Garden Grove League : Cao: There Is More Than Meets the Eye : Despite Slight Build, Bolsa Grande Guard Leads the Matadors to Win

At 5-feet 7-inches and 110 pounds, Nam Cao, Bolsa Grande High School point guard, is not the most imposing figure on a basketball court. But he is usually one of the best.

He has been impressing opposing players and coaches in the Garden Grove League with his shooting and passing skills for the past two seasons and is among Orange County’s leaders in assists this year, with a 6.5 per game average.

Now, if he could only earn some respect from his own teammates.

After scoring 17 points to help the Matadors to an 81-68 win over Garden Grove Friday night, Cao was just beginning a post-game interview in the Argonauts’ gym when Bolsa Grande forward Tom Afdahl interrupted.

“You’re gonna talk to him?” he asked a reporter. “He’s too small .”

Even after starting for the second straight year, Cao, a junior, is still kidded by his teammates for his diminutive stature. But it’s funny how they keep turning to Cao when they need offense.

The Matadors and Argonauts played even for two quarters Friday night, with Garden Grove leading, 20-19, after one period and Bolsa Grande leading, 39-38 at halftime. Neither team could open more than a five-point lead until midway through the third quarter, when the Matadors surged ahead, 51-45.

Cao saw this as an opportunity to put the Argonauts away.

First, he hit a jump shot from the left corner.

Then, from deep in the right corner, Cao launched a high-arching shot that didn’t touch the rim and barely touched the net.

With a minute left in the third period, it was bombs away again, as Cao shot from the top of the key, about 24 feet away from the basket. Again, nothing but net.

Just to give the Argonauts some perspective, Cao closed the period with a layup.

In a 2:40 span, Cao had scored the team’s final eight points of the quarter to give Bolsa Grande a commanding, 59-48 lead.

The closest Garden Grove came after that was only nine.

“Can he shoot from the outside, or what?” Bolsa Grande Coach Tony Lipold said. “I’ve watched him every day for two years, and he’s unbelievable.

“When the game starts, he sometimes doesn’t play well, but when it gets down to winning time, he wants it. It’s hard to find that in a high school player. A lot of kids back off from that.”

Lipold also got a big game from sophomore forward Joe Small, who scored 20 on a 10-of-12 shots from the field. Small is shooting better than 60% this year. Senior forward Hung Nguyen added 16 points, 10 of them coming in the second period while Cao was sitting out with three fouls.

Afdahl added 12 points and Thurman Brown scored 10 points, including seven on free throws in the fourth quarter. The win kept Bolsa Grande in second place, one game behind Rancho Alamitos, while Garden Grove fell into a three-way tie for second place with La Quinta and Los Amigos.

Mark Kiefer scored a game-high 25 points for the Argonauts, and Jeff Kanegae added 14. Kiefer scored 11 points in the first period, eight of them on follow shots from the inside, and six points in the second quarter, but he was held to two in the third, when the Matadors switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone.

Both teams shot very well from the field, as Bolsa Grande made 34-of-55 shots for 61% and Garden Grove made 29-of-57 shots for 50%.

BOLSA GRANDE (81)--Cao 17, Brown 10, Afdahl 12, Small 20, Nguyen 16, Teschler 6.

GARDEN GROVE (68)--Kanegae 14, Contreras 6, Lorenz 6, Kiefer 25, Finch 8, Lewis 2, Fournier 9.

La Quinta 77, Los Amigos 64--The Aztecs moved into a three-way tie for third place with Garden Grove and Los Amigos after defeating the Lobos at La Quinta.

Kenny Bennett scored 23 and Chris Jackson added 21 for the Aztecs, who jumped out to a 22-13 lead in the first quarter and increased it to 48-36 by halftime. Mike Whitcomb added 12 points and Eric Ramsey had 10 points and 6 assists for La Quinta.

“For the first time this year, we put a whole game together,” Aztec Coach Jim Perry said. “This was the best we’ve played all year.”

Geno Howard led Los Amigos with 15 points, while Mark Hyatt and Van Skipps each added 10.

LOS AMIGOS (64)--Lacy 8, Howard 15, Altimirano 4, M. Hyatt 10, Skipps 10, Garcia 9, McGee 4, Jason 4.

LA QUINTA (77)--Ramsey 10, Dennison 2, Whitcomb 12, Jackson 21, Bennett 23, Recktenwald 9.

Rancho Alamitos 62, Santiago 47--Randy Morales scored 16 points, Roger Carter scored 14 points and Lee Velasquez added 11 points to help the first-place Vaqueros defeat the last-place Cavaliers at Santiago High.

Pete Avila scored 22 points to lead the Cavaliers.

RANCHO ALAMITOS (62)--Carter 14, Morales 16, Velasquez 11, Flores 8, Rambayon 4, Jaggli 7, Wagner 2.

SANTIAGO (47)--Avila 22, Burns 12, Hank 6, Velasquez 5, Potestas 2.