Los Alamitos boys basketball holds off Centennial with last-play heroics from Wes Trevino – Orange County Register

LOS ALAMITOS — Wes Trevino led the Los Alamitos basketball team with 22 points in the Griffins’ nonleague game against Centennial of Corona on Friday at Los Alamitos High School.

But it was the play the 6-foot-3 senior guard made in the final seconds that will be remembered for deciding the outcome.

Trevino blocked Karter Butler’s shot from the top of the key with one second left in the game to preserve a 67-65 victory for the Griffins, who never trailed in the contest.

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Los Alamitos’ Trent Minter (33) shoots over Centennial’s Kai Patton (0) and Centennial’s Josh Agbo (11) during a game between Corona Centennial and Los Alamitos in a non-league boys basketball contest at Los Alamitos High on Friday Dec. 6 2024…..(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)

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“I pushed up,” Trevino said. “There was no one behind me. It was the last shot of the game. So, I had to go up and contest it. I just happened to block it.”

The Huskies’ final possession had started with 24.2 seconds remaining. Los Alamitos (4-2) committed a non-shooting foul with 11.9 seconds left.

The Huskies (1-5) inbounded the ball and missed a potential tying basket with 7.6 left.

But with both teams battling for the rebound, a jump-ball was called with the possession arrow favoring the Huskies.

The Griffins committed a non-shooting foul again, this time with three seconds left, which set up the final shot and block by Trevino.

“Our coach always talks about teamwork and composure on runs (by the opponent), Trevino said. “They went on a run and we kept our composure. We kept our lead. It was tight at one point, but it didn’t matter. It’s what we do. It’s how we play basketball.”

Coming into the contest, the Griffins’ two losses were by scores of 78-72 against Carlsbad, preceded by a 100-69 defeat against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, the defending CIF-SS Division 1 champion.

Los Alamitos coach Nate Berger said the coaching staff has stressed the importance of keeping focused in the final minutes of games.

“We had two losses, where we lost our composure a little bit and just got rattled by the frenetic pace, or just the energy of the game,” Berger said. “So really tried to emphasize that today. We stayed calm and executed. We didn’t take any bad shots in the fourth. A lot of people touched the ball and shared the ball. Really good to see the resilience of our guys.”

The Huskies, a perennial powerhouse, captured the CIF-SS Open Division title in 2022, the Division 1 championship in 2023 and were an Open Division qualifier in the 2023-24 season.

Centennial is still formidable, Berger said, even with the loss of two standouts, Eric Freeny (UCLA) and Carter Bryant (Arizona).

Will Morales scored 18 to lead Centennial.

“I know that they’re a little down because they’re young,” Berger said. “Those guys are going to be stars in three years. We’re all going to know their names. But to beat that team, that idea of us having that belief of what we can do, I think is going to go a long way for some of these kids.”

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