DIVISION I-A : Griffins Do Enough to Tip Century

Los Alamitos did enough things right Friday to get another shot at improving on the things it did wrong.

The Griffins soared at times, and wallowed during stretches. They scored in flurries, then protected what they had.

In the end, they had enough for a 55-50 victory over Century in the first round of the Division I-A playoffs at Los Alamitos. They will play Loyola, an 81-66 winner over Palmdale, in the second round Tuesday.

To keep moving forward, though, the Griffins (20-6) must keep from taking steps back.

Throughout Friday’s game, they toyed with the idea of breaking the game open, only to have the Centurions (15-10) scrap back to within range. The rubber band stretched, then snapped back.

“We seemed to be on the verge of pulling away,” Los Alamitos Coach Steve Brooks. “Each time, they came back at us.”

It was easy to attach the praise and the blame.

Guards Steve Carbone and Alex Lin did their part. They dropped jump shots from long range, made key steals and provided all the offense the Griffins could ask. Lin finished with 18 points and Carbone 16.

They scored in bunches. Lin hit a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter to help the Griffins build a 16-7 lead. Carbone dropped two three-pointers in the third quarter to spur a 15-4 run that gave Los Alamitos a 45-32 lead.

“Every time we’d get close, one of them would hit a three-pointer,” Century Coach Greg Coombs said.

Said Brooks: “That’s the way they’ve been all year. They score in spurts. They played they way we expect them to play.”

There effort was almost wasted.

While Lin and Carbone taking all they could outside, the Griffins were handing back almost as fast inside.

Los Alamitos was pushed around inside despite the presence of Brad Doyle (6 feet 7), Jeremy Vandervoet (6-6) and Ryan Staniec (6-6). Their size seemed matter little to Century’s Thomas Harmon (6-4) and Darvin Thompson (6-3).

Harmon had 20 points 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. A strong performance, especially since he was playing with an injured eye. Harmon underwent minor surgery Thursday after being poked in the eye during practice. He wore goggles to start the game, but shed them in the first quarter.

Thompson scored 17 points, 11 in the first half, which ended with Los Alamitos leading, 30-26.

“We have to play better at our post defense,” Brooks said. “We can’t keep giving up the baseline.”

But what held the Centurions back was their poor ball handling. They finished with 25 turnovers.

The Griffins were responsible for some of them with their baseline-to-baseline defense. But there were times when the Centurions were just plain sloppy.

Twice sophomore point guard Curtis Arrington threw passes out of bounds with no one guarding him. Another time, center Jason Welty held the ball for a five-second count with Harmon open underneath.

Century began the fourth quarter trailing, 45-38, but had two chances to creep closer. Both possessions ended in turnovers.