Stall Tactics Work Fine for Pacifica in Victory

GARDEN GROVE — Although Pacifica held a double-digit lead, visiting Garden Grove refused to challenge for the ball during a long stretch of the third and fourthquarters and Pacifica went on to win the Garden Grove League game, 56-36, Wednesday night.

Pacifica got control of the ball and was content to kick into an old-fashioned passing game, circling the ball around the perimeter from side to side.

It wasn’t an outright stall. Nobody stood and held the ball, but Pacifica (9-8, 3-1) didn’t have to shoot either. The Mariners had done the yeoman amount of work throughout the latter part of the second quarter and the early part of the third. They outscored the Argonauts, 20-0, during a 7-minute 13-second span over those two quarters and held a 43-22 lead when the air was let out of the ball.

“The way Garden Grove was playing it almost forced our players not to shoot,” Pacifica Coach Bob Becker said. “They didn’t come out and get the ball, so there was no reason to shoot. We just kept the ball.”

Three Pacifica turnovers led to all three Garden Grove baskets in the third quarter. The Mariners, meanwhile, scored only twice in the third quarter and took only 11 field-goal attempts overall in the second half after making 17 of 40 in the first two quarters.

Brad Mastros of Pacifica led all scorers with 15 points and teammates Brian Barre had 10 and Jeff Davidson nine. Eric Kenneth had 11 rebounds for the Argonauts (5-12, 1-2).