EMPIRE LEAGUE : Los Alamitos’ Daugherty Holds Whitlock in Check, Loara Falls

The player who smothered Tes Whitlock, Loara High School’s scoring machine, had been averaging about 12 minutes a game, coming off the bench for Los Alamitos.

In Los Alamitos’ 73-54 victory Wednesday night at Loara, John Daugherty played all but about two minutes of the 32-minute game. Daugherty, a junior, held Whitlock to 12 points, far below his Orange County-leading average of 35.9.

Almost everywhere Whitlock went, Daugherty followed in the Griffins’ suffocating diamond-and-one defense. He had help on the perimeter from Bryan Hakala, and from Jason Cunningham and Geoff Graham inside.

“Be sure to mention my teammates,” Daugherty said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Los Alamitos’ defense worked to perfection, just as Coach Steve Brooks hoped when he assigned Daugherty to Whitlock.

“John is a very aggressive player,” Brooks said. “He’s our best defensive player.”

The victory improved Los Alamitos’ record to 13-6, 4-0 in Empire League play. Loara, fading fast from contention, is 8-11, 1-3.

Los Alamitos won by slowing the game to a crawl, walking the ball up court and forcing Loara to do the same. Whitlock never got going, thanks to Daugherty’s hounding, but also because of the plodding pace.

“We wanted it that way,” Brooks said. “From what we’ve seen on film, (Loara) wants to play in almost a frenzy.”

Los Alamitos got ahead, stuck to its plan and never let up. The Griffins, 10th-ranked in the county, led by as many as 21 points late in the game.

Cunningham, Hakala and Graham each scored 13 points. Daugherty, winded though he was from chasing Whitlock, had 12 points.

Without Whitlock’s usual production, Loara was sunk. Charlie Gipson had 15 points.

In other league games:

Cypress 59, Esperanza 57--Vincent LaQuana scored 22 points and Courtney Smalley 15 to lead the Centurions at Cypress. LaQuana and Adrian Gutierrez each scored baskets in the final two minutes to give Cypress (8-10, 2-2) a 59-54 lead. Matt Kordik scored 21 points to lead Esperanza (13-7, 2-2).

Katella 76, El Dorado 69--Kevin Carlson scored 20 points as Katella (12-5, 3-1) remained one game behind league-leading Los Alamitos. David Robichaud led El Dorado (6-11, 0-4) with 17 points.