ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Garden Grove League : La Quinta Looks Stronger Than Ever in Win

The prospects of La Quinta High School clinching second place in the Garden Grove League appeared remote Tuesday night when the Aztecs took the floor to play third-place Los Amigos.

Earlier in the week, starting forward Ari Buford had been ruled academically ineligible and Scott Campbell, the team’s best shooter, was out with the flu. Coach Jim Perry’s team had already clinched a playoff berth in the upcoming Southern Section 3-A division playoffs.

Well, you can hold the sympathy cards. La Quinta looked stronger than ever in a 68-45 rout of Los Amigos that clinched second place and erased any doubts whether the Aztecs are a legitimate playoff team.

Forward Mike Whitcomb and center Brian Joe picked up the scoring slack and controlled the boards as La Quinta improved to 7-2 in the league with one game remaining. Los Amigos is 5-4.

Joe led all scorers with 24 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and blocked 2 shots. The 6-foot 10-inch center scored on a dunk with 2:01 remaining to give La Quinta a 64-43 lead. Perry cleared his bench moments later.

Whitcomb added 22 points and 11 rebounds and made three consecutive shots in the third quarter when Los Amigos threatened to make a run. The Lobos trailed, 26-5, in the first half and could never get closer than 10 points.

Gene Altamirano, the Lobos’ high-scoring guard, was shut out in the first quarter and had to work hard for 15 points. He was hounded most of the game by La Quinta’s Jim Brannan.

“Brannan did a nice job on Altamirano,” Perry said. “It was important to contain Altamirano, and then to shut him out in the first quarter was a real plus.”