HUNTINGTON BEACH – Pepe Garcia was 0 for 5 on 3-point shots when he got the ball behind the 3-point line in the final minute.
“So I was kind of nervous,” Garcia said.
With his Los Alamitos team trailing Edison by two points, Garcia caught a kick-out pass from Eyassu Worku. At at a 45-degree angle from the basket, Garcia launched a high-arc shot that hit on the front of the rim and bounced around a couple of times before dropping through the net with 22 seconds remaining.
It turned out to be the winning shot for Los Alamitos as the Griffins beat Edison, 56-54, in a Sunset League game at Edison High.
Los Alamitos, No. 2 in the Orange County top 10, retained sole possession of first place in the league. The Griffins are 6-0 in league, 19-3 overall.
Edison, No. 10 in the county, is 18-5 overall and 4-2 in league. Both of the Chargers’ league losses are to Los Alamitos.
Griffins senior Worku scored a game-high 31 points, the same total he scored when Los Alamitos beat Edison earlier this month. He also had five rebounds and was 8 for 10 at the free-throw line. Garcia, also a senior, finished with 12 points.
Randall Walker led Edison with 19 points and nine rebounds. Nate Matthews, like Walker a junior, scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and had five rebounds for the Chargers.
After Garcia’s 3-pointer, Edison sophomore David Atencio drove to the basket and put up a left-handed layup that kissed the glass but barely lacked the angle to go in. The ball caromed off of the side of the rim, a scramble for the ball ensued and it went out of bounds to Los Alamitos with 0.3 seconds left. Los Alamitos inbounded the ball as that miniscule remaining time expired.
Edison left some points at the free-throw line, where the Chargers were 16 for 28. Los Alamitos made 14 of 17 foul shots.
The teams shared the league championship last season when both were 9-1 in league.
Edison had a 12-10 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 26-24 advantage at halftime. Atencio scored seven quick points to start the third quarter to help the Chargers take a 45-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com