2014-15: ‘Day Girls Save the Day
San Diego Section teams came home with one championship in the state basketball tournament, old reliable La Jolla Country Day’s girls winning in Division V, 40-36 over Palo Alto Eastside Prep.
The title was coach Terry Bamford’s fourth. The Torreys finished with an 18-11 record, not their best, but Bamford sees the big picture, schedules tough, and points to March. Eastside was the Central Coast Section champion and No. 1 seed in the North.
The Torreys and The Bishop’s, both beaten in league and section play by state-uninvited Horizon, owned the division, racing through the Southern California playoffs before ‘Day knocked off the Knights, 75-56, in the finals.
A disappointing boys season concluded with Torrey Pines and Army-Navy coming up short in the D-1 and D-5 semifinals, respectively.
Coach John Olive’s Torrey Pines Falcons battled through the rounds as a No. 6 seed before losing at 2 seed Chino Hills, 64-57.
Army-Navy, coached by John Maffucci, in his 59th year at the academy, was a No. 6 seed and battled 2 seed Los Angeles Price before coming up short, 67-62.
The area top teams would have been better served had the CIF San Diego Section placed St. Augustine and Foothills Christian in their proper divisions.
Instead 7 seed St. Augustine was forced to go to the Open Division instead of D-III for the second year in a row and bowed to second-ranked Torrance Bishop Montgomery, 75-61, and Foothills, the 6 seed, came up short at 3 seed Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda, 56-55.
With largely underclass squads, the Saints and Knights could be the top teams in the San Diego Section next season. But they again likely will face a stacked deck by being pushed into the Open Division playoffs.
It’s a system that needs more than a tweak.
BOYS
OPEN
ROUND 1
7 St. Augustine 61, @2 Torrance Bishop Montgomery 75.
6 Foothills Christian 55, @3 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda 56.
DIVISION I
ROUND 1
6 Torrey Pines 62, 11 N. Tustin Foothill 49.
10 San Marcos 60, @7 Riverside J.W. North 57.
QUARTERFINALS
Torrey Pines 54, @3 Long Beach Poly 49.
San Marcos 63, @2 Chino Hills 82.
SEMIFINALS
Torrey Pines 57, @Chino Hills 64.
II
ROUND 1
1 La Costa Canyon 74, 16 Las Flores Tesoro 53.
12 Mira Mesa 67, @5 Redlands East Valley 75.
15 Kearny 65, @2 Anaheim Canyon 98.
QUARTERFINALS
1 La Costa Canyon 69, 8 Santa Barbara 44.
SEMIFINALS
1 La Costa Canyon 46, 4 Lawndale 60.
III
ROUND 1
12 Valhalla 76, @ 5 La Habra Sonora 101.
7 El Cajon Valley 33, 10 Newport Beach Corona del Mar 46.
IV
ROUND 1
14 Granite Hills 49, @3 Encino Crespi 78.
6 Mission Bay 58, 11 Cerritos Valley Christian 66.
V
ROUND 1
6 Army-Navy 91, 11 Hesperia Christian 52.
10 Lutheran 52, @7 Temecula Rancho Christian 70.
QUARTERFINALS
6 Army-Navy 60, @3 L.A. Windward 52.
SEMIFINALS
Army-Navy 62, @2 L.A. Price 67.
GIRLS
OPEN
ROUND 1
6 Mission Hills 41, @3 Long Beach Poly 58.
I
ROUND 1
12 Torrey Pines 51, @5 San Bernardino 81.
15 Eastlake 50, @2 Vista Murietta 70.
II
ROUND 1
12 La Costa Canyon 57, @5 Norco 65.
III
ROUND 1
14 Westview 31, @3 Mira Costa 59.
12, Kearny 34, @5 Newport Beach Corona del Mar 70.
11 Rancho Bernardo 42, @6 Rancho Santa Margarita 48.
IV
ROUND 1
9 El Capitan 26, @8 San Juan Capistrano JSerra 67.
12 San Ysidro 31, @5 Anaheim Fairmont Prep 78.
V
ROUND 1
1 La Jolla Country Day, bye.
2 The Bishop’s 79, 15 L.A. Price 30.
11 Escondido Adventist 18, @6 San Bernardino Aquinas 61.
QUARTERFINALS
2 The Bishop’s 73, 7 Santa Barbara Bishop Diego 49.
1 La Jolla Country Day 69, 9 Caruthers 20.
SEMIFINALS
1 La Jolla Country Day 64, 4 L.A. Ribet 36.
The Bishop’s 55, 3 Garden Grove Orangewood 48, OT.
CHAMPIONSHIP
La Jolla Country Day 75, The Bishop’s 56.
STATE
La Jolla Country Day 40, 1 Palo Alto Eastside Prep 36, @Haas Arena, California-Berkeley.