Laguna Hills Comes Up Short in Crunch

LA MIRADA — Laguna Hills’ late rally fell short Friday night as the Hawks lost to La Mirada, 53-49, in a Southern Section II-A first-round game at La Mirada High.

Laguna Hills (9-14), trailing most of the game after the first quarter, tied the score, 47-47, with 3:28 left on a basket by Aaron Cook. The Hawks then went ahead, 49-48, with 2:49 left on a layup by Jon Colton.

But La Mirada’s Kelly Hambrick sank two free throws to give the Matadors a 50-49 lead with 2:04 left and Chris Crawford hit a short jumper to make it 52-49 with 36 seconds left. La Mirada (12-11) sealed the victory on a free throw by Jim Wilson.

Laguna Hills committed 20 turnovers.

“It just shows you our immaturity as a young team,” Hawk Coach Dave Brown said. “We had an opportunity to win it, but turnovers have been our problem all year.”

Hambrick was the leading scorer for the game with 22 points.