Los Alamitos Coach Nate Berger with Saturday’s leading scorer Liam Gray. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Los Alamitos High School’s boys basketball team, in the final leg of trying to secure its third consecutive Sunset League title, had an impressive performance outside of league Saturday against Foothill in the Nike Extravaganza at Mater Dei.
The Griffins jumped out to a big lead in the second quarter before Foothill rallied to take the lead in the third quarter.
But Los Alamitos finished strong to capture a 68-62 victory at the Meruelo Athletic Center.
“At this point in the year, any victory is a good victory so we will take it on that,” said Los Alamitos Coach Nate Berger. “I thought we had a really good first half, the way they play with their size inside.”
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Los Alamitos (16-8) was led by Liam Gray, who scored 22 points and made five of seven three-point field goals and grabbed six rebounds and had three steals. Gray joined the 1,000-point career mark at Los Alamitos Friday night in the Griffins win over Edison.
The Griffins other players struggled from long-range vs. Foothill. As a team, Los Alamitos made 7 of 24 field goal attempts. However Los Alamitos helped its cause sinking 17 of 18 free throws and outrebounding Foothill 29-27.
“There were a lot of perimeter opportunities for us,” Berger said noting that a number of players struggled from long-range….. “Thank goodness Liam was 5 for 7 and spaced out the floor for us and knocked down some shots when we really needed them.
“Everyone in the county should be aware he’s one of the most elite point guards in the area.”
Gray had some help offensively. Wes Trevino scored 14 points, Trent Minter had 13 points, Samori Guyness contributed nine points and Tyler Lopez eight points.
“We came into this game knowing we had to shoot a lot of three’s and make shots so I did that and I trust my other guys to shoot the ball,” Gray said. “Earlier in the season, we didn’t play our best games but against these high-ranked teams, they’re all one possession games and we just started playing our best basketball and we look like a scary team.”
Foothill (14-11) was led by Lorenzo Turner, who had 17 points and five 3-pointers. Kai Nixon added 14 points, Blake Pearson had 13 points and four 3-pointers and Danny Kennard had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
After trailing 34-27 at halftime, Foothill came out strong in the third quarter to take a 48-47 going into the final stanza. But Minter, who earlier this season also joined the 1,000-point career mark, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter to help Los Alamitos regain the lead and capture the win.
“I was proud of our effort, Los Al is a very good basketball team,” said Foothill Coach Yousof Etemadi. “They play at an incredibly fast pace, not the pace we love to play at. But I thought our guys played really hard and we made a lot of shots and we played well, we ran out of time a little bit.
“This is a great event to play in, I’m not happy with the outcome, but with the fight. We have a lot of seniors out on the court that have played some big games the last couple year and I thought we responded every time they went on a run. We just probably need to grab a couple more rebounds, but it came down to the wire.
“I thought Lorenzo Turner played extremely well, Kai Nixon played well, Danny had a double double and Blake Pearson came of the bench, this is his second game back, he played a few minutes against Canyon, and once we get him fully healthy, I think we will be back to normal shape.”
Foothill (1-4 in league) is back in action Tuesday at Crean Lutheran in another game in the rugged Crestview League.
“It’s a gauntlet, it’s stressful, but it’s a ton of fun, I wouldn’t want to coach in any other league, there are really good players in it and even better coaches,” Etemadi said. “Every night is a battle and you got to show up and prepare every night.”
Los Alamitos (8-0 in league) has three league games this week, including Tuesday’s game at Newport Harbor.
“We’re playing well right now, we’re stepping up when we need to, another big week ahead we have three games this upcoming week to try and clinch league for us, so we will focus on that, and focused on getting better, there are things to clean up. I think we had a really good week of practice and games and execution down the stretch,” Berger said.
“I think we’re on something like 18 straight league wins so we’re trying to keep that streak going.”
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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