Evening Tribune writer Roger Conlee said the Grossmont-Helix game was more a circus carnival (of errors), with everything but a pie-throwing contest.
Conlee covered the Metropolitan League Southern Division contest that attracted about 1,200 persons to Grossmont’s “ancient, creaky arena.”
Taking them one at a time:
–The game started at 8:45 p.m. after a longer-than-usual junior varsity preliminary. The gymnasium was overflowing by 7:15 p.m.
–The lead changed 12 times in the first half.
–Officials made conflicting foul calls three times in the first half. Unable to agree, the zebras each time ordered a jump ball.
–Play temporarily was halted when a puddle of water appeared on the floor.
–The gymnasium public address announcer pleaded with the crowd to be quiet during the shooting of free throws.
The announcement came during the shooting of a free throw.
–Twenty-one fouls were called on plays that involved driving to the basket. None of the fouls were for charging on the player with the ball.
–Seven timeouts were called in the fourth quarter. The eight-minute session of playing time began at 9:47 p.m. and did not end until 10:31 p.m.
–Spectators, restless after sitting for almost two hours-plus, engaged in three separate fights in the stands, all broken up quickly.
–Fourteen free throws were attempted in the frenzied, final three minutes.
–Officials attempted to quiet the crowd with no success when the game entered its final 1:55.
“That the scoreboard clock didn’t work and time had to be called out from the scorer’s table seemed to fit in perfectly, Conlee concluded.
Oh, the game. Helix took a 28-27 lead in the third quarter and hung on to win, 51-49. Ed Vitale had 16 points for the Highlanders and Neil McClellan 15 for the Foothillers.
CARDINALS FLY AGAIN
Nick Barkett was the fifth of five guards on Hoover’s 26-2 squad of 1959-60, but he moved to forward this season and led the Cardinals to another Eastern League championship and to the inaugural CIF San Diego AA title.
“He lived at Muni Gym with (John) Bocko all summer,” said Coach Charlie Hampton, acknowledging Barkett’s commitment and reference to just-graduated Cardinals star John Bocko.
Barkett joined a lineup that included only one starter from 1959-60, guard Dave Morehead. Dave Sickels, a 6-6 center had seen limited action.
The Cardinals’ record for the last two seasons was 50-5. The only defeats for this year’s 24-3 squad was 65-60 in an early-season encounter at Hilltop, 63-59 in a stunning upset by Kearny, and 36-30 in a ragged contest at Lincoln.
Barkett was joined in the starting lineup by 6-1 Morehead, 6-foot junior guard Rick Potter, the 6-6 Sickels, and 6-2 Rich Keely, a junior varsity graduate who came within two points of the school record when he had 34 points in a December game against Glendale Hoover.
Barkett had 24 points in a 66-53 win over Point Loma in the regular season and 20 in the AA championship, a virtual repeat of the first game, Hoover winning, 66-54.
LINCOLN FOILED
Hoover enjoyed its usual late-game dominance of Lincoln, overcoming a 37-35 halftime deficit to win the Kiwanis Tournament, 55-51, the fifth Cardinals victory by four points or less in the last four years over their South 49th Street rival.
Lincoln felt good when it took a 30-22 halftime lead in the teams’ first league meeting, but the Cardinals outscored the Hornets, 21-7, in the fourth quarter for a 59-48 win.
“This may be the best basketball ‘team’ I’ve had,” said Coach Charlie Hampton. “They may not be the best players, but as a team they can’t be beat.”
CLAIREMONT BLOWS
Leading Point Loma, 35-34, with 11 seconds left in the game and in possession of the ball, Clairemont liked its chances.
But the Chiefs’ Joe Michael launched a shot that Point Loma’s Joe Soares rebounded, and got the ball to Dave Elliott, who was fouled.
Elliott made two free throws for a 36-35 victory and the Western League championship before a capacity crowd of 1,800 at Point Loma.
“I don’t know why (Michael) took the shot,” said Clairemont coach Dick Eiler. “The poor kid is crying his eyes out about it. It was just one of those things.”
T’D OFF
Leading Hilltop, 44-43, Escondido was assessed a technical foul when a substitute did not report properly. Robbie Hewitt then sank a free throw to tie the game and Tom Lee scored seconds later for a 46-44 Hilltop victory.
After much discussion, the T was upheld.
Escondido coach Don Hegerle argued with officials that the official scorer was not an adult and did not wear a jersey or shirt that indicated his position at the table.
“There was some question about it all right,” said Lancers coach Paul Pruett, “but we got our share of bad breaks, too. We’ll take the victory.”
| NAME | TEAM | GAMES | POINTS | AVERAGE |
| John Fairchild | San Dieguito | 26 | 428 | 16.5 |
| Charlie Schneider | Hilltop | 26 | 416 | 16.0 |
| Brian Ross | El Capitan | 21 | 393 | 18.7 |
| Bob Hoss | El Cajon Valley | 22 | 374 | 17.0 |
| Dennis Henry | Kearny | 25 | 367 | 14.7 |
| Nick Barkett | Hoover | 27 | 356 | 13.2 |
| Robbie Hewitt | Hilltop | 26 | 339 | 13.0 |
| Steve Ojetti | Lincoln | 24 | 327 | 13.7 |
| Ed Vitale | Helix | 23 | 319 | 13.9 |
| Larry Meek | Escondido | 22 | 318 | 14.4 |
| Don Sada | Point Loma | 25 | 317 | 12.7 |
| Paul Hagen | Helix | 26 | 312 | 12.0 |
| Joe Soares | Point Loma | 25 | 300 | 12.0 |
HIGHS
Army-Navy’s Bill Froehling had the season’s highest individual point total, 47, on 23 baskets and one free throw. as the Warriors also scored the most points in a 91-47 win over San Diego Military.
Froehling’s total tied Fallbrook’s Paul Lockridge for the fourth highest in San Diego County History.
Lockridge’s 47 came in a 90-31 win over Brown Military in 1950-51. St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules, with 60- and 53-point outbursts in 1957-58, ranks first and second.
El Capitan outscored El Cajon Valley, 77-75, the teams’ combined 152 leading the County.
San Diego Military served up the lowest, outscored by University, 59-14.
SMOKING
Al Catlin was a starter for three straight seasons at Lincoln and one of the school’s all-time top players, an accolade later to be duplicated at San Diego City College and San Diego State.
Catlin, in a stunning turn of events, was forced to learn how to shoot from his opposite hand this season because he was wearing a cast on his right arm.
The 6-foot, 2-inch forward unknowingly played his entire junior season with a broken bone in his right wrist, an injury sustained in the 1959 football season.
Catlin had experienced continual discomfort, finally forcing a visit to a physician who discovered the injury. The Hornets’ senior remained the area’s best rebounder and was a more-than-adequate shot maker on a contending squad.
Like many of his generation Catlin took up smoking, a habit he says he never indulged on the school campus. Someone, Catlin believes a member of the Lincoln faculty, saw Catlin smoking at the Campus Drive-In Theater on El Cajon Boulevard.
The faculty snitch reported what he saw to Lincoln coach Warren Barritt, who summarily cut Catlin from the squad.
“Steve Ojetti and I both used to smoke a cigarette before a home game,” Catlin remembered years later. “It wasn’t a crime, but I got called into Barritt’s office and he told me I was off the team for disciplinary reasons.”
Despite the loss of Catlin, Lincoln rallied behind Ojetti’s 27 points and walloped Crawford, 75-60, to secure the Eastern League’s second playoff spot in the final regular-season game.
PLAYOFFS
Two divisions and 16 teams comprised the one-week posteason.
CLASS A
John Fairchild and San Dieguito couldn’t get a seat at the Class AA table (search 1960-61: “Where’s Aretha? Mustangs Want Respect”), so they rolled to the Class A title, capping a 25-1 season with victories of 73-57 over El Cajon Valley (8-14), 66-53 over Kearny (13-11), which had eliminated University (13-11), 43-38, and 54-46 over Sweetwater (11-12).
Ramona, 21-1 in the regular season behind the scoring thrusts of Allen Brown and Mike Walters, was up against schools much larger, even though the Bulldogs were in the small schools class.
Ramona was beaten in the first round, 50-47, by Sweetwater, which got to the finals after a 48-46 win over Vista (12-8).
Vista had advanced with a 46-45 win over St. Augustine (4-17), fueled by the temper of the Saints’ Hugh (Hudge) McConnell, who threw a ball into the stands at Vista after a foul call with three seconds remaining in the game.
The Panthers’ Fred Boyer converted the resulting personal and technical foul free throws, giving Vista the come-from-behind victory.
CLASS AA
Lincoln (17-8) topped Grossmont (12-9), 46-45, in the first round but was eliminated in the semifinals as Point Loma (15-10) won a wild, 66-60 struggle at Lincoln. Pointer Joe Soares’ 24 points offset a 34-point performance by Steve Ojetti. Point Loma earlier eliminated Escondido (13-10), 61-44.
Hoover avenged an early-season loss with a 56-49 win over Hilltop in the semifinals after dismissing Chula Vista (10-11), 63-34. Hilltop (20-6) had polished off Clairemont (12-11), 71-48.
JUMP SHOTS
San Diego’s 10-14 record was the Cavemen’s poorest since the 1933-34 team was 6-9 and the ’34-35 squad was 6-8…Hoover coach Charlie Hampton said Glendale Hoover had the tallest high school lineup he ever saw: 6-foot, 4-inch and 6-3 guards, 6-2 and 6-5 forwards, and 6-5 center…Kearny presented a front line of 6-7 Doug Ogilvie, 6-5 Lon Swank, and 6-3 Elliott Reaves…Hilltop and Escondido each reached the semifinals of the Chino Tournament, losing to Anaheim Western, 56-51, and Chino, 58-46, respectively…San Dieguito topped Ramona, 58-47, for the Kiwanis Tournament Limited Division title…the Hoover-Lincoln Unlimited final was played in San Diego State’s Men’s Gym… Ventura whipped Helix, 80-47, for consolation honors at Fillmore…Fritz Ziegenfuss set a Crawford record with 28 points in a season-opening, 73-57 win over El Cajon Valley…La Jolla’s Chet Guthrie set a school record with 35 points in one game…until the playoffs, Hilltop was 2-0 against Hoover…the Lancers also beat the Cardinals, 53-52, in Pepsi Summer League competition at Muni Gym….
Hi Rick,
We are in San Diego and hope to see Al. Have you been able to communicate with him? You have my contact info.
Larry
You mentioned 5 legendary Cougars–Bennett, Agatep, Snyder, Embrey, and yourself. The March to the Olympians was Embrey’s response to San Diego High’s team entering from the top of Balboa Stadium and descending single file down the steps to the field.
1960-61 was my senior year at Lincoln, and this post brought back a lot of memories. Grossmont did have a goofy gym that was also an auditorium. The basketball court ended at the stage, which was elevated 3-4 feet above the court. In the Lincoln – Grossmont playoff game, I remember C. D. Lowery going full steam on a fast break toward the stage, and after completing his layup, having to jump onto the stage and hurdle a row of chairs before he could stop. I think even the Grossmont fans applauded C. D. for that.
I’m glad you included a photo of Jim Eskridge. He was a good friend of mine probably the most successful member of our class. He played his college ball at U. C. Riverside, and went on to become the president of Fisher-Price Toys, then the president of another toy giant, Mattel, and finally the CEO of the Stride-Rite shoe company. Sadly, he passed away from cancer a couple of years ago.
Al Catlin’s removal from the basketball team hacks me off (the politest way I can say it) even today. It was equivalent to getting a life sentence for jaywalking. I do not believe Coach Barritt took that action totally on his own. Why would he deprive his team of its best player with the playoffs coming up? The infraction was worth a one-game suspension at most. In those days Lincoln had an extremely hard-nosed principal, and my guess is that he leaned on Coach Barritt to issue the maximum penalty. Unfortunately, that decision also cost Al a scholarship to the University of San Francisco. Clearly the punishment went way beyond the infraction. Interestingly, the teacher who reported Al smoking became known to the students. Jim Eskridge and his date, and I and my date, were having our pre-prom dinner at a restaurant in Mission Valley when that same teacher appeared. (Was it part of his job to spy on students on weekends?) He proceeded to walk directly behind Jim and me, and I said in a voice loud enough that the teacher couldn’t have missed, “Jim, where did you say Catlin was going to college?” Jim cracked up as our dates cringed, but the teacher kept going. I hope that teacher is still guilt-wracked by what he did to this day. The only good thing that came out of the whole sorry mess was that Al stayed in San Diego, and I got to see the greatness of his play at San Diego State.
Al and I share Aztec season basketball tickets. He surived the arbitrary and wholly unreasonable decision by the bosses at Lincoln and went on to an outstanding career in basketball. Thanks for your well-thought recollection of those events and for catching us up with Jim Eskridge. He’s not the only player from that team who has passed. So have Steve Ijetti and C,.D. Lowery and perhaps others. I knew them all, as I’m also a Lincoln grad.
I knew you were a Lincoln grad, and I almost met you at a game. During my senior year, I was the sports editor/photographer for our yearbook, The Statesman. Usually, game photographs for The Statesman were taken by a professional photographer, Dave Young (LHS ’59), who worked for the studio that did all of our portrait photography. He was unable to attend all of the games, so I filled in when necessary. You might remember this particular game. Lincoln was playing at Mission Bay in a rare day game, Dave was unavailable, so I had to cover it. Although I never had any official credentials, I could usually show my nifty Crown Graphic press camera to the gate attendant and he’d let me in. That happened at Mission Bay, and shortly after I’d been admitted, you came up to the gate. So I waited with the intention of introducing myself. By then, everyone in the San Diego school system knew who you were, except the guy at the gate. Despite the fact that he’d just let in a nonentity with a camera (me), he refused to let you in. You tried to explain who you were but he wasn’t buying it. Finally after several minutes of fruitless negotiation, you had had enough. You brushed him aside and walked in. Since you were seriously annoyed by then, I decided it was not the best time for introductions, so we never met.
That game was memorable for another reason. Despite having a vastly superior team, Lincoln lost, 20-19. Lincoln’s play was incredibly sloppy, with touchdowns and long runs being called back by over 200 yards in penalties. I had to cover the game from Mission Bay’s sideline to keep the sun at my back. Near the end of the game Mission Bay’s coach was beside himself. He was running up and down the sideline grabbing his scrubs, pushing them onto the field, and yelling, “You want to get in the game? You want to get in the game? You want to say you beat Lincoln?” Lincoln’s wretched performance that day affected my performance as well. None of my photos turned out good enough to use in the yearbook. A bad day all the way around!
Doug,
Al and I were teammates at SDSU – I have been looking for him since I left San Diego. I just read down and see that he has passed. Did he leave a family? I’m sad that I didn’t find him earlier.
Larry Meek
Larry, are you referring to Al Catlin? He’s alive and very well. Works out all the time in retirement. We share Aztec season tickets. I covered the Aztec teams you played on saw you play at Escondido. Rangy big with a nice touch around the hoop.
Hi Rick,
That’s very good news; I misinterpreted your comment above to Doug Johnson about him not being the only player on that team who passed. My wife and I are leaving for socal tomorrow and will be in San Diego for 3 days July 16-18 and it would be wonderful to catch up with Al – do you have contact info for him?
My email is nepallar@gmail.com and cell phone 530 913 5252
Thanks for the memories :-)
Larry
Larry,
It’s great to hear from you, but you gave me a scare when you mentioned Al’s passing. I’m glad Rick was able to jump in and note that Al is still very much alive. I live in Texas, and Al still lives in San Diego. I last saw him at our Lincoln High 50 year reunion in 2011. He looked like he could still suit up and play for the Aztecs. I don’t think he’s gained an ounce since his college days. Not true in my case!
I had the pleasure of seeing you and Al play on those fine Aztec teams during my junior and senior years at SDS. I still have the programs from the home games, along with the players’ scores that I kept. Some of them might even be accurate, LOL. Anyway, I’m sure Rick can put you in touch with Al if he hasn’t already.
Glad to know you’re still with us!
Doug Johnson, LHS ’61, SDS ’65