GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Kennedy Rallies to Down Garden Grove, Gain Title

They almost had to call on the Luck of the Irish to pull this one out, but Kennedy was able to defeat Garden Grove on its own, 65-59, Friday night at Kennedy to win its second consecutive league title.

The Fighting Irish (16-8, 13-1 in league) had to rally from deficits of as many as 11 points to gain its second victory over the Argonauts (13-11, 9-5) this season. Kennedy won the first game, 58-49.

“That’s the way games should be played,” said Kennedy Coach John Mayberry. “I like the way we won it. We hung in there.”

For a while, it looked as if the Fighting Irish were on their way to a hanging--their own.

Garden Grove jumped to 14-4 lead with 2 minutes 21 seconds left in the first period and a 17-10 edge at the end of the quarter on the shooting of forward Mark Perry, guard Joe Aguirre and center Bob Ioja, who held Kennedy’s 6-foot-9 center Jermaine Galloway to only one basket in the period.

With 4:56 remaining before halftime and on the short end of a 24-17 score, Kennedy began the long haul back by outscoring the Argonauts, 12-4, to take a 29-28 lead after two quarters. Galloway, who finished with a game-high 26 points, had nine points in the period.

The Argonauts regained the lead, 46-39, after three quarters thanks primarily to Aguirre. The left-handed senior guard hit three of four three-point attempts and converted three of four free throws for 12 points in the period. He had 20 points in the game, including five three-pointers.

But Aguirre and the rest of the Argonauts went cold in the fourth period, scoring only 13 points, while Kennedy exploded for 26.

The problems for Garden Grove began when Ioja got into foul trouble in the quarter and the Argonauts were forced to assign the 6-3 Perry to guard Galloway, a plan that failed badly. Kennedy repeatedly worked the ball into Galloway, who responded with 11 points.

The Fighting Irish went ahead to stay, 58-57, with 2:29 left on a pair of free throws by Brian Cline. Guard Rod Rosales increased the lead to 60-57 with a 15-foot jumper and, after a pair of free throws by Ioja and a layup by teammate Brian Cline, scored the last three points for Kennedy on free throws.

Sophomore forward Jeff Cummins had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Kennedy. Rosales finished with eight points and Cline had 13. For Garden Grove, Ioja scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

In other league game:

Rancho Alamitos 70, Pacifica 53--Leon Vickers scored nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter for Rancho Alamitos (10-11, 7-7), which outscored Pacifica, 22-12, in that quarter. Chris Singletary grabbed 12 rebounds and scored nine points and Vickers had 10 rebounds for Rancho Alamitos. The loss dropped Pacifica to 15-7, 11-3.

Los Amigos 93, La Quinta 80--Chris Blythe scored 15 points as Los Amigos (4-20, 2-12) won at La Quinta. Stan Wada scored 22 for La Quinta (6-17, 3-11).