Los Amigos keeps streak going, grabs league title

Vanessa Garcia scored 17 points to help Los Amigos pull out a 38-37 victory over Rancho Alamitos to clinch the Garden Grove League title outright on Wednesday at Rancho Alamitos.

The Lobos (16-7, 10-0), ranked No. 16 in CIF-SS Division 3AAA, closed out the regular season with a 10-game winning streak. The Vaqueros (14-9, 8-2), whose only league losses came against Los Amigos this season, shared the league title with Los Amigos last season.

"We just had to stay focused and do what we do and play defense," Garcia said. "With defense, we win it all."

Garcia scored 12 of her points in the first half as the Lobos built a 25-20 lead by halftime.

Los Amigos went ice cold in the third quarter and Cheyenne Johnson scored seven of her 14 points in the third quarter to help the Vaqueros tie it, 29-29, heading into the fourth quarter.

Garcia hit a 3-pointer with 3:26 remaining then she found Abby Alcala with a perfect bounce pass that led to a layup to give Los Amigos a 36-32 lead with 2:55 remaining.

"It's mental toughness," Garcia said. "When you know it's a close game, you just gotta get it done."

Lilibeth Amaya drained a 3-pointer for Rancho Alamitos to cut Los Amigos' lead to 36-35 with 1:52 remaining. Alcala responded with an offensive rebound and a putback to give the Lobos a 38-35 lead with 1:34 remaining.

Neither team hit all of its free throws down the stretch. Johnson got a rebound on a missed Vaqueros' free throw with 5.6 seconds left, but her half-court shot at the buzzer came up short.

Alcala had eight points and 10 rebounds, Olisa Horn had seven points and nine rebounds and Zong Lee only made one 3-pointer for the Lobos. Cristina Gomez had 10 points and 15 rebounds and Savannah Tiliaia had five points and 10 rebounds for the Vaqueros.

"I had to (step up)," Garcia said. "They were face-guarding Z and I'm the third option, so I came through."

In the Pacific Coast League:

University 48, Irvine 35: Melody Yu scored 12 points and Clarissa Reiland and Michelle Shen added 10 points apiece as the host Trojans (18-8, 8-2) finished as co-champions of the league with Woodbridge.

Woodbridge 58, Beckman 23: Sarah Lipton hit four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points to help the visiting Warriors (18-8, 8-2) clinch a share of the league title.

In the South Coast League:

Laguna Hills 69, San Clemente 48: Maddy Smith scored 21 points and Celia Marfone had 18 points and 14 rebounds to help the visiting Hawks (18-8, 7-1) clinch a share of the league title with El Toro (23-2, 7-1).

In the Sea View League:

Capistrano Valley 58, Tesoro 47: Taylor Casey, Lauren Klein and Tara Casey all finished in double figures as the host Cougars (15-11, 8-0) went undefeated through league.

In the Orange League:

Katella 46, Magnolia 14: The host Knights (18-8, 10-0) clinched the outright league championship.

In the Express League:

Fairmont Prep 39, Tarbut V'Torah 31: Negin Taleb made five 3-pointers and scored 15 points as the visiting Huskies (15-6, 9-1) clinched the league title.

Contact the writer: carias@ocregister.com