GARDEN GROVE — Garden Grove boys basketball coach Brian Girard said before Friday night’s game that Miguel Ortega is one of the best players in North Orange County.
University focused on shutting him down in the first half, but the Trojans couldn’t stop Videl Jimenez.
Jimenez made five 3-pointers in the first half, and Ortega came through with some big plays in the second half as the Argonauts pulled out a 69-66 victory over University in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 4AA playoffs.
Garden Grove (20-8) advances to the semifinals for the first time in the school’s 101-year history. The Argonauts will play at Sunny Hills on Tuesday.
“When I was double-teamed, I passed it to him (Jimenez) because I know he can hit his shots,” Ortega said.
Garden Grove held the lead for the majority of the game thanks to Ortega’s playmaking that helped Jimenez and other teammates get open shots.
Ortega finished with 17 points and seven assists.
Postgame interview with Miguel Ortega of Garden Grove. 17 points and 7 assists as the Argonauts head to the semifinals for the first time in their 101 years of existence.@ocvarsity @GGHSArgos @coachrcepeda pic.twitter.com/OUPbHhGWHU
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 19, 2022
While Garden Grove excelled in passing the ball, it had a hard time rebounding. University won the battle for rebounds, 34 to 20.
The Trojans (14-16) had two players with double-digit rebounds, Nathaneo Johnson (4 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Jad Hajj-Shehadeh (13 points and 10 rebounds).
Johnson added four blocks, and sophomore McKay Nelson had five blocks to go with his eight points for University.
University seemed to find a spark when Ali Wahedi was called for a technical foul late in the third quarter. The Trojans rallied after the technical and finished the quarter with a 7-0 run that gave them their first lead of the game.
Postgame interview with Garden Grove coach Brian Girard as his Agros head to the semifinals for the first time in school history!@ocvarsity @GGHSArgos @coachrcepeda pic.twitter.com/I85n8JWYJb
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 19, 2022
With Jimenez being closely defended late in the contest, Ortega found open room to shot. He gave Garden Grove the lead again, and it held it the rest of the game.
Trojans coach Beau Budde also got called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter.
With Garden Grove ahead by three points with two seconds to go, it turned the ball over on an out-of-bounds violation, giving University one more chance.
Joseph Purser (7 points) got the ball and attempted the final shot, but it missed as time expired.
“I thought the game would come down to the final wire,” Budde said. “The kids did a good job of executing. We made a few mental and emotional mistakes.”
Postgame interview with Videl Jimenez of Garden Grove. 20 points with 5 3-pointers for Jimenez as the Argonauts are a win away from the ‘ship!@ocvarsity @GGHSArgos @coachrcepeda pic.twitter.com/DdDwPU76YY
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 19, 2022
Wahedi scored 14 points while Christian Debarge led the Trojans with 17 points.
Allen Abarca scored 10 points for Garden Grove while Landon Mendoza added 10 points and six rebounds.
In the semifinals, the Argonauts will be facing Sunny Hills for the second time this season. Sunny Hills beat Garden Grove 67-45 on Dec. 4.
Both Garden Grove and Sunny Hills qualified for the state playoffs by making it to the CIF-SS semifinals.
“We’re going to talk and practice tomorrow,” Girard said. “We have to come up with a game plan and not deviate too much from what we do. We have to figure out how to stop them (Sunny Hills). We already played them once this year and it wasn’t pretty. We’d like to make this one a better game.”