Boys’ Basketball: Los Al upends Edison
LOS ALAMITOS — History looks like it will repeat itself when it comes to the Edison High boys’ basketball team and how it wins a Sunset League title.
Sharing the top prize is what the Chargers have done in their past six league title runs. And it appears they’re on their way to splitting first for the seventh time.
The Chargers missed a chance to lock up first outright, losing at Los Alamitos, 54-47, on Tuesday night.
A victory is all the Chargers needed and first was all theirs. They came up short, as Los Alamitos moved atop the league with the Chargers at 8-1.
Joseph Riley led Los Alamitos with 18 points, 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Riley, who was in foul trouble the last time the Griffins lost at Edison, 72-56, on Jan. 18, proved to be a difference maker.
“It feels really good because losing the way we did wasn’t characteristic of us,” Riley said.
Riley hit two big three-pointers in the fourth, each time extending Los Alamitos’ lead to six points. The senior guard made each of his four free throws down the stretch to put away Edison.
With one contest left in league, Los Alamitos and Edison will most likely split first place for the second time in three seasons. The top two programs in league will face the worst two teams in the regular-season finale on Thursday.
The Chargers, who are 21-4 overall and ranked No. 15 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA poll, play at Marina on Thursday, while the defending champion Griffins, 20-6 overall, travel to Fountain Valley. Their opponents are both 1-8 in league, tied for last place.
“You want to be a league champion, and it doesn’t matter if it’s [as] co [champion] or [outright champion],” said Edison Coach Rich Boyce, who has been at the helm of Edison in half of its previous six league championship seasons, in 2014-15, 2010-11 and 2004-05. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems firing them up. They could have tonight and feel sorry for themselves. Tomorrow morning, they’ve got to be ready to go.”
The Chargers looked ready to claim first, with Randall Walker going in for two layups early and throwing two alley-oop passes to Josh Phillips. Edison jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes, and it seemed like they wouldn’t be sharing anything.
Then the Chargers fizzled offensively. They went almost nine minutes without a field goal, and Los Alamitos took advantage.
William Henriksen hit a jumper as time expired in the opening quarter, giving the Griffins a 13-11 lead, their first advantage. They began the second quarter recording the first 11 points. From the 5½-minute mark to the 4:36 mark, Los Alamitos went on a 22-3 run.
“All of a sudden we just stopped doing things,” said Boyce, who wasn’t happy with the pace of the game. “I don’t know why we kept walking up the ball up the court.”
Just as they are in the league standings, Edison and Los Alamitos went into the fourth quarter even.
The score was 35-35, and then in the first 23 seconds into the quarter, the Chargers turned the ball over and they committed an illegal screen. And just like that, Los Alamitos took a 40-35 lead, as Chris Howard raced in for a layup and Henriksen knocked down a three-pointer in the corner.
The Griffins’ lead grew to as many as six, thanks to a three-pointer by Riley. Midway through the final quarter, Edison had three more turnovers than points. The visitors trailed, 43-37.
Walker cut into the deficit by banking in a couple of shots. He banked a three-pointer from the top to make it a three-point game with 2:42 to go, and almost two minutes later, his bank from the near the free-throw line made it a two-point game.
Walker, who had 38 points in the first meeting, finished with half that amount the second time around. The only other Edison player in double figures was the 6-foot-8 Phillips, who was two blocks away from a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks.
Los Alamitos’ Jacob Eyman did a good job against Phillips. Eyman had nine points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Sunset League
Los Alamitos 54, Edison 47
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Edison 11 – 8 – 16 – 12 — 47
Los Alamitos 13 – 13 – 9 – 19 — 54
E – Walker 19, Phillips 11, Atencio 9, Matthews 4, M. Serven 2, Tuato 2.
3-pt. goals – Walker 2, Atencio 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
LA – Riley 18, Eyman 9, Howard 7, Henriksen 7, Platt 6, Trinidad 3, Frank 2, Smith 2.
3-pt. goals – Riley 2, Howard 1, Trinidad 1, Henriksen 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Twitter: @ByDCP
