was led by a pair of forwards, as Troy Lewis scored 20 points and Sean Starkey 19. Guard Mike Kinoshita scored 11 for the Vikings.

In girls’ basketball, Huntington used a big second half to pull away to a 65-49 nonleague victory at Tesoro.

The Oilers led 33-28 at the half and extended their lead over the Titans to 50-39 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Sophomore center Jasmine Erving scored a game-high 17 points, freshman guard Noe Viloria 15 and freshman guard/forward Rita Sitivi 11 for the Oilers.