Marina girls’ basketball honors Rylee Bradley, builds momentum for playoff push

Rylee Bradley has proven herself to be a transformative player from the moment she put on a uniform for the Marina girls’ basketball team.

So it’s only fitting that on a night the junior guard was celebrated for becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer, Bradley had a game-high 23 points — matching her jersey number — in a big win for the Vikings.

The Vikings earned their fifth straight win in defeating visiting Fountain Valley 54-43 on Monday night, moving into a tie with Corona del Mar for third place in the Sunset League.

Marina (15-10, 6-3 in the Sunset League) also drew even in the loss column and half a game back of Fountain Valley (15-7, 7-3).

In a pregame ceremony, teammates held posters that read, “Marina’s career points leader,” and, “1,791 points and counting.” She raised that total to 1,814 with a signature performance of driving the lane, twice finishing through contact to earn opportunities for three-point plays.

“It happened so early in the season,” Marina coach Daniel Roussel said of Bradley breaking the school scoring record, which had been held since 1988 by Dawn Charroin with 1,316 points. “We didn’t play at home for a long time. … We celebrated with our team internally, but we didn’t get a chance to celebrate with our fans and our families, and so tonight was really fun to be able to present her to everybody and talk about her accomplishments over the last three years.”

“I thought, actually, after doing it, I thought maybe she had a little bit of a slow start, and maybe she was a little emotional, but she really pulled it together and played well tonight,” he added.

Marina’s Rylee Bradley, center holding bouquet, is honored as the program’s all-time scoring leader before a home game on Monday.

(Andrew Turner)

Huntington Beach (15-10, 5-5) earned a road victory at Corona del Mar (14-10, 6-3), if nothing else, bolstering its case for an at-large selection with just two league contests left on its schedule.

Los Alamitos (18-6, 8-1) is the pace-setter in the Sunset League, with its remaining schedule consisting of the league’s three-loss teams. The Griffins host CdM on Wednesday and finish up with road games at Marina on Friday and at Fountain Valley on Monday, Feb. 3.

“I told the Fountain Valley coaches on the way out, ‘If we both can get Los Al, we have a three-way tie for first,’” Roussel said. “We all have three losses right now, and if we can beat them two more times. … Fountain Valley lost to them by two. We lost by 30, so it’s on us to do that job.”

Senior center Sydnie Smith scored nine points, all via the three-point line, for Marina. Senior forward Haley Nguyen had nine points, eight rebounds and two steals. Junior forward Anaya Rivera scored seven points and pulled down a dozen rebounds.

Marina senior guard Maria Tejeda, a key contributor in applying defensive pressure on ball-handlers, exited after Fountain Valley senior guard Victoria Om tripped over her underneath the basket late in the third quarter. Tejeda was able to return, finishing with four points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists and a blocked shot.

“Maria is a tough player,” said Bradley, who admitted to being nervous in taking the floor after being honored. “She plays hard, she works hard, and she makes sure that she keeps her team in the back of her mind instead of giving up. She could have just sat the rest of the game, but she went back out there and played because she knows that she really wants to win, and she puts a lot into this team.”

In a highly competitive game through three quarters, the Vikings limited the contributions from Karley Waite with intense pressure. The Barons’ senior center scored on an offensive putback to tie the score, 34-34, with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but she was held off the scoreboard otherwise. Waite added 10 rebounds and three assists.

“I would definitely say the pressure that Marina put on us really caught us off guard,” said Izzy Om, who shares the Barons’ head coaching duties with Camryn Hamaguchi. “Something we were constantly telling all the girls was just slow down. … In the half-court offense, they kind of sped us up, and we were kind of taking some crazy shots, turning the ball over a few too many times.”

Sophie Hsieh scored a dozen points — on four three-pointers — in the first half, adding four rebounds and three assists.

Victoria Om scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, adding 10 rebounds and six assists.

Izzy Om said team cohesiveness would be a key factor in the Barons’ fortunes with the postseason around the corner.

“It’s not that the girls don’t want to win,” she said. “I know they do. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be getting so frustrated, but I think learning to shake off those mistakes, move on to the next play, and when somebody makes a mistake, you come together, you pick them up. I think that will be a huge, huge thing in CIF if we want to make it far.”

Huntington Beach 49, Corona del Mar 33: Emily Hoang had 16 points, and Taylor Savage added 15 points, as the visiting Oilers extended their winning streak to three games.

Sawyer Blumenkranz had 13 points to lead the Sea Kings, who have dropped three in a row following a season-high six-game winning streak. Sienna Knodegah chipped in with 10 points.

Sunset League

Marina 54, Fountain Valley 43

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Fountain Valley 11 - 12 - 11 - 9 — 43

Marina 14 - 14 - 12 - 14 — 54

FV — Hsieh 12, Om 12, Sasaki 7, Nishi 4, Tran 4, Waite 2, Jones 2.

3-pt. goals — Hsieh 4, Nishi 1, Om 1, Sasaki 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.

M — Bradley 23, H. Nguyen 9, Smith 9, Rivera 7, Tejeda 4, La Mont 2.

3-pt. goals — Smith 3, H. Nguyen 1, Rivera 1, Tejeda 1.

Fouled out — None.

Technicals — None.