Newport Harbor Tops Huntington Beach in League Home Game (2025)

Newport Beach – After a week off from Sunset League play, Newport Harbor resumed league play with a 63-54 win against Huntington Beach on Friday at Newport Harbor High School.

From the opening tipoff, the Sailors never trailed, as their up tempo offense helped them take an early 13-4 lead in the first quarter. The Oilers, who are primarily a streaky team in terms of scoring, didn’t get their first points until two minutes and 15 seconds into the quarter and after that, their next points didn’t come until three minutes after.

The second quarter saw Newport Harbor lead 17-6 and continue its offensive pressure, as they led by double digits throughout most of the quarter. Leading 33-20 late in the quarter, the Sailors got a late fast break lay-up from Gavin Guy, as they led 35-20 at halftime.

After the Sailors built their biggest lead of the game at 37-20, the Oilers used a 16-5 run to get the lead down to six, With Newport Harbor leading 45-40, Jack Berry sank a mid-range jumper to end the quarter and build some momentum going into the final frame.

Each time the Oilers drew closer, the Sailors always had a response. With Newport Harbor leading 55-46, Owen Saukkola scored and got fouled, which also led to him and another one of the Huntington Beach players get tangled up and both getting double technical fouls.

The double tech seemed to motivate the entire Huntington Beach team, as Jonah Kim nailed a three-pointer after Saukkola misfired on the three-point play opportunity. The Sailors rebuilt their lead back to double digits only to see the Oilers come right back with a basket of their own with  time starting to become a factor for the visitors.

With Newport Harbor leading 61-51, Kim made a contested three to cut the lead to seven. But that was as close as Huntington Beach got, as the Sailors held on to win and get themselves back into the win column.