Empire League : Los Alamitos Stays Unbeaten in League With 66-61 Victory

Everything Darrin Queen touched in the third period Friday night turned into points for the Kennedy High School basketball team.

Queen, the Irish’s 6-foot 3-inch senior forward, made all seven of his shots from the floor, including an off-balance, 25-foot jumper at the buzzer that gave Kennedy a one-point lead over Los Alamitos heading into the fourth quarter.

But Queen couldn’t find the magic touch in the last period, as he missed 8 of 9 attempts and scored only 2 points.

With Queen’s shot went all hopes for an Irish upset, as first-place Los Alamitos held on for a 66-61 victory in an Empire League game played in the Griffins’ gym.

The win keeps Los Alamitos (4-0 in league, 10-3 overall) in a first-place tie with El Dorado, whereas the Irish, league co-champions last year, drop to 0-4 and 4-7.

Without Queen’s scoring punch in the final quarter, Kennedy made just 5 of 19 shots from the field. Los Alamitos opened the period with six straight points and built an 11-point lead with 2:55 remaining. The Irish scored seven straight points in the final 30 seconds to make the score respectable.

The Griffins were led by guard J.T. Snow, who scored 18 points, and center Moe Warner, who had 16 points and 12 rebounds, 5 of them offensive.

Queen, who scored 17 points in the third quarter, finished with a game-high 30 points despite playing most of the second half with four fouls.

He committed his third foul with 7:20 to go in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the half. His fourth foul came with 5:30 left in the third period, and he came out of the game for about two minutes, but he returned and was able to finish.

Queen’s shooting in the third quarter was the only bright spot for the Irish. Overall, Kennedy played a sloppy game, turning the ball over 22 times, and was outrebounded, 33-23.

Los Alamitos, which committed 21 turnovers, didn’t look much better. To compound matters, the Griffins shot poorly from the free throw line, making 18 of 33 attempts and missing the front ends of nine one-and-one situations.

“I guess that’s what you call winning ugly,” Steve Brooks, Los Alamitos coach said. “We couldn’t make a free throw. If we made some of those shots it could have been a 20-point win. But we responded to their challenge well and played well when the game got tough.”

KENNEDY (61)--Keith 10, Queen 30, Mares 15, Lauderdale 2, Howe 4.

LOS ALAMITOS (66)--Snow 18, Treece 6, Blossey 9, Schmitz 6, Warner 16, Loe 11.

In other Empire League action:

El Dorado 71, Esperanza 61--The Golden Hawks held a 46-42 lead after three quarters, but outscored the Aztecs, 25-19, in the final quarter for the win. Jim Sammon led El Dorado (4-0, 12-2) with 19 points, Dan Bailey scored 18 and Herb Krapf added 14. Ross Harvey led all scorers with 23 points for Esperanza (1-3, 5-7). Mike Vincent (17) and Kirk Branstetter (15) also scored in double figures for the Aztecs.

EL DORADO (71)--Sammon 19, Bailey 18, Krapf 14, Glade 7, Byers 2, Page 2, Hanna 9.

ESPERANZA (61)--Burks 2, Gammalo 2, Vincent 17, Harvey 23, Branstetter 15, Driver 2.

Cypress 58, Pacifica 52--Mike Kote scored 17 points and had 12 assists, and Chris Yoxtheimer scored 17 points and had 15 rebounds to lead the Centurions to the win over the Mariners at Pacifica. Yoxtheimer scored eight points in the fourth quarter to help Cypress erase a seven-point deficit with 3:54 to play. His three-point play with 1:58 left gave the Centurions the lead for good.

CYPRESS (58)--Weaver 4, O’Leary 4, Kote 17, Kawamura 9, Reyes 2, Yoxtheimer 17, Aguirre 5.

PACIFICA (52)--Chapman 18, Brodt 3, Bonham 6, Merry 8, Honda 2, Shelton 13, Pederson 2.

Katella 66, Loara 34--Bob Erbst scored 21 points and Steve Stierstorfer added 11 as the Knights (3-1, 11-3) easily handled the Saxons in a game at Katella.

LOARA (34)--Miller 17, Hagerman 2, Roberts 2, Clester 5, Eaton 4, David Storm 2, Dean Storm 1, Podilla 1.

KATELLA (66)--Sunu 7, Anderson 4, Lucas 8, Erbst 21, Baldwin 6, Petrakas 4, Stierstorfer 11, Parker 2, Boberg 2, Bratcher 1.