Griffins Stop Aztecs, Maintain Top Spot

Los Alamitos didn’t know what to expect when it showed up at Esperanza Friday night. The Griffins were just hoping to jump on the Aztecs early.

The Sunset League leaders pummeled Esperanza in their first meeting several weeks ago. But Jon Steven, a big-time scoring threat, didn’t play for the Aztecs because he was recovering from a broken hand.

“We knew we were going to have a tough game,” guard Andrew Pleick said. “They were going to step it up because they had their best player back.”

Steven showed a lot of moxie around the basket and led all players with 20 points and 12 rebounds, but the Griffins got down to business early en route to a 69-57 victory.

The win leaves Los Alamitos (16-6, 6-0) a game ahead of Fountain Valley, which defeated Huntington Beach Friday. The two meet next Friday at Fountain Valley.

Esperanza (11-11, 3-3) couldn’t get it together after falling behind, 19-6, after the first seven minutes of the game. Esperanza made only one of its first eight shots and was only three of 12 from the floor with four turnovers when Keenan Howry’s reverse layup with 1 minute 29 seconds left in the first quarter gave Los Alamitos that 13-point bulge.

“The key was to start off good,” said Pleick, who had 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. “We are very confident in ourselves. We’ve been playing with a lot of energy and we never let down.”

Esperanza got within 11 points a couple of times in the second quarter, but the Aztecs were their own worst enemy. Each time it looked like they were about to make a run, they committed a series of turnovers that Los Alamitos converted into points.

Esperanza’s Patrick Lefler finished with 17 points and Doug Brown had 14.

In other Sunset League games:

Fountain Valley 75, Huntington Beach 43--Zach Hardin had 18 points, including four three-pointers, and Brad Keenan had 12 points to lead Fountain Valley (15-6, 5-1), which held the Oilers to four points in the third quarter.

Marina 63, Edison 42--Scot Austin had 13 points and 12 rebounds and Dustin Kaatz had 17 points for host Marina (12-10, 3-3). Mike Sperber led Edison (7-16, 1-5) with 17 points.