FULLERTON – After reaching the CIF-SS Division 4AA semifinals for the first time in the school’s 101 years of existence, the Garden Grove boys basketball team wanted to make more history.
Miguel Ortega scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Argonauts to a 45-39 victory over host Sunny Hills on Tuesday night.
Garden Grove (21-8) heads to its first ever CIF final and will host Fullerton on Friday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m.
“I’m going to keep telling you guys, he is one of, if not the best player in North Orange County,” Garden Grove coach Brian Girard said of Ortega. “I can always count on him to be stable. When we need something, we give him the ball. Whether it is on the outside giving someone the assist or making the buckets.”
Postgame interview with Garden Grove coach Brian Girard as his Argonauts are headed to the CIF-SS Finals!@ocvarsity @ggusdathletics @coachrcepeda @GGHSArgos pic.twitter.com/gE8RFlhHCE
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 23, 2022
The Argonauts avenged their 67-45 loss to Sunny Hills (24-8) on Dec. 4.
Garden Grove’s boys basketball team beat Sunny Hills 45-39 in the semifinals of CIF division 4AA. The Argos will play for their first CIF Championship at HOME on Friday! #ggusdbasketball @ocvarsity @OCSportsZone @MAlvarez02 @GGUSD @SteveFryer @ocvarsityguy @DavidDelgado_OC pic.twitter.com/CmNjrPkzfV
— GGUSD Athletics (@ggusdathletics) February 23, 2022
Garden Grove was in trouble early in the first quarter after Ortega drew two quick fouls.
The Argonauts only trailed by two at the end of the quarter, and was down by five at halftime. Sunny Hills’ Justin Shim (11 points) made a lay-up at the buzzer.
Garden Grove regrouped and took the lead, 31-28, at the end of the third quarter thanks to Landon Mendoza’s seven points.
Postgame interview with Landon Mendoza of Garden Grove. 7 points for Lendoza as the Argonauts host Fullerton for the CIF-SS title!@ocvarsity @ggusdathletics @GGHSArgos @coachrcepeda pic.twitter.com/HZqAf1KRr6
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 23, 2022
“We have to keep it a close game and finish at the end,’ Ortega said. “Just like the last game (against University in the quarterfinals), we kept it close and took over. We worked as a team and pounded down low.”
Postgame interview with Miguel Ortega of Garden Grove. 21 points, 14 rebounds as the Argonauts head to the CIF-SS Finals for the first time in school history!@ocvarsity @ggusdathletics @coachrcepeda @GGHSArgos pic.twitter.com/303NxAHyzp
— Manny Alvarez (@MAlvarez02) February 23, 2022
Sunny Hills retook the lead, but Lawson fouled out of the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds. That gave Ortega the advantage in the post, which helped the Argonauts take the lead for good.
“We knew that was going to be a key factor in this game,” Sunny Hills coach Joe Ok said. “Who is going to keep their big man in the game? Obviously, it is very critical with one play here and one play there where calls get made. Their guy was out for the early part of the game and our guy fouled out early. That makes a big difference.
“Credit to Garden Grove. They played great defense today. They definitely made adjustments from the last time we played them. They played real hard tonight.”
Johann Kwon had 10 points for Sunny Hills, which will look to regroup and get ready for the CIF SoCal Regional next week.
Garden Grove will look to battle another Freeway League team on Friday, and it hopes make more history.
“We have to play our defense,” Mendoza said. “We have to get our rebounds. We have to do what we do inside the paint and get this win.”