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By Loren Kopff
December 24, 2025
GARDEN GROVE-Just when the Whitney High boys basketball team was starting to turn the page and forget about its 1-6 and 2-8 start to the season and get to half a dozen wins, the Wildcats took a step back when they faced Garden Grove High last Saturday. Whitney led 8-4 before three minutes had elapsed, but the Argonauts went on a 19-5 run the remainder of the first quarter and cruised to a 76-39 victory.
It was the fourth worst loss for the Wildcats this season, who have also lost games by three points to La Quinta High and Victor Valley High and six points to Costa Mesa High. Adding to the 37-point loss was the absence of senior Shayadheeran Saravanakumar, the team’s leading rebounder and junior Jezreel Dela Cruz, the team’s leading scorer.
“I thought Garden Grove played really good basketball, and I feel like the guys who weren’t here…it shouldn’t matter to me if they’re here or not,” said Whitney first-year head coach Jazzy Kruczynski. “We should be able to play good team basketball. But today, we didn’t play really good team basketball.
“Today, I wanted to give a lot of guys who have been on the bench, because we do kind of have a bigger team, the opportunity to come out and play,” he continued. “Some of them did things that were right that I love to see, and some of them did things that they should know better on what do to.”
Sophomore Wilbur Lai sank a three-pointer from the left corner to cut his team’s deficit to 14-11 with 2:36 left in the first quarter. But that came after senior William Kang picked up his third foul and was summoned to the bench until midway through the second quarter. When he returned, he hit a three-pointer to make it 31-21 and 78 seconds later, he hit a basket to make it 35-23. But being saddled with three fouls in a span of 67 seconds in the opening quarter put a strain on what Whitney wanted to do offensively.
“It really did, because William is more of a two-way player for me,” said Kruczynski. “He can play really, really good defense when he wants to, and is also one of our scoring threats. When he got into foul trouble in the first quarter, it really puts a hamper [on our team] and really is asking my other guys to step up and try to fill in that hole.”
While the ‘Cats were trying to find other ways to score, Garden Grove didn’t have any problems when Neiman Quach was on the court. All he did was go 11 of 16 from the field and eight of nine from the free throw line to lead all scorers with 30 points. In contrast, Kang led Whitney with a dozen points on five of seven field goal shooting.
“Hey, he has a great mid-range shot; he has a good drive, he’s athletic, and he looks like a good all-around player,” said Kruczynski of Quach “It was just hard. We tried to get help side to double him, but he’s just so quick and fast and he was able to go around it.”
Whitney would not score consecutive points in the game as the team watched the Argos go on runs of 12-8 in the second quarter, 16-3 in the third quarter and 14-3 in the fourth quarter.
Lai and junior Jack Diancin each scored eight points with the latter grabbing four rebounds while sophomore Ved Gandhi also had four rebounds. Senior Tyler Liu added three rebounds and junior Joseph Roman pitched in with three rebounds and three assists.
Whitney entered the game winners of three straight, but now at 6-11, the margin of error for keeping its playoff hopes alive is closing in quick. The Wildcats face Anaheim High on Monday for their final non-league contest before jumping into the 10-game 605 League slate. The team would need to finish in the top three in league to get the automatic playoff berth or go at least 8-3 to have a chance of an at-large berth.
“I’m just hoping for the next few weeks, my guys lock in and really understand that when league comes, we have to step it up and play at a higher level than what we played today,” said Kruczynski.
League action begins as early as Jan. 2 for the Gateway Leage and Olympic League and as late as Jan. 6 for the 605 League. But several teams still have one last tournament to participate in or a single non-league game or two. In other boys basketball action, Artesia High is off until New Year’s Day when the Pioneers (6-6) face Long Beach Wilson High at the Intuit Dome while John Glenn High dropped a 49-46 decision to Baldwin Park High this past Monday to fall to 4-7. It was the first loss that was decided by less than 10 points.
La Mirada High enjoyed a pre-Christmas event by winning the Nike High School Division of the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas. The Matadores defeated Perry High (59-39), out of Gilbert, AZ last Friday, Layton (UT) High (74-67) last Saturday, San Gabriel Academy (66-53) this past Monday and Lone Peak High out of Highland, UT this past Tuesday. La Mirada improved to 8-4 and will face Richmond Salesian High on Friday in the first round of The Classic at Damien.
Norwalk High began the week at 8-4 and will face Valley Christian High on Friday, Chowchilla High on Saturday and Pacifica High on Monday in pool play action of the Oxford Academy Tournament while V.C. (6-5) will play Pacifica on Saturday and Chowchilla on Monday.
GIRLS BASEKTBALL
Artesia is still winless through its first eight games following a 56-33 defeat to Las Vegas High last Saturday in the HBCU Holiday Jam while Cerritos came up short against Fountain Valley High in a 52-48 contest this past Tuesday. The Dons (6-7) trailed throughout most of the game and when they did lead, it was never more than two points. But Cerritos rallied from five points down twice and led 45-43 with 3:03 left in the game. Senior Mady Macaraeg scored a season-high 25 points and had 14 rebounds while junior Kalana Nguyen added seven points and six rebounds. For Macaraeg, it’s the seventh time she has scored at least 20 points this season. Cerritos will participate in the Glendora Tournament, beginning on Friday where it will meet Mark Keppel High in a rematch of last season’s CIF-SS Division 3AA championship game.
BOYS SOCCER
The only games before the new year will be Artesia (4-6-0) visiting Gahr (4-2-2) on Friday and hosting Savanna High on Saturday while Gahr also welcomes Canyon High on Tuesday and La Mirada (2-6-0) hosts Glendora High on Friday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Artesia (8-1-2) hosts Tustin High on Saturday and goes to El Modena High on Tuesday while V.C. (8-2-2) faces Upland High on Friday in the first game of the Ontario Christian Christmas Classic.
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