THE SANTIAGO High boys’ basketball team, friends and family and district officials at Tuesday’s school board meeting (Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano
Orange County Tribune

Tuesday’s meeting of the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education was a night to honor winners, both student and employee.

Videos were screened lauding the accomplishments of the Employees of the Month and those chosen were presented with certificates and the applause of families, friends and co-workers.

The Employee of the Month among classified workers was custodian Binh Duong of Barker Elementary School. Among certificated staff, the honoree was Sayhleng Chin, a language teacher at Fitz Intermediate School.

The Santiago High School boy’s basketball team – feted last week by the Garden Grove City Council – took another turn in the spotlight. The Cavaliers, coached by Matt Moorhouse, won the CIF Southern Section Division 4-AA championship despite finishing third in the Coast League.

What won the the Cavs’ the school’s first-ever boys’ hoops title?

“It was a little bit of everything,” said Moorhouse. “We were kind of struggling mid-season and we had a practice and it all came together one day. We went 10-1 and it was a big turnaround. It was just them coming together, them listening and following the game plan; just being a team. It was really, really a team effort.”

The next meeting of the board is scheduled for May 6.

The GGUSD serves most of Garden Grove and parts of Anaheim, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Santa Ana, Stanton and Westminster.