Boys’ Basketball: Walker hot again
Right after missing one of two free throws, Matt Serven was missing a contact lens on the court at Edison High.
Two minutes into the third quarter against Los Alamitos, Serven exited. He went looking for the contact behind the baseline. Even his teammates and coaches got involved in the search.
Serven and the search team came up empty handed.
Even though Serven’s visibility was not at its best, it was clear to him and the Chargers which team was on its way to taking sole possession of first place in the Sunset League.
Edison didn’t need Serven to shoot much because Randall Walker continued to light it up offensively, helping Edison stay undefeated in league with a 72-56 win on Wednesday.
Five nights after Walker recorded an Edison school-record 45 points, the senior guard finished with 38. Twenty-four of those points came in the second half, allowing the Chargers (16-3, 4-0 in league) to break the game open and take a one-game lead over the defending champion Griffins (14-6, 3-1).
Last season, Los Alamitos, which went undefeated in league, won at Edison with a three-pointer at the buzzer. This one wasn’t close in the second half, as Edison pulled away in the third quarter.
The Griffins missed their first seven shots and first four free throws in the second half, yet Edison Coach Rich Boyce was still worried.
“I always think they’re going to come back,” Boyce said. “Even if we’re up 20, I know [Los Alamitos Coach Eddie Courtemarche’s] team is going to come back. I always tell Eddie before we play, ‘Why don’t we just put a minute on the clock, and make the score tied, we’ll just go from there, because it will save us all the aggravation and we can get home a little earlier.’”
The Griffins extended the evening by continuing to foul Walker with about two minutes to go. Walker made 10 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter, and finished 12 of 16 from the charity stripe.
His production in last Friday’s 75-70 overtime win at Newport Harbor was more impressive to Boyce. Walker still made 11 of 21 shots against Los Alamitos, including four three-pointers, and added seven rebounds.
Edison’s Josh Phillips finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. He helped make things difficult for Los Alamitos’ big man, Jacob Eyman, who wound up with 18 points, eight of those coming with the game already decided in the fourth quarter.
“He played great defense without fouling,” Boyce said of Phillips.
Phillips turned away a couple of Eyman’s shots in the second half, including one midway through the third quarter. The block led to a David Atencio layup, as the Chargers scored the first six points in the second half.
Edison outscored Los Alamitos, 17-7, in the third quarter.
“We’ve got to execute defensively a lot better,” Courtemarche said. “I thought we waited for a lot of things to happen, instead of creating opportunities. Just pretty much every aspect of the game we have to be better.
“They have weapons at every position.”
No team had weapons at the start. The teams came out misfiring.
No one made a basket in the first three minutes, as both teams missed their first four shots. At the 4:48 mark, Eyman spun in the paint for two, and 15 seconds later, Phillips scored in the paint. Leave it to the 6-foot-8 juniors to end the shooting woes.
The Chargers and Griffins turned it up the rest of the way, especially Walker. He scored seven points in the final four minutes, and Serven helped him. Serven picked up two assists, finding Walker in the paint and behind the arc.
Serven also knocked down a three in the opening quarter, and the Chargers went into the next quarter with a 13-10 lead. The score stayed tight in the second quarter, and Edison went into the break with a 27-23 lead.
Walker led the Chargers in the first half, scoring 14, more than half of their points.
Walker increased Edison’s advantage four seconds into the second half. Atencio went to Walker, who made a layup.
A couple of minutes later, Walker saw Serven trying to find his contact lens.
“He got hit in the left eye,” Boyce said of Serven. “A suggestion is he brings extra [contact lenses] to the game. Hopefully he will do that now.
“He was not OK seeing. [His left eye] was blurry. He was just playing with one eye.”
Sunset League
Edison 72, Los Alamitos 56
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Los Alamitos 10 – 13 – 7 – 26 — 56
Edison 13 – 14 – 17 – 28 — 72
LA – Eyman 18, Howard 15, Frank 7, Henriksen 6, Riley 5, Smith 3, Platt 2.
3-pt. goals – Howard 4, Frank 1, Henriksen 1.
Fouled out – Riley.
Technicals – None.
E – Walker 38, Phillips 15, Atencio 7, S. Serven 6, M. Serven 4, Matthews 2.
3-pt. goals – Walker 4, M. Serven 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
