ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Empire League : Griffins Hang On for Win : Despite 28 Turnovers, Los Alamitos Defeats El Dorado, 66-56

Forget about those numbers on the Anaheim Convention Center scoreboard which read, Los Alamitos 66, El Dorado 56, at the conclusion of Wednesday night’s Empire League opener.

The only number Griffin Coach Steve Brooks was concerned about afterward was 28, which was the amount of turnovers Los Alamitos accumulated in the game.

The Griffins won, but they did little to win the favor of their coach, who watched his team blow a 17-point, third-period lead and have to hold off the Golden Hawks in the end.

“There were two or three spurts where we played well, but then we’d look like we didn’t even know what a basketball was,” Brooks said. “We’d pass it out of bounds, get it knocked away on a rebound, dribble it off a leg or foot and out of bounds. These are mental mistakes caused by a lack of concentration.”

Although the entire game was sloppy (the Golden Hawks had 21 turnovers), the Griffins saved their worst for last. They had the ball and a 60-50 lead with 3:05 left when center Steve Sorensen attempted a long, in-bounds pass to forward Mo Warner.

It seemed like a smart play, because Warner had broken free from the defense and was open at midcourt. But Sorensen’s pass sailed well over his head and out of bounds, giving El Dorado possession under its own basket.

Mike Renaud’s jump shot brought the Golden Hawks within eight, 60-52.

And then came more Los Alamitos follies.

Griffin forward Ryan Blossey made what appeared to be a normal drive to the basket. Problem was, he forgot to pull up for a shot and dribbled right out of bounds.

Mike Brooks then scored from inside to cut the lead to six, 60-54. But El Dorado didn’t capitalize on enough of its opportunities.

The Golden Hawks missed 17 free throws, including four in the final 1:17, which prevented them from making a last run at the Griffins. Los Alamitos, on the other hand, made four of five free throws in the final 43 seconds, two each by Blossey and Doug Wadleigh, to ensure the win.

Blossey led Los Alamitos (4-3) with 15 points and Wadleigh, a reserve forward, finished with 10. Mo Warner, who picked up his fourth foul with 2:44 left in the third quarter and didn’t return until the 3:52 mark of the fourth, and Sorensen each had eight.

Brooks, however, is looking for more.

“The cohesiveness isn’t there, and part of the reason for that is Blossey missed the entire summer with mono and was out late because he played football,” Brooks said. “Some of the other kids have been really inconsistent because they lack varsity experience.

“These things will hurt us down the line if we don’t improve, but it’ll come. Knowing these kids’ character, we’ll be in there when it gets down to the stretch run.”

Mike Brooks scored 14 points and Renaud added 12 for the Golden Hawks (2-4).

In other Empire League games:

Katella 64, Cypress 56--The Knights made 7 of 10 free throws in the final 3:31 to hold off the Centurions. Cypress scored four straight points to take a 40-38 lead in the third period, but Katella closed the quarter with seven straight to take a 47-42 lead.

Frantz Reyes, a 6-5 senior forward, led all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds for Cypress; senior guard John Sunu led the Knights with 14 points and Richard Lucas added 11.

Esperanza 47, Loara 40--Ross Harvey scored 5 of his 13 points in the final 8 seconds to help the Aztecs pull away from the Saxons. Esperanza led, 42-40, when Harvey scored, was fouled, and converted the free throw for the three-point play.

Esperanza is 1-0 and 2-4. Loara is 0-1 and 1-4.

Kennedy 76, Pacifica 41--Wendell Lauderdale scored 16 points and Jeff Hansell added 14 points for Kennedy (5-3). Twelve players scored for the Irish, who used a full-court press and limited Pacifica (4-3) to 15 points in the second half.