Freshmen help Los Al keep pace in league

LOS ALAMITOS – At Los Alamitos’ girls basketball Senior Night, its soon-to-be past was honored during pregame festivities.

During the game, however, the Griffins’ near future was on display.

Freshmen Neah Odom and Dani Iwami led the way for Los Alamitos in a 57-36 runaway victory against visiting Huntington Beach in a Sunset League showdown on Monday night.

It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Griffins, (20-5, 8-1), stayed tied with Edison atop the league standings.

Odom (17 points) and Iwami (10 points) controlled the flow of the Griffins' offense and made terrific passes to find the open shooter.

“I don’t really think of them as freshmen right now,” Griffins coach Matthew Sargeant said after the game. “They’re sophomores. They’ve been starting and playing all year and have been coming to practice ready to work all year. They set the tempo for us.”

Los Alamitos' Elise Laws contributed seven points.

The Oilers (17-6, 6-3) were held to 36 points, only three away from their season low.

The Oilers held a two-point lead, 10-8, in the opening quarter, then Los Alamitos closed the first with a 12-0 run to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Huntington Beach crept to within six points in the third, with some baskets from Paola Roa, who scored seven points. Stephanie Louie kept the game respectable in the first half by knocking down three 3’s, which included banking one in as the first-half buzzer sounded.

Odom sat out most of the fourth because of foul trouble. The demand to see her was so great the Griffins’ faithful began chanting, “Put in Neah.”

Sargeant wasn’t deterred by the chants, though.

“I trust my girls to get the job done if she’s out of the game,” he said.