Both the Los Al Boys and Girls basketball teams have jumped out to strong starts for the 2021-22 season.
The Griffin Boys are 4-2 while the girls have posted a 5-1 mark.
The Boys squad, under first-year coach Nate Berger (a Los Al alum, Class of ’09), notched their fourth win of the season, thumping the Cerritos Dons 80-41 last Tuesday night at the Los Al gym, but then fell in overtime to Santa Monica 74-68 last Saturday at the Edison Thanksgiving Showcase. Senior forward Niko Griset led Los Al with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
This followed a strong performance in the Jim Harris Classic Tournament, where the Griffins went 3-1, winning their first three contests over Laguna Beach, San Clemente and Dominguez, before falling to Mira Costa in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 20. [see Ted Apodaca’s article in the Sun]
Next up for Los Al is a road match at Long Beach Wilson tonight and then they open the Corona Del Mar Beach Bash tournament on Monday at 7pm against Redondo Union. .
— Los Al Basketball (@LosAlBasketball) November 23, 2021
After starting its season off with a loss to a tough Sage Hill team in the Villa Park-Portola Kick-Off Classic, the Griffin Ladies rallied to win their next three tourney contests against Hillcrest, Portola, and Villa Park. They added in two additional wins over Santa Ana and a 52-44 triumph over California of Whittier last Wednesday.
Guards Megan Lee and Kaeli Lieuw have turned in solid performances for the Griffins so far.
The Girls’ next scheduled match is a December 9 contest against Oxford of Cypress.
GIRLS WATER POLO (Tuesday, Nov., 30)
Orange Lutheran 9, Los Alamitos 8
SOCCER
The Boys open their 2021-22 season this Friday, Dec. 3 with a home match against Santa Ana while the girls make their season debut on Saturday night, hosting Millikan.
RECRUITING
Not unexpectedly, the migration of Oklahoma football coach Lincoln Riley from Soonerville to USC has already resulted in some recruiting flips, with one of the first being one of the most prominent. Los Al Griffin junior quarterback Malachi Nelson, a five-star prospect, flipped his pledge from Oklahoma to USC, less than 24 hours after Riley was introduced as the Trojans’ new coach.
Nelson had committed to Riley and Oklahoma over USC in July, but that “commitment” was always non-binding since Nelson is not a senior and thus couldn’t formally sign a letter of intent.
Yeah, This feels right ✌🏾 pic.twitter.com/HyVe11X4mf
— ✨Malachi Nelson✨ (@MalachiNelson9) November 30, 2021
Nelson, who led Los Al to a 10-2 record this season (which ended with a loss to No. 2 ranked St. John Bosco a few weeks ago), is the No. 5 overall recruit and No. 2 quarterback in the class of 2023 according to the 247 Sports Composite Rankings.
Read the LA Times coverage here, and the OC Register/SoCal news group coverage here.
