Prep Voices : Los Alamitos, Pacifica Set the Pace

I love a good fast break, and this season I saw some great ones . . . in two sports.

There were the obvious favorites in basketball, such as watching Mater Dei’s Schea Cotton soar for an alley-oop slam off a perfect assist from Miles Simon.

Or Santa Margarita’s Brad Finneran making a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to his twin brother, Brian, for an easy layup.

But Los Alamitos introduced me to fast-break football.

Using its no-huddle, run-and-shoot-type offense, the Griffins beat their opponents by an average score of 39-7.

And the Griffins capped the season by blitzing previously undefeated Huntington Beach, 39-21, in the Southern Section Division II championship game.

Quarterback Mike Good passed for 403 yards and four touchdowns as Los Alamitos amassed 554 yards in the victory, which gave the Griffins their third consecutive section championship.

Los Alamitos’ title was the perfect lead-in to basketball season.

Pacifica took the up-tempo mentality to the extreme, and rode it all the way to a section championship and a spot in the State Division III championship game.

Under Coach Bob Becker, the Mariners’ full-court pressure defense harassed, harried and hurried opponents. Becker used as many as 12 players in the first quarter.

The Mariners rallied from double-digit second-half deficits in the Southern California regional playoffs twice and trailed at halftime before defeating San Dimas to win the section Division III-A title.

Two championships. One expected, one unexpected. Both frantic.