RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – It was not working for Eyassu Worku.
Noah Rasheed and his Santa Margarita teammates were doing what Worku would say was the best defense he has encountered all season. So Los Alamitos needed some scoring help elsewhere Friday. And Los Alamitos got it.
Five players, including two reserves, scored in double figures for the Griffins as they beat Santa Margarita, 69-65, in a CIF-Southern Section Division 1AA quarterfinal playoff game at Santa Margarita.
“We had huge plays from a bunch of role players,” Worku said. “Overall, it was a team effort.”
Fifth-seeded Los Alamitos (27-2) will play top-seeded Great Oak of Temecula (25-4) in the semifinals Tuesday at Great Oak.
Fourth-seeded Santa Margarita finished 19-8. The Eagles were 3AA champions last season.
Junior point guard Worku, the Griffins’ leading scorer at 17 points a game, scored only one point in the first half. But big shots were being made by others. Pepe Garcia, averaging three points a game, came off of the bench to score eight of his 10 points in the first half and Ryan Kusch scored six of his 10 points in the half to help Los Alamitos to a 28-19 halftime lead.
Worku got untracked in the third quarter. He made his first three shots of the quarter and scored 12 in the second half to finish with 13 points. Jack Kaub scored 13 points for the Griffins, too, with six of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Kaden Rasheed, a sophomore, led Santa Margarita with 23 points, including two dramatic 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Eagles junior Colin Ferrier also had a productive fourth quarter and finished with 16 points.
Los Alamitos had a 14-point lead with 2:30 left in the third quarter. The Eagles went on a 9-2 run to finish the quarter and reduce Los Alamitos’ lead to 42-35 going into the fourth quarter.
Ferrier and Rasheed kept the momentum going for Santa Margarita in the fourth. Ferrier put in a scoop shot on a drive through the lane with 1:06 remaining to cut the Los Alamitos lead to 60-53. After the Griffins’ Keith Pagett made a free throw, Rasheed made a 3-pointer to make it 60-56 with 57 seconds to go.
Ferrier made a 3 to cut the Los Alamitos lead to 61-59. Worku broke the Eagles’ press to score on a drive and make it 63-59. Noah Rasheed made two free throws to again make it a two-point game, but Kusch made two foul shots, too, with 22 seconds left to push the lead to four again, 65-61.
Kaden Rasheed accurately launched a very deep 3 with five seconds left to make it 65-64. Worku made two free throws and Pagett made two, with Noah Rasheed making one free throw in between, to create the 69-65 result.
Fourteen of Los Alamitos’ 27 fourth-quarter points came from the free-throw line. Connor Laines, who finished with 10 points, was 5 for 6 at the line in the fourth quarter.
Santa Margarita shot only 33 percent from the field. The Eagles were 10 for 40 through the first three quarters. Los Alamitos made 22 of 48 shots for 46 percent.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com
