PREP BADMINTON / SOUTHERN SECTION PLAYOFFS : Garden Grove Moves to Semifinals

Garden Grove’s road to the Southern Section Division I badminton final might be a little smoother, thanks to some help from Corona del Mar.

The Argonauts, after easily putting away Alhambra, 17-2, in the quarterfinals Thursday, learned that their semifinal opponent will be unseeded Diamond Bar, which upset second-seeded Corona del Mar, 10-9.

Garden Grove Coach Vicki Toutz downplayed the upset and is more concerned with an injury suffered by her No. 2 boys’ singles player, Kevin Huoang. Fifteen minutes before the match, Huoang told Toutz that he hurt his knee Wednesday night. Toutz had to do some last-minute scrambling to fill her lineup, and fortunately for Garden Grove, its main strength is its depth. The Argonauts (15-1) have won 13 consecutive matches, dropping only three games in the playoffs.

“At this point it doesn’t matter who we have to face,” Toutz said. “My concern is the injury that I have and trying to make the team as competitive as I can. I haven’t seen Diamond Bar play, but I know their boys are strong. “

Sophomore Wook Kim, who took over for Huoang, played strong and Toutz will need that next week if Huoang cannot play. Against Alhambra’s No. 2, Wing Chow, Kim, who normally plays doubles, lost, 15-8, 15-11. In the final match of the day he faced Chi Huynh, winning the first game, 15-5, before dropping the final two, 15-11, 17-15.

Toutz was thrilled with Kim’s performance and after a particularly pretty drop shot, Toutz was all smiles.

“And he’s only a sophomore,” Toutz said.

Garden Grove will face Diamond Bar in the semifinals Tuesday, with the site to be determined by a coin flip. Alhambra finishes 7-4.

In a Division II match:

Magnolia 10, Long Beach Millikan 9--Boris Chung and Joyce Cabuhat won in mixed doubles, 15-11, 15-9, for Magnolia (16-5) in the second round. Chung won both his singles. Magnolia will play Katella, which defeated Rosemead, 13-6.