Los Alamitos gets a scare but holds off Edison

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Los Alamitos never actually lost the lead. It just felt like that a few times.

Friday night at Edison, the Griffins' boys basketball team sunk 11 of its first 14 field-goal attempts and appeared to put the game out of reach early.

Then, "We started to kind of slack off, not playing as hard as we know we can," Griffins swingman James Walker said.

Los Al went cold, and the Chargers crept back. Edison had a couple of chances to tie the score in the fourth quarter, before the No. 2 Griffins pulled away for a 66-56 victory.

"Two points down, with four minutes to go, against the No. 2 team in the county — we put a scare in them," Edison coach Rich Boyce said.

Los Alamitos (19-1, 4-0) led, 27-9, about 10 minutes into the game before missing 15 consecutive shots.

Edison (12-9, 2-3) chipped away at the deficit until Matt Viles started the fourth quarter by banking in a 3-pointer, cutting it to two. The teams traded baskets until Los Al buoyed its advantage with late free throws.

Edison center Ryan Walker led all players with 20 points and nine rebounds, and James Walker led the Griffins with 19 points and seven rebounds.

"We're trying to work on our consistency," Los Al coach Russ May said. "When you've got them down, you've got to keep them down."

Boyce was more upbeat after his team completed its second week without All-CIF guard Kyle Boswell, gone for the season because of a back injury.

Though a Sunset League title has slipped from reach, "This game kind of tells us — 'Hey, we're going to be there,'" Boyce said.

Contact the writer: jkay@ocregister.com