BOYS’ BASKETBALL : GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE ROUNDUP : High-Flying La Quinta Beats Garden Grove

La Quinta finds itself alone at the top of the Garden Grove League after beating Garden Grove, 67-58, Friday night at La Quinta High.

The victory gave La Quinta (12-10, 6-4) a one-game lead. The Aztecs have three games left to play while the other six teams each have four games remaining.

At first glance it would be easy to call the Aztecs’ victory an upset, with the league’s shortest team knocking off the tallest. But it didn’t feel like an upset; La Quinta broke the Argonauts’ five-game winning streak by playing smarter and more consistently than Garden Grove.

La Quinta negated Garden Grove’s height advantage and packed-in 2-3 zone defense with good passing and an early hot hand of Jason Gondringer, who scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the first half. Quick starts, however, have not always been a good thing for La Quinta.

“We’ve always been a good first-half team this year,” Gondringer said. “But we haven’t always carried the intensity into the second half.

They did Friday, especially on defense by throwing a box-and-one net around Garden Grove senior guard Mike Campuzano. He did wind up with 20 points, but half came in the fourth quarter when the Argonauts trailed by as many as 13. Campuzano made only five field goals in the game, and one--a three-pointer--in the final period.

The defense also kept the ball from Campuzano, which kept him from orchestrating Garden Grove’s offense. In addition, the box-and-one setup made it easier for the Aztecs to block off the passing lanes, which led to numerous steals and fast breaks. Two key spurts--8-2 to start the third quarter and 8-0 to begin the fourth--kept La Quinta in control.

“High school players tend to get a little impatient,” said Garden Grove Coach Dewey Van Cleave, noting the numerous bad decisions made by his team trying to force the ball inside. “When they went to that box-and-one on Campuzano we didn’t handle it well. That’s when the other guys have to step up.”

La Quinta Coach Jim Perry, on the other hand, could not have asked for more from his squad. “We’ve seen enough of Campuzano the last three years so we had to make someone else beat us,” he said. “We kept changing up the defensive looks, and were able to put guys in areas where they would throw the ball.”

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In another Garden Grove League game:

Pacifica 63, Santiago 55--Jaimi Bessho scored 19 points and Verdell Leveaux scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Pacifica (11-11, 5-4). Shane Miller added nine points and nine rebounds. Ralph Robledo scored 24 for Santiago (9-12, 4-4).