EMPIRE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Los Alamitos Alone in First After Defeating Esperanza
After watching his team win its previous two games by a total of three points, Los Alamitos Coach Steve Brooks was relieved after the Griffins beat Esperanza, 77-54, Friday night at Los Alamitos.
“It’s nice to be able to come back and get a 23-point win after those close ones,” Brooks said. “It’s coming together for us. Earlier in the season, we weren’t playing hard the whole game. We would get a 12- or 15-point lead and let the team back in. We needed to be more cold-hearted.”
The Griffins were just that against Esperanza. They built a 16-2 lead in the first quarter and let Esperanza no closer than eight in the second half.
“I liked our intensity,” Brooks said. “This is a sign of a mature team.”
Brooks also was pleased with the maturity of sophomore guard Jason Cunningham.
Cunningham, a 6-foot-4 forward, scored 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Griffins (15-5) take sole possession of first place in the Empire League at 5-0. Esperanza dropped to 12-9 and 4-1.
With Robert Conlisk, the team’s 6-11 center and leading scorer, struggling with foul problems, Cunningham took over in the fourth quarter, scoring 11 points and getting six rebounds.
“He’s scored 21, 30, nine and 24 in his last four games and has been averaging in double figures on the boards,” Brooks said. “He’s been playing very well for us.
“He’s starting to understand the offense and what’s available to him when (opponents) double-team Robert. He’s taking advantage of those things.”
Esperanza Coach Mark Hill said Cunningham took advantage of the Aztecs’ poor weakside defense.
“We did a horrible job rotating our defense,” Hill said. “There’s no reason why he should have had that many points. It was bad defense.”
The Aztecs weren’t exactly sparkling on offense either. They made 17 of 46 shots and committed 20 turnovers, including eight in the first quarter. Joe Foss was the Aztecs’ only weapon, scoring 24 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
“We didn’t shoot well from the perimeter and we had too many turnovers,” Hill said. “They were silly things, like not taking care of the ball. It’s all concentration.”
Loara 85, El Dorado 82--Tes Whitlock scored 37 points to lead host Loara (14-3, 3-2). Whitlock made 11 of 19 shots, including nine of 13 from three-point range. The Golden Hawks (11-8, 2-3) had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but Gary Smith missed a three-point field goal from the top of the key.
Katella 80, Cypress 71--Forward Kevin Carlson scored 33 points for host Katella (5-12, 1-4). Cypress is 7-12, 0-5.