2014-15: Hoops Hot in Foothills
Foothills Christian is second in UT-San Diego‘s basketball poll, but the Knights are 18th in the Cal-Hi Sports state vote, ahead of San Diego Section rankings leader La Costa Canyon.
La Costa received all 11 first-place votes in the local balloting, but the Mavericks received on-the-bubble status and are out of the top 20 in the state-wide publication’s weekly ratings.
The UT-San Diego poll is inclusive of games through last Saturday.
Action has been hot and heavy for the first three weeks of the season and local clubs have been active in tournaments here, out of the area, and out of state.
All attention shifts this week to the Under-Armour tournament at Torrey Pines and other North County venues. The four-day event brings together outstanding teams from throughout the U.S.
Foothills (6-4) tips at 7 p.m. on Friday at Torrey Pines against Los Angeles Westchester (6-4), for decades a state and national leader. La Costa Canyon (9-1) will be on its home court at 7 Friday against Santa Monica (3-5).
Coach Brad Leaf’s Foothills Knights are 8-2 competitively but 6-4 legislatively. The ubiquitous and Dreaded Administrative Glitch resulted in forfeiture of a 89-59 win over San Ysidro and 83-33 rout of Rancho Buena Vista. Player eligibility, as usual, was the problem.
The Knights’ two losses on the court were 66-59 to Long Beach Poly (Cal-Hi Sports’ 6) and 84-73 to Chino Hills (16). They also own victories over Constitution of Philadelphia, 88-60, and 71-66 over Lone Peak of Montana.
UT-San Diego poll #2:
| # | Team (1st place votes) | W-L | Points* | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Costa Canyon (11) | 9-1 | 110 | 1 |
| 2 | Foothills Christian | 6-4 | 93 | 2 |
| 3 | Torrey Pines | 10-0 | 91 | 3 |
| 4 | San Marcos | 8-1 | 62 | 6 |
| 5 | El Camino | 8-1 | 57 | 4 |
| 6 | Morse | 3-1 | 52 | 5 |
| 7 | St. Augustine | 8-2 | 39 | 8 |
| 8 | Army-Navy | 9-1 | 23 | NR |
| 9 | Kearny | 7-3 | 21 | 7 |
| 10 | Francis Parker | 3-0 | 19 | 9 |
*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.
Others receiving votes: Grossmont, 15; Mater Dei, 11; Cathedral, Poway, 10 each; Army-Navy, Steele Canyon, 7 each; Mission Baay, 54; Sweetwater, 3; Eastlake, 2.
Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).