Boys’ Basketball : Bolsa Grande Gives Small Some Help

For most of the season, Joe Small has carried Bolsa Grande High School’s basketball team with his scoring and rebounding.

Tuesday night, Small’s teammates lent a hand.

With four players scoring in double figures, Bolsa Grande clinched the third and final Garden Grove League playoff spot with a 73-56 victory over Los Amigos.

Small, averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds per game, scored 18 points. But the Matadors (16-8 overall, 8-5 in league play) also received strong games from Harry Torikian (17 points), Mark Pincombe (16) and Jim Usey (16).

“There have been a lot of times when we’ve depended on Joe too much,” Bolsa Grande Coach Ron Inman said. “We were able to give him some help tonight.”

Torikian, Pincombe and Usey also had nine rebounds each, as Bolsa Grande outrebounded Los Amigos, 35-14. And the Matadors’ strong inside play helped them pull away in the second quarter.

Bolsa Grande led at halftime, 34-26. Torikian and Pincombe combined for 14 first-half points, 10 on offensive rebounds.

Bolsa Grande opened the third quarter with an 8-1 run to take a 42-27 lead and Los Amigos never got closer than 10.

Carlos Palomino Led Los Amigos (10-13, 7-6) with 18 points.

In another Garden Grove League game:

Kennedy 94, Rancho Alamitos 54--Mike Pettengill scored 19 points to lead Kennedy (16-7, 12-1) at Rancho Alamitos. Kennedy outscored Rancho Alamitos, 31-10, in the second quarter to take a 46-17 halftime lead. Wendell Lauderdale and Jim Barker each scored 13 points for Kennedy. The loss eliminated Rancho Alamitos (8-12, 7-6) from any chance of a playoff berth.

La Quinta 67, Pacifica 56--Kenny Bennett and Scott Campbell each scored 24 points to lead the Aztecs (15-10, 9-4) at Pacifica. Dustin Bonham scored 19 points and Jeff Banks scored 16 to lead Pacifica (4-9, 8-12).

Garden Grove 51, Santiago 43--Matt Westergaard had 12 points and 6 rebounds to lead host Garden Grove. Wade Elliott added 11 points for the Argonauts (6-14, 5-8). Jason Heskett and Ta Nguyen had 11 points each for Santiago (1-20, 0-13).

In the Olympic League:

Orange Lutheran 71, Southern California Christian 52--Pat Bagatourian scored 28 points and had 15 rebounds to lead Orange Lutheran (15-6, 10-2) to its first league title.