GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Rancho Alamitos Survives Early Scare, 95-59

Everyone expected Rancho Alamitos to cruise past winless La Quinta Friday night, but few expected the Vaqueros to struggle in the first half before pulling away to a 95-59 victory.

The Vaqueros (8-3 overall, 1-0 in league) took a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but visiting La Quinta rallied to take a 24-22 lead. Rancho Alamitos tied at 24 as the first-quarter buzzer sounded.

La Quinta (0-10, 0-1) kept pace in the second quarter, as Rancho Alamitos led 41-40 at halftime.

Then disaster struck for La Quinta. Rancho Alamitos outscored the Aztecs 29-8 in the third quarter.

The Vaqueros had a 70-48 at the start of the fourth quarter. Eric Moore came off the bench in the final quarter to score nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Tony Cortez scored 21 points, including 15 in the third quarter, to lead six Rancho Alamitos players in double figures. Moore added 13, David Green 15, Paul Pryce 11, and Richard Pearce and Romeo Ponteres 10 each.

“We call Tony (Cortez) the silent assassin,” Rancho Alamitos Coach Eric Hamamoto said. “He does all the grunt work. He hassled the inbounders so much. And Mark Taylor coming off the bench gives us such a lift.”

Kennedy 60, Bolsa Grande 32--Jim Barker had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Billy Williams and Jermaine Galloway each had 11 rebounds to lead Kennedy (4-7, 1-1) at Bolsa Grande.

Garden Grove 70, Los Amigos 53--Center Bob Aoja led Garden Grove (2-0) with 25 points. Mark Perry added 14 for Garden Grove and forward Andre Roberson scored 15 for Los Amigos.

Pacifica 86, Santiago 40--Pacifica (4-6, 2-0) jumped to a 19-1 lead in the first quarter. Scott Lesser had 18 points and Randy Schulze had 16 for Pacifica.