With the extra rest a first-round bye gave the Los Alamitos High boys basketball team, the Griffins were able to jump on Canyon of Anaheim and roll to a 73-46 win in the second-round of the Ford CIF-SS Championship boys basketball playoffs on Friday at Los Al High.
Within the first few minutes the Griffins had built an 18-3 lead and they kept the Comanches at bay the rest of the way. Canyon made some runs later in the game, but were never able to put enough together to close the gap significantly. Canyon had battled for a 61-59 first-round win over Rancho Cucamonga two days prior. The Griffins, who already play an up-tempo style on both offense and defense, seemed to get a boost right from the opening tipoff.
“So that was an advantage for us, that we took advantage of early, … we came out firing with a lot of energy, I think we wore them down a little bit,” Los Al Head Coach Nate Berger said after the game.
Late in the second quarter, the Comanches had cut the lead to 35-23, but Los Al junior Kedric Delaney hit a baseline three-pointer and was fouled on the shot. He made the free throw to complete the four-point play and the Griffins eventually took a 42-26 lead into halftime.
Five Griffins finished with double digits in points, led by Wesley Trevino with 14 points and Samori Guyness with 13. Liam Gray and Trent Minter each had 12 points and Delaney finished with 10. Isaiah Wempe had seven and Jordan Taylor added 5. And every player that scored had at least one three-pointer.
Berger noted that the only real struggles came from trying to slow their preferred pace in order to work time off the clock. But overall, he was very happy with how the team played on both ends of the court. He was also impressed with the mental focus of his players, saying that when they disagreed with calls against them, there was no lapse in concentration over them.
“I thought we’d played with the most maturity and mental toughness that we’ve had all year, so, if that’s the way we’re trending, I am very happy about that moving forward,”Berger said.
tThe Griffins (24-5) advanced to the quarterfinals on Tuesday (past ENE press time) where they faced second-seeded Windward High (26-3) of Los Angeles. The Wildcats are the Gold Coast League Champions. The winner advances to the semifinals on Friday.