LOS ALAMITOS – The Los Alamitos boys basketball team was going to need contributions from multiple players to beat Santa Margarita.
The Griffins got them in their 55-50 win over the Eagles in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs Wednesday at Los Alamitos High.
Los Alamitos sophomore Samori Guyness went into the game late in the third quarter and made his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the corner as time expired in the quarter.
Another reserve, junior Isaiah Wempe, beat the shot clock with a jump shot in the fourth quarter. And yet another reserve, sophomore Wes Trevino, made a fourth-quarter 3-pointer.
All of those baskets either returned momentum to Los Alamitos or extended it. In such a close game, all of those baskets were important.
“Everybody contributed,” said Griffins coach Nathan Berger. “Even people who didn’t check in were part of this win for us, and that’s what makes it so special for us tonight.”
The Griffins (23-6) will play at St. Paul (18-11) in a second-round game Friday. St. Paul upset Village Christian 51-49 Wednesday.
The Los Alamitos win over Santa Margarita (21-9) could be categorized as an upset. The Griffins were not in the final CIF-SS Division 1 top 16 poll that had Santa Margarita at No. 9.
Los Alamitos is No. 11 in the Orange County Top 25 and Santa Margarita is No. 5.
It was a revenge game, too, for Los Alamitos, which lost to Santa Margarita 72-65 in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Los Alamitos 6-5 sophomore forward Trent Minter said the Griffins felt a bit overlooked and under-appreciated Wednesday.
“We went into it thinking, ‘oh, they don’t probably think much of us, we’re just a random public school in Orange County,’” Minter said. “We wanted to take it to ‘em and I think we did.”
Los Alamitos sophomore Trent Minter scored 21 points with 6 rebounds in the Griffins’ 55-50 win over Santa Margarita, @CIFSS D1 first round…
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