GARDEN GROVE LEAGUE BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Nagata Makes Key Plays as Pacifica Wins

Guard Larry Nagata made the clutch scoring plays in the final seconds Friday night to give Pacifica an 80-79 Garden Grove League victory over host Garden Grove.

Pacifica (8-5, 4-1) remained a game behind league-leading Kennedy; the Argonauts (7-8, 3-2) fell two games back.

Nagata played the key role in the fourth quarter, hitting a driving jump shot from the key with 26 seconds remaining for a 78-77 Pacifica lead.

He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw, and Garden Grove’s Bob Ioja was fouled on the rebound. He hit both ends of a one and one with 24 seconds left for a 79-78 Argonaut lead.

But Nagata was fouled with 14 seconds left and hit both free throws for the winning points. A 20-footer by Garden Grove’s Joe Aguirre with six seconds left rolled around the rim and out.

“We wanted to win a big one, and this was the one that our kids and our program needed,” Pacifica Coach Rhett Heckel said. “Now our kids know they can win a key important game.”

Garden Grove jumped to a 33-16 second-quarter lead, but Pacifica came back behind eight free throws by Scott Lesser (30 points) to pull within 46-44 with 34 seconds left in the half.

Pacifica held Garden Grove to six points in the third quarter and took a 66-56 lead with 6:34 left in the fourth before Aguirre and Mark Perry, who scored 32 points, began bringing the Argonauts back. Lesser helped keep Pacifica narrowly in front by scoring 10 fourth-quarter points before fouling out with 1:56 to play.

“Our guards found the open people, and we got them (Garden Grove) in foul trouble,” Lesser said. “Then we really challenged them.”