LOS ALAMITOS – In 2007, Nate Berger was a sophomore forward in the Los Alamitos High boys’ basketball program when the Griffins beat Redondo Union in the CIF Southern Section 1-A title game.
It took 18 seasons, but the Griffins – after knocking off visiting Crean Lutheran, 82-57, Friday night – are finally returning to a Southern Section championship game.
They’ll play the winner of Saturday’s Santa Barbara at Mira Costa clash next Saturday – March 1 – in the Toyota Arena in Ontario.
And Berger – who mostly played junior varsity during the 2006-7 season – has had considerably more impact on the Griffins return to a title game than he did 18 years ago:
He’s his alma mater’s head coach.
The 33-year-old Berger, hired away from Long Beach Millikan to return as the Griffins’ head coach in the summer of 2021, saw his team gradually pull away from the Saints, ending the first, second and third quarters with eight-, 12- and 21-point advantages before replacing his starters with about two minutes to go in front of an SRO crowd that was already long into celebration mode.
Using the system Berger adopted in the spring of 2023, the Griffins’ full-court, trapping defensive pressure and transition offense – dominated by rapid ball-movement and jump shooting – kept the Saints (18-12) off balance from Jump Street.
The Griffins (24-8) knocked of Vita Murrieta (84-73), Long Beach Poly (58-56) and Rolling Hills Prep (56-54) despite not shooting as well from deep as normal.
They hit just four 3s – two of those by 6-foot-5 junior reserve Tyler Lopez, who scored 12 points – but knocked in a bunch of attempts in the 17-to-19-foot range.
Four other Griffins – starters Trent Minter (13 points and 10 rebounds), who transferred to Los Alamitos after spending his freshman season on the Mater Dei junior varsity; Wesley Trevino (who scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half); and Kedric Delaney (11 points) and reserve Samori Guyness (all 21 of his team-high points over the first three quarters – scored in double figures.
But the defensive side of the Griffins/Berger “System” was every bit as responsible for the Griffins’ dominance.
The Saints – who will play in regional action on March 4 – were led by sophomore Hunter Caplan (21 points, including four 3s) and freshman Jordan Ceballos (13).
But their outstanding pair of juniors, 6-7 Jacob Majok and 6-9 Will Malual, were a combined four of 13 from the field – with Majok’s two buckets after steals in the first three minutes of the game.
They committed 19 turnovers and, even when they didn’t have a ball-handling or passing error, the defensive pressure didn’t allow Major or Malual to set up in deep post positions while being mostly defended by the 6-6 Minter and 6-4 Jordan Taylor.
It was an obstacle the Griffins were able to overcome against Poly (with 6-9 junior Jonas Oware) and Rolling Hills (with 6-9 sophomore Nick Welch, Jr., and 6-8 junior Kawika Suter) via the same defensive approach.
“It’s why we play this way,” Berger said. “There is no way we could match up (against that kind of size advantage) playing ‘normally’”.
The Griffins lost in the D-1 quarterfinals a year ago, in double overtime, at eventual finalist Windward.
With the bulk of his roster returning, Berger set out to challenge his team with the toughest possible schedule he could assemble.
Non-league games with Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, Corona Centennial and St. Pius X/St. Matthias Academy, as well as four games in the Platinum Division at the Classic at Damien, left them at 8-6 going into January.
And they, they went outside of Sunset League twice in January, losing to Open Division Redondo Union (92-75) and Inglewood (92-90) on neutral courts in a three-day stretch.
But they swept their 12 Sunset League games and were well beyond “battle-tested”, with a CIF SS computer rating of 15, when the D-1 brackets were released on Feb. 8.
And that was the plan.
“We knew that it (playing a schedule in which they’ve lost to just one Orange County-based team, Santa Margarita) would make us a much better team,” Guyness said.
And Guyness meant a better team into February and now, March.
His freshman year coincided with Berger’s return to Los Alamitos.
It didn’t take long for Guyness to realize Berger’s intentions with the program.
“It used to be ‘let’s win the Sunset League’,” Guyness said. “That was the main thing.
“But Coach showed us that we could play the best teams anywhere and aim for CIF championship games. And we trusted him.”
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