Chargers cold at end

LOS ALAMITOS — Last year’s Sunset League MVP was in foul trouble early, so Los Alamitos High boys’ basketball senior James Walker III headed to the bench.

He didn’t stay there for long in the first half, though. Walker was more comfortable in Edison passing lanes than on the pine.

He had five steals in the first half as the Griffins overcame a slow start to top Edison, 43-34, in the Sunset League opener for both schools.

The Chargers (14-2) surged out of the gates, taking an 11-6 lead in the first quarter when junior Dylan Garrity drained one of his three three-pointers.

Another Garrity triple put Edison up, 14-8, early in the second quarter. But the shots went dry, and Los Alamitos (12-4) rallied to a 21-18 halftime lead.

“[Walker] is very athletic,” Edison Coach Rich Boyce said. “We talked about him jumping in passing lanes and trying to back-door. You know, in this environment, a lot of these kids haven’t played in this kind of environment before. We talked about it, but it takes awhile. They’ll see it on film and we’ll be prepared next time.”

Los Al senior Jack Haley, who led all scorers with 19 points, helped the Griffins to a 37-27 lead after three quarters. And although the Chargers cut it to a five-point deficit with under three minutes to go on a put-back by senior center Ryan Walker, they couldn’t get closer.

“They played with a lot of energy,” said Boyce after his team’s first full game without senior Kyle Boswell, Edison’s leading scorer who is now out for the season with a broken left hand. “I think we just kind of wore down in the second half. The kids battled hard, but at the end we just couldn’t get any shots to drop. We had some wide-open shots that we just couldn’t get to fall. A couple of those fall it’s a different ballgame, different strategy.”

Garrity had 16 for Edison and senior Max Prendergast added eight. Walker had four and seniors Ryan Smith, Matt Viles and Jeff Trojan added one basket each.

Walker had 12 points for Los Alamitos.

The Chargers, who have lost two straight after winning their first 14 games, play at Temescal Canyon on Saturday and resume Sunset League play at home against Marina on Wednesday.

The Vikings (10-5) topped Esperanza, 68-54, in their league opener Friday night. Brendan Holmes led four Marina players in double figures with 19 points.