Boys Basketball History
Garden Grove High School Alumni Association
GGHS BOYS BASKETBALL HISTORY
The Early Years through the 1950’s
Garden Grove High School has fielded boys basketball teams as far back as the first year the school opened in 1921. However, the school did not win a league championship until the 1949-50 and 1950-51 seasons when the Argos captured back-to-back Orange League titles. Both teams were coached by Don Kennedy. The 1949-50 team was undefeated in league led by 5’8” forward Bob Archer who set an Orange League season scoring record of 17.4 points per game (ppg) in an era of low scoring games. Archer was also chosen Orange League MVP and 2nd Team All-CIF. (There was only one All-CIF Division in those days!) Others who were named All-Orange League were John Borrego, Nobe Kitada, and Ray Ramirez in 1949-50 and Borrego, Ramirez, and Jack Kraushaar in 1950-51.
One of the greatest players in GGHS basketball history is three-year letterman Wells Sloniger who played for the Argos from 1957 through 1959 when GGHS participated in the Sunset League. Sloniger, a 5’11” guard, set a school career scoring record of 1,104 points and scored a school record 37 points in one game. He was Sunset League scoring champ his junior year in 1957-58 with a 17.4 ppg average and scored an average of 22.1 ppg his senior year in 1958-59. He was selected 1st team All-Sunset League in both his junior and senior years and 2nd team All-CIF in the Large School Division his senior year. Sloniger’s accomplishments are even more remarkable as the Argo teams in his junior and senior years finished respectively last and fourth in Sunset League play and the teams averaged less than 50 ppg. He went on to play in college at USC, lettering in 1961 through 1963. Sloniger also served as ASB President his senior year at GGHS.
The 1960’s
The late 1960’s could be called the Golden Era of GGHS basketball with the school reaching the CIF quarterfinals three times between 1965 and 1969. The school began playing in the Freeway League in 1962-63 and in 1964-65, GGHS fielded a great team coached by Jim Trumbo, winning its first league championship since 1951. The team was led by 6’7” All-Orange County, 2nd team All-CIF, and Freeway League MVP Tony Robertson along with All-Freeway League players 6’4” forward Greg Delaney and 6’2” guard Jay Moore. The team scored at a record rate of 76.8 ppg, scored 111 points in one game, and ran off 18 straight victories. Robertson led the Freeway League in scoring and averaged 23.9 ppg overall. The team was undefeated in Freeway League competition at 14-0 and it won its first two games in the CIF Division 3A before losing to top ranked and undefeated Redondo Union HS. The team finished with a 23-5 record overall, was ranked #1 in Orange County at season’s end, and Coach Trumbo was named Orange County Coach of the Year.
The 1967-68 GGHS team finished 20-7 and was Garden Grove League Champion with a 9-1 record while playing with only three seniors. The team won its first two CIF playoff games before losing by four points in the CIF 2A Division quarter final round to Indio HS in a game played at Orange Coast College. The team was led by Garden Grove League MVP and All-Orange County forward Fred VanderLinde. All but three players from the team, as well as Coach Jim Stephens, were scheduled to return the next season, which raised great expectations for the next season.
The 1968-69 Argonaut basketball squad lived up to preseason expectations and is generally considered the best basketball team ever to play at GGHS. It had exceptional height for that era, as well as depth and experience at all positions, and it dominated its opponents all season. The team was led by 6’9“ Al Carlson at center, 6’5” Gary Berg and 6’6” Gene Broom at forward, and 6’1” Bill O’Brien and 5’9” Dave Cates at guard, all seniors. The team swept through the regular season undefeated, averaged over 70 ppg, outscored Garden Grove League opponents by an average of 29 points, captured three major tournament titles, and entered the CIF playoffs with a 26-0 record. The team was ranked #1 in Orange County as well as in CIF Division 3A. Carlson led the League both in scoring and rebounding, averaging over 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. He averaged 18.8 ppg overall the entire season. He also set the school single season rebound records of 341 total and 12.8 per game. Scoring was well-distributed among all the starters with the other four frequently scoring in double figures. Favorable comparisons of the team to that year’s undefeated CIF 4A Division champions Compton HS were made by the Orange and Los Angeles County newspapers.
As the #1 seed in CIF Division 3A playoffs, the team received a bye in the first round and then set a CIF record for a CIF playoff game winning margin by handing Riverside Poly HS an 87-37 defeat in the second round. The Argos seemed unstoppable. Unfortunately, they were upset by Rowland HS, 73-71, in a quarterfinal game played at Orange Coast College and broadcast live on southern California television by KNBC.
The 1968-69 team finished with a 27-1 overall record and the players and Coach Stephens received numerous All-League, All-County, and All-CIF accolades. Both Carlson and Berg were named first team All-CIF. Several of the players went on to play college basketball including Carlson at the University of Oregon and Broom at the University of Washington. Carlson also played briefly in the NBA for the Seattle Supersonics and was named in 2010 as one of the top 25 players in the history of Orange County High School Basketball by Orange County Register Sports columnist Steve Fryer. Berg set the school career rebound record of 745. He also served as GGHS ASB President and was named Most Worthy Argonaut his senior year.
The 1970’s and Since
The 1970’s and more recent years have seen great individual performances by Argo boys basketball players. In the 1972-73 season, Don Sharon scored a then school record of 45 points in one game and 589 points in his senior year while the Argo’s finished second in the Garden Grove League. Bill Johnson averaged 25.6 points per game (ppg) for the 1974-75 team, setting a single season total scoring record for GGHS with 760 points, and was named 1st Team All-CIF 3A Division and All-Orange County. Johnson also broke the school career scoring record with 1,310 total points and set a school record or 24 rebounds in one game. The 1978-79 team was led by seniors forwards 6’ 3” Mark Baker and 6’ 6” Michael Gray. Baker scored 967 career points (20.6 ppg) in just two years on the varsity and was 1st team All-Garden Grove League and league scoring champion in his senior year with a 27.1 ppg average. His highest scoring game of 47 points is believed to still be a GGHS record. Gray scored 980 career points and was All-Garden Grove League in each of his three varsity years. Other notable players since the 1970’s that have been named All-CIF are Joe Aguire, 1991 Division II; David Richmond, 2005 Division II; Tony Pham, 2008 Division IV; Jonathan Umanzor, 2009 Division IIIAA; and Sebastian Castro, 2018 Division 5AAA. In 2018-19, Castro led the Golden West League and was 5th in Orange County in scoring at 21.8 points per game. He also recorded 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
Following the 2018-19 season, longtime Boys Head Coach and faculty member Ken Frank resigned as head coach of the Argos. Coach Frank had served in the position for 22 years. During that period, he coached the team to 322 wins and several League championships and CIF playoff appearances. His years as head coach and total victories are school records. In his last season, he led to Argos to a 24-5 overall record and a second-place finish in the Golden West League.
CIF Championship
Coached by Brian Girard and led by Senior Forward, Miguel Ortega, the GGHS Boys Basketball Team defeated Fullerton HS 54-50 to win the 2022 CIF Southern Section Division 4AA Championship. After finishing first in the Golden West League with a 9-1 record, the Argos defeated five teams in the CIF playoffs to achieve the first Boys Basketball CIF Championship in school history. In five rounds of playoffs, the Argos vanquished Golden Valley HS, Alhambra HS, University HS, and Sunny Hills HS before their match against Fullerton HS on the Argos’ fan-packed home court in the North Gym.
While having led most of the game against Fullerton, the Argos trailed with just two minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Argos rallied to tie the game before Senior Guard Vidal Jiminez sank a 3-point shot with less than 20 seconds left to put the Argos ahead, 52-49. Ortega then converted a steal into a basket to seal the victory. Ortega led the team through the playoffs, scoring 21 points and grabbing 14 rebounds vs. Sunny Hills in the semi-final game as well as scoring 17 vs. Fullerton. The team subsequently were eliminated in the first round of the Southern Regional State Playoffs and finished with an overall 22-8 record. Ortega was named the Player of the Year and Coach Brian Girard was named Coach of the Year, both for CIF Division 4AA. Both awards are also firsts in GGHS Basketball History. Ortega was also named second team All-State for Division IV by MaxPreps.
Article by Chuck Lake, Class of ‘68
Updated December 23, 2022
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