Garden Grove League : Rancho Alamitos Defeats Bolsa Grande

The look on Bolsa Grande High School Coach Tony Lipold’s angry, red face expressed all the frustrations the Matadors were having against Rancho Alamitos Wednesday night.

Bolsa Grande (2-3, 9-9) couldn’t get its offensive going and couldn’t stop Rancho Alamitos (4-1, 9-9) on the fast break as the Vaqueros defeated the Matadors, 55-44, in front of a crowd of 430 at Bolsa Grande.

The Matadors were 14 of 62 (23%) from the field and 16 of 25 (64%) from the free throw line, compared to the Vaqueros, who were 18 of 48 (38%) from the field and 15 of 28 (54%) from the line.

From the first basket, both Lipold and Vaquero Coach Patrick Adams were on their feet, yelling as much at the officials as they were at their players. Less than two minutes into the first quarter, Lipold was given a technical after arguing with an official, and senior guard John Hone sank one free throw to put the Vaqueros ahead for the first time, 5-4. Rancho Alamitos built its lead to as many as 18 points.

Both Rancho Alamitos and Bolsa Grande used a fast-break offense, and, at times, the game look more like a volleyball match than a basketball game, with the ball bouncing uncontrollably above the players’ heads. In the second half, the fast break offenses resulted in frequent turnovers. Bodies and insults were flying everywhere.

Matador Brent Rudy took some awkward high steps into the bleachers in the fourth quarter after he passed the ball inbounds and lost his balance. Bolsa Grande junior forward Tom Afdahl, who scored 10 points, was flattened once in the first quarter and was sidelined in the fourth quarter after a wayward pass sent him tumbling into the bleachers. Bolsa Grande’s 5-foot 5 3/4-inch guard, Nam Cao, who received an elbow in the face early in the third quarter, left the game and didn’t return until the fourth.

“It was consistently inconsistent,” Adams said, referring to the officiating. “The kids didn’t know how they could play, what they could do out there.”

Rancho Alamitos took the lead for good early in the second half and retired at halftime ahead, 26-19. The Matadors, however, were held to 2 of 15 shots from the field in the third quarter. Although the Vaqueros didn’t do much better, making only 5 of 15, they compensated for it at the free throw line, shooting 50%, and led at the end of the third, 39-24.

The Vaqueros were paced by senior forward Ruben Patton with 11 points and senior guard John Hong with 10. Rancho Alamitos outrebounded Bolsa Grande, 41-39. Although Matador Cao led all scorers with 12 points, he had a poor first half, shooting only 2 of 6 from the field.

RANCHO ALAMITOS (55)--Patton 11, Carter 6, Velasquez 8, Perry 7, Ngyuen 8, Hong 10, Tryon 2, Porter 2, Metcalf 1.

BOLSA GRANDE (44)--Cao 12, Afdahl 10, Swoboda 9, Graves 6, Rudy 2, Hung 3, Howe 2.

In other Garden Grove League action:

La Quinta 67, Santiago 47--The Aztecs shot 70% from the floor in their romp over the Cavaliers at Santiago.

La Quinta (3-2, 7-9) made 28 of 40 field goal attempts as all nine Aztecs scored and shot better than 50%. Scott St. John scored a game-high 16 points for La Quinta. Freshman Arri Buford had 13, Nathan Barker had 11 and Mike Zugates added 10. Darryl Curry and Rick Burns scored 13 apiece for Santiago (2-3, 9-8).

LA QUINTA (67)--Lee 2, St. John 16, Barker 11, Zugates 10, Schneggenburger 4, Buford 13, Molin 2, Recktenwald 5, Bates 4.

SANTIAGO (47)--Tran 8, Curry 13, Burns 13, Correa 5, Avila 6, Jost 2.

Garden Grove 71, Los Amigos 51--The Argonauts (4-1, 11-7) leaped out to a 41-26 halftime lead as Brent Crone and Brent Kaser scored 12 points each. Center Jim O’Connor supplied 12 points and 8 rebounds to help keep the game out of the Lobos’ reach. Los Amigos (0-5, 3-15) was led by Eric Cortez with 14 points and Geno Howard with 10.

LOS AMIGOS (51)--Howard 10, McMullen 3, Davis 6, Cortez 14, Hyatt 4, Williams 4, Anderson 2, Garcia 4, Thompson 4.

GARDEN GROVE (71)--Crone 15, O’Connor 12, Guibord 5, Duran 7, Rapp 2, Kaser 15, Fournier 2, Anderson 2, Woodward 6, Kanagae 4, Augustine 1.