Jackson Burnham of Laguna Hills is defended by Bryan Lopez of Godinez Thursday. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Laguna Hills boys basketball team jumped out to an early lead, then withstood several challenges by Godinez to capture a 77-67 Golden West League victory Thursday night at Godinez.
Laguna Hills (10-9, 4-0) and Godinez (18-5, 3-1) came into the game tied for first place in the league. The Hawks took over sole possession of the top spot with the win halfway through the season.
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The Hawks jumped out to a 21-11 lead after one quarter but Godinez kept battling cutting the lead to three points midway into the fourth quarter.
Laguna Hills responded in the final minutes to earn the win. It was the first of two league games between the two teams, who play again on Monday, Feb. 2 at Laguna Hills.
Godinez also made an earlier run in the second quarter to tie the game before Laguna Hills took charge and finished the first half with a 46-35 lead.
“It definitely was a game of runs, stressful runs,” said Laguna Hills Coach Sean Sargeant, a former Hawks player. “We were fortunate to be on that side of the game tonight. I was happy with our maturity at the end, the last three minutes to settle down and work the ball and get multiple touches …. and not settle for the first thing that was open. That’s what helped us the seal the deal.
“It’s a step of maturity which is huge so I’m very proud of them because they’re going to need that kind of composure. If they want to finish league strong and make a run in the playoffs, you have to have that kind of composure.
“The first half (of league) is done, but we’ve got to stay focused, there’s another half to play.”
Laguna Hills was led by sophomore guard Fletcher Freeman who had 26 points and four 3-pointers. Senior guard Jackson Burnham added 16 points, eight coming in the final quarter and junior forward Myles Mittelsteadt had 14 points. for the Hawks.
Bryan Lopez had 16 points and Jaiden Torres 15 points to lead Godinez.
“Jackson is really aggressive in his attack and number 10 (Freeman) really took it to the rim a lot and that really collapsed our defense,” said Godinez Coach Robert Morgan. “Defensively, we will do our best to try and change that the next time we play them. They’re a good team, we just couldn’t quite get over the hump.
“We started poorly in the first quarter and that really was tough right from the beginning when they were attacking.”
Sophomore guard Bryan Lopez led Godinez with 17 points, including seven points in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a great kid and he’s got a lot of confidence,” Morgan said. “We’re going to keep feeding him as much as we possibly can.”
Senior forward Jaiden Torres had 16 points for the Grizzlies.
The Hawks Freeman and Mittelsteadt were excited to get the road win.
“It was a team effort, we’ve been preparing for this all year,” said Freeman. “We came out there and showed it and I think we played very well as a team, defensively and offensively. We always work on defense in practice leading up to the season, so I think our defense is what won us the game.”
“It was a good team win, I’m just happy that we moved the ball pretty well and we definitely locked down on defense,” added Mittelsteadt. “We had some very key defensive stops and I think we just played very well as a team.”
Mittelsteadt was pleased the team could survive the runs by Godinez.
“We just know that our teammates have our back and we know our coaches are going to implement the right offense and defenses that we need to get our spark back and just trust our teammates,” he said.
Morgan, the Godinez coach, has been pleased with his team’s season.
“We won the Estancia Tournament and the kids have won some really tough games,” Morgan said. “We’ve battled against some good teams. Marina and Newport Harbor and got some really good wins.”
He said his players will be excited about the rematch at Laguna Hills.
“We’re already looking forward to it at their place,” Morgan said. “We can play better.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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