Column: Los Alamitos vs. Mira Costa: A championship game for the ages

For one shining moment, let’s go back in time, when kids went to neighborhood schools and fans came out to cheer with pride for their friends and fellow community members.

It’s happening Saturday in the rare Southern Section Division 1 boys’ basketball championship game matching two public schools, Los Alamitos and Mira Costa, at 4:30 p.m. at Toyota Arena in Ontario.

These are teams with players who have stuck together for years led by coaches who value commitment and loyalty.

“This group are best friends. They’ve stayed together. It’s so hard to keep kids,” Los Alamitos coach Nate Berger said.

“It’s great two public schools going at it in Division 1, which nobody would have predicted,” Mira Costa coach Neal Perlmutter said.

The coaches have been texting each other throughout the playoffs knowing they have similar teams and similar stories. They’ve played against each other in the Ocean View tournament in recent years. Perlmutter even changed his philosophy after seeing Los Alamitos’ full-court press and conditioning program to help his own program.

“I’ve always liked to press and decided to up it more and double down on our conditioning,” he said.

So look for lots of pressing, fast breaks and seeing which team can avoid turnovers, make threes and convert free throws Saturday.

Los Alamitos (24-8) has four seniors who have scored more than 1,000 points in their high school careers — Trent Minter, Liam Gray, Wesley Trevino and Samori Guyness. It’s a remarkable accomplishment to stick together and not worry about who gets the glory.

Mira Costa (29-3) relies on seniors Jacob De Armas and Eneasi Piuleini, both of whom are capable of contributing as scorers and rebounders. Both started out as junior varsity players during their freshman years and continued to develop into standouts. There are also lots of role players capable of standing out, and they helped the Mustangs share the Bay League title with an upset win over Open Division team Redondo Union and take down Santa Barbara in the semifinals.

Both schools played challenging schedules to prepare for the playoffs. Los Alamitos, in particular, experienced some tough losses. The Griffins lost to Open Division finalist Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 100-69 and lost to Redondo Union 92-75. Those games helped teach young players about what they needed to improve on for the playoffs.

It sets the stage for what should be a fun, competitive matchup, with each team employing similar tactics. At any point during the game, there are numerous candidates capable of stepping forward to contribute. That adds to the uncertainty and curiosity in trying to determine which team can finish on top.

“We say we love twos and like threes,” Perlmutter said. “Our strategy is always going to be attack the basket and get to free-throw line.”

Said Berger: “It’s going to be a good battle of coaching and kids. Whomever wins is going to deserve it.”

It’s a weekend of championships and big-time matchups.

The Southern Section Open Division boys’ and girls’ finals Saturday should be equally compelling. Notre Dame will take on Eastvale Roosevelt at 6:30 p.m. in the boys’ title game, followed by Ontario Christian playing Etiwanda at 8:30 p.m. in the girls’ final. There will be some future professional players on display in both games.

But take a moment to close your eyes and think back to the days of years ago. When you open them for Los Alamitos vs. Mira Costa, you will not be disappointed.