Aztec girls win, but Ducks fall in OT

The night before New Year’s Eve wasn’t worth celebrating for most of the local high school basketball teams in action. Squads from the Garden Grove-Huntington Beach-Westminster area lost three of four contests.

In the Rancho Alamitos boys’ tournament, Garden Grove lost 60-49 to Whitney, despite 19 points by Sebastian Castro. The Argonaut record is now 9-5. The host school, Rancho, was defeated 56-46 by Oxford Academy and is now 4-9.

On the girls’ side, La Quinta posted the lone local win, defeating La Serna 36-28 to the Glendora Tournament to improve to 8-5.  Huntington Beach lost 70-64 to Bishop’s High of La Jolla in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic despite 16 points from Frankie Wade Sanchez. The Oilers (7-6) took fourth place in the tournament.

After a couple of days off, local prep teams will be back in action on Tuesday in non-league action. Garden Grove League play will start on Jan. 11, with the Sunset tipping off on Jan. 6, the Empire on Jan. 10 and the Golden West League on Jan. 11.

Some league will play boys and girls varsity games on the same night; some will differ. Check your school’s schedule for the latest information.

DUCKS FALL IN OVERTIME, AGAIN

The Anaheim Ducks continue to make a habit out of losing overtime games. They fell 3-2 to the Vancouver Canucks in British Columbia Friday night for their seventh loss in eight games this season that went into extra time.

Friday’s defeat also involved blowing a two-goal lead. Scores by Ryan Getzlaf (his fifth) and Rickard Rakell (his 16th) gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead early in the second period, but the home team rallied with tallies in the second and third periods.

The Ducks were hampered by penalties, which left them short-handed seven times. “We were in a position to win and we took too many careless penalties,” Getzlaf said.

The game-winner came at 4:01 of overtime when Henrik Sedlin scored on a two-on-one break. Anaheim fell to 38-18-12, but remain tied for third in the NHL Pacific with Edmonton.

Next up for the Ducks is a game at Honda Center on Sunday hosting the Philadelphia Flyers (20-14-4).