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Winning a CIF-SS championship was not just the culmination of a season, but more like the culmination of a year’s long quest to the top of the area high school basketball world. After two years of disappointing playoff runs, the Los Alamitos High boys basketball team reached their highest peak yet, with a 63-60 win over Mira Costa High, in the CIF-SS Division 1 championship game on Saturday at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
It marked the first CIF-SS championship for the boys basketball program since 2007 and it was led by a group of seniors, many of whom have played together since childhood.
In the third year under Head Coach Nate Berger, who was a sophomore reserve on the 2007 team, the Griffins have battled in the Division 1 level, both playoffs and pre-league schedule. But despite 20-plus wins and league championships the past two years, the Griffins have faltered in the second round of the playoffs the prior two seasons. It set the stage for this year.
“I think all our guys wanted it more, like it all started last year doing a lot of crying to hugging each other and saying we’re not gonna let this happen again,” senior guard Liam Gray said.
Los Alamitos has adopted a fast pace style that pressures offenses and keeps defenses scrambling to guard all five guys who won’t hesitate to take shots. But the Mustangs play a similar style and they led in the early minutes of the game, before the Griffins started to extend a small lead.
“I’d hate to say chaotic, but I think it’s the right word to describe what we do,” Berger said. “You know, that’s where I credit everyone on our team, even the guys who don’t get in, our practices are chaotic. We only played seven or eight guys tonight, but our 9 10 11 12, they play hard at practice, they get after it and if you don’t have 10 guys to create that chaos and simulation in your practice, it’s hard to prepare,” Berger said.
One of the biggest contributors was the Griffins ability to disrupt the Mustangs offense more. The Mustangs finished with 21 turnovers, while the Griffins had only nine. Los Al had 18 steals to the Mustangs’ six. Senior Wesley Trevino led the Griffins with 15 points and fellow senior Trent Minter had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Lopez had 13 points, three assists and four steals and senior Samori Guyness had 10 points.
At one point in the third quarter, the Griffins led by 13 points, but the Mustangs chipped away and had pulled to within 52-47 by the end of the third quarter. Then the Griffins’ offense stalled in the fourth quarter. A running floater by Tyler Lopez was the only points for the Griffins in the first half of the fourth quarter. But their defense kept the Mustangs from taking a lead.
The Mustangs eventually tied the score at 54-54 before the Griffins offense got back on track. When Samori Guyness hit a jump shot in the key, the Griffins again led 56-54. Lopez followed with a jump shot off the glass for a 58-54 lead. Mira Costa got within 58-57, when McCarthy Bedner was fouled on a three-point shot and converted all three free throws.
Wesley Trevino expanded the lead to 60-57 with another jump shot in the key and after a free throw by Trent Minter, the Griffins led 61-57. But a three pointer by Christian Kranz got the Mustangs within 61-60 with 8.4 seconds left in the game.
The Mustangs were forced to foul and Trevino converted two free throws with 7.1 seconds left for a 63-60 lead. When another three point attempt by Kranz missed the mark, the celebration for the Griffins began.
“I’m proud of my team, even the guys that didn’t get in, of what they did, of our culture and our unity, I think is what kind of got us over the top tonight,” Berger said.
Update
The Griffins (26-8) advanced to the second round of the State championship Tournament with an 84-72 win over Cathedral Catholic of San Diego. The Griffins, seeded No. 6 in the South Bracket, will play at Redondo Union High on Thursday, at 7 p.m.
Redondo Union (26-5) is seeded No. 3 in the Bracket and were co-champs of the Bay League with Mira Costa. Los Alamitos and Redondo Union met once this season, with the Sea Hawks defeating the Griffins by a score of 92-75.
