“I’m confused,” said Sweetwater coach Gary Zarecky.

“I’m baffled,” added the Red Devils mentor.

Sweetwater had just beaten Castle Park, 94-11, in a Metropolitan Mesa League game, which followed an earlier, 106-37 Sweetwater rout of the Trojans.

What made Zarecky (Zar-skee) figuratively scratch his head was that the host Trojans attempted only five shots from the field…and made two.

Castle Park actually led, 1-0, before the game started.  Sweetwater had been called for a technical foul during pregame warmups.

The first-quarter score was 22-1, 42-5 at halftime, and 66-5 after three quarters.

“Their coach (Dave Holmgren) told me their goal was to hold us under one-hundred points and they seemed very pleased to have done so,” said Zarecky.

The Trojans “strategy” worked.

“They would drive the lane and, even with a good shot, circle back under and out to eat up time,” said Zarecky.

“I’ve never been involved in a game like this,” understated the coach whose team won 20 games and a league title for the fourth year in a row.

Terry Fields led the Red Devils with 28 points followed by Tyrone Miller with 20 and Aaron Combs with 16.

Beaten by 83 points, Castle Park, which finished with a 4-17 record, had not been part of the section’s most lopsided defeat.

Mount Miguel was on the outs by 96 points in a 127-31 loss to Helix in 1969-70.

 

Local teams were just that, local.

That’s because San Diego Section bosses, most of whom did not  know if the ball was made of leather or composed of rubber, continued to defy the state CIF.

–For the first time in the history of the game in San Diego County, going back at least 60 years, there was no out-of-area opponent on anyone’s schedule.

Bud Maloney of the Evening Tribune explained:

“The situation came about because boys and girls basketball seasons in San Diego are not held at the same time.

“The girls play in the spring and thus do not have the same opportunity as boys to play against competition outside of the County.

(Everywhere but in the San Diego Section basketball was a winter sport).

“Since this is considered possible grounds for discrimination suits, the state CIF has ruled that San Diego Section boys cannot compete against out-of-county schools in basketball,” Maloney concluded.

The San Diego Section had repeatedly given the stink eye to the state CIF when the larger body suggested/implored that girls basketball and softball, which were inaugurated during the 1980-81 school year, move respectively to the winter and spring, in line with the state’s other sections.

Change would come but not this season.

MOMENTS OF THE SEASON

12/4/81—Defending champion Morse opened with a 63-55 win over visiting Oceanside, which would not lose again, posting a 22-1 record and the San Diego Section 2-A championship.

12/9/81—Sweetwater jumped to a 31-9 lead, saw it dwindle to 43-40, and then pulled away to top Morse, 79-64, in the season’s first major.

12/17/81—Things started poorly for the new Centurions of University City.  The first-year school was scoreless and trailing Lincoln, 22-0, after one quarter in a 76-29 defeat.

12/21/81—Kearny’s Lawrence Winters made a run at Wilburn Strong’s school record of 42 points with 39 but Morse scored a 75-70 Kiwanis Tournament victory over the Komets.

12/22/81—Winters had 30 points, but Sweetwater’s Terry Fields had 35 and the Red Devils beat the Komets, 99-86, in the Kiwanis.

1/9/82—Madison’s Ray Epton took the season single-game lead with 48 points in a 75-64 win over St. Augustine.

–Epton’s was the most since Serra’s Tommy Williams posted 50 points in 1979-80 but wasn’t close to the Madison record, 61 by Mitchell Lilly in 1975-76.

1/15/82—Future New York Yankees perfect game pitcher David Wells drained a free throw with 5 seconds left to clinch Point Loma’s 40-39 win over Clairemont.

1/23/82—Aaron Combs (27), Terry Fields (25), and Tyrone Miller (23) scored 75 points and their Sweetwater associates provided the rest in a 106-37 win over Castle Park. See 1981-82: “Zarecky Thought…”.

1/27/82—Morse’s hopes relied on a quick basket, foul, and free throw, which would have forged a tie and sent the game into overtime.

–The Tigers’ Carl Fisher did score with one second left but was whistled for charging.  Patrick Henry escaped with a 60-57 victory.

2/2/82

Tag Glithero, whose father starred at Lincoln in the late 1950s; Rick Oscarson, and sophomore Mike Haupt led a fourth-quarter, 27-16 Mira Mesa surge that stunned Morse, 68-55.

–Haupt converted nine of 10 free throw attempts in the final eight minutes, just one of many personal highlights in a career that would lead to coaching championships at St. Augustine.

2/5/82

San Diego made only 7×22 from the free throw line and Norman Baker, the County’s leading scorer, was 6×23 from the field.

University, meanwhile, made 14×17 free throws and the 9-12 Dons shocked the 15-2 Cavers, 58-55.

PATS & TIGERS SWAP HAYMAKERS

2/11/82

Morse defeated Patrick Henry, 75-71, in another battle of closely matched titans.  Henry, not counting forfeits in its first two games this season, had won 46 of its last 48 games, both losses to the Tigers.

Henry held a 4-2 edge over Morse during the 48 games, winning by three points in three of the games and by one point in the fourth.

Morse’s other victory over Henry was 52-50 in the 1980-81 San Diego Section 3-A finals.

PLAYOFFS

QUARTERFINALS

3-A

Morse 51, Helix 47 (18-7).

For the second season in a row the underdog Tigers went into a league champion’s gymnasium in the first round.

Lawrence West’s steal with 31 seconds left, followed by Carl Fisher’s layup, put the Tigers in front, 49-47, and Fisher iced the victory with two free throws at :14.

Hilltop 50, Vista 49 (19-5). 

Fred Haley knocked down a 20-foot jump shot with two seconds left.  “I just wanted us to take the best shot we could, whenever it came,” sighed relieved Lancers coach Jan Chapman.

Fallbrook 86, Sweetwater 83 (23-2).

The headline in the Evening Tribune screamed:  “Fallbrook Win Over Sweetwater Almost Defies Description”

Coach Jack Sandschulte started at Fallbrook in 1956 and this was his most satisfying, and unexpected, victory.

“We need to play a perfect game,” said the Warriors coach of his seventh-ranked team (and second in the Avocado League) going to the No. 1 Red Devils’ gym and its environmentally unfriendly atmosphere, created by 6-8 Aaron Combs, 6-7 Tyrone Miller, and 6-1 playmaker Terry Fields.

“Sweetwater has the best physical talent since Bill Walton played at Helix,” Sandschulte told writer Bud Maloney after the Warriors’ surprising victory.

“They did what they should do against us. They took the ball inside (Brian Busch at 6-3 was Fallbrook’s tallest player) and scored a lot of points off the offensive boards.

“But we did what we do well,” said Sandschulte.  “We shot well and made them play some defense.”

“I didn’t think we had a chance,” the veteran mentor admitted.  “Nobody did,” especially after Sweetwater took a 60-47, third-quarter lead.

Dominic Johnson led the winners with 30 points, including a 40-footer at the end of the third quarter that cut Sweetwater’s lead to 67-65, and two free throws with seven seconds remaining.

Brian Busch’s five-foot jumper with 11 seconds left had finally put Fallbrook in front, 84-83.

Busch added 20 points and Jeff Adams 19, including 9×9 from the free throw line.  Tyrone Miller scored 24 for Sweetwater.

Patrick Henry 68, Monte Vista 44 (14-9).

Playoff top seed Henry converted 29×51 shots from the field for 57 per cent.

2-A

Hoover 97, San Marcos 84 (14-10).

Charlie Steel’s 33 points and a flock of other Cardinals scorers were enough to subdue the Knights and Charlie Panos (19) and Brent Barnes (20).

Oceanside 66, Marian 55 (15-11).

Five-foot, 4-inch Mike Lee scored 15 points and the Pirates overcame a 19-11 Marian lead at the end of one quarter.

San Diego 63, Lincoln 53 (19-4).

The Cavers won the season series, two games to one, as 6-5 Herman Webster finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds.

La Jolla 68, Chula Vista 41 (15-9).

1-A

Santa Fe Christian 87, Borrego Springs 58.

Rob Rittgers scored 22 points and Lance Saber pulled down 20 rebounds.

Army-Navy 61, Francis Parker 35.

Parker’s run of six straight trips to the finals came to an end.  Uchenna Agu led the Warriors with 22 points.

SEMIFINALS

3-A

Patrick Henry 66, Morse 58 (16-8).

The Patriots’ Troy Thrower, who attended Mount Miguel as a sophomore and Helix as a junior, led Patrick Henry with 23 points and nine rebounds.

–Henry broke to a 17-point lead in the third quarter, after which Morse cut the margin to 54-49, but Billy Washington scored on a pair of layups and Thrower finished the Tigers with another score for a 60-49 advantage.

Fallbrook 71, Hilltop 51 (21-6).

Brian Busch missed 11 of his first 13 shots but converted all seven he attempted in the fourth quarter and the Warriors bolted with a 26-10 run after Hilltop pressed, 45-41, at the end of three.

2-A

San Diego 78, Hoover 65 (21-4).

Herman Webster again overshadowed County leading scorer and teammate Norman Baker with 18 points, 19 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.

“Norman has been sick this week and it was my job to take over,” Webster told Linda Murphy of The San Diego Union.

Oceanside 48, La Jolla 46 (18-6).

The Pirates survived a barren fourth quarter after winning the third period, 27-14, to escape La Jolla, which outscored Oceanside, 8-3, in the final eight minutes.

1-A

Santa Fe Christian 49, Army-Navy 46.

CHAMPIONSHIP

3-A

Patrick Henry 67 (23-3), Fallbrook 66 (21-4).

The Patriots overcame a dreaded administrative glitch when their starting center was ruled ineligible and Henry’s first two games, both victories, were forfeited.

Center Randy Hennis, up from the junior varsity, proved an excellent addition to Billy Washington and Troy Thrower, and scored nine points with nine rebounds against Fallbrook, while Thrower’s free throw with six seconds remaining was the decider.

The Warriors’ Dominic Johnson led all with 35 points.

2-A

Oceanside 60 (22-1), San Diego 58 (21-4).

Mike Lee slipped under the defense and laid up the basket that broke a 58-58 deadlock with nine seconds to play.

1-A

Calipatria 87 (21-1), Santa Fe Christian 71.

The losing Navigators’ Rob Rittger was the evening tripleheader point leader with 36.

CENTURY CLUB

TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE
Sweetwater	Montgomery	122-57
Sweetwater	Southwest	117-57
Patrick Henry	Christian	108-50
Granite Hills	Grossmont	108-94
Sweetwater	Castle Park	106-37
Hoover	Christian	105-46
Sweetwater	Grossmont	103-71
Sweetwater	Mt. Carmel	100-66

CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENTS

MT. HELIX INVITATIONAL

Lincoln 50, Helix 43, championship.

San Diego 84, La Jolla 77.

–The Cavers’ Norman Baker (34) and the Vikings’ Craig Weiss (33) traded hoops in third-place game.

HILLTOP-CHULA VISTA JAYCEES

All games were at Hilltop over four days, involving Granite Hills, Hilltop, Hoover, Mar Vista, Montgomery, Mount Miguel, Point Loma, and Santana.

Point Loma 78, Hoover 76, championship.

–Derrick Riley scored 28 points as Point Loma, trailing, 60-53, after three quarters, closed with a 25-16 fourth period.

GROSSMONT

Also known as the “Foothiller-Monarch” and the “Foothiller” tournament in news accounts.

Actually the event was a round-robin series of nonleague games involving Grossmont, Monte Vista, San Dieguito, Castle Park, El Capitan, and Serra.

Three games were played on each of three days at Grossmont or Serra.

No champion was declared.

FRANCIS PARKER

Army-Navy 69, Santa Fe Christian 60.

–Tournament most-valuable player Uchenna Agu scored 23 points for the Cadets and Albert Gonzalez 20.

RAMONA

San Marcos 72, Ramona 58.

Lt. JIM MITCHELL MEMORIAL

Oceanside 71, Mira Mesa 58.

–The Pirates’ 5-foot, 4-inch Mike Lee took most-valuable-player honors and scored 13 points, while teammate Eddie Anselmo added 18.

KIWANIS

The 35^th annual, continually feeling the pinch from other, ambitious events, was dying a slow death.

Kiwanis, once the largest and premier tournament in the state in the 1950s, had become a round-robin event with 32 Unlimited and Limited Division teams.

The tournament started before Christmas and renewed after the holiday.

–A rare Kiwanis bonus:  The No. 1 and 2 seeded teams, Sweetwater and Patrick Henry, met in the Unlimited finals, with the Patriots emerging on top, 73-70.

–Terry Fields scored 30 for Sweetwater, not enough to offset Billy Washington’s 29 and Troy Thrower’s 24.

–Hoover’s 28-14 fourth quarter overtook San Diego, 76-70, for the Limited crown.

POINT LOMA

Point Loma 51, Ramona 45.

Four teams in round robin play, El Cajon Valley, Point Loma, Ramona, and Mar Vista.

Point Loma was 3-0 and upped record to 8-0.

BARON-OPTIMIST

Sweetwater 67, Vista 65.

–Wes Saleaumua’s basket with five seconds remaining got the Red Devils past the Panthers, whom Sweetwater had dominated, 85-66, three weeks earlier.

Fourteen teams participated, with the championship played in the New Year, Jan. 2.

SANTANA

Helix 61, Santana 39.

–Two days after its Kiwanis victory, Henry needed Troy Thrower’s follow shot with two seconds remaining to beat Clairemont, 47-45.

An earlier victory over Clairemont was one of two forfeits Patrick Henry had sustained.

–With only six players in uniform, Henry dismantled Christian in the second round, 108-50.  Troy Thrower (26), Billy Washington (24), Randy Hennis (20), and Kevin Brown (16) led the way.

–Still dressing out only six players, Henry won a semifinal game against Mount Miguel, 65-48.

–More players were in uniform and seven scored as the Patriots took the title game over Santana.

Eight teams competed with the championship on Jan. 2.

SCORING LEADERS

Name	School	Games	Points	Average
Dominic Johnson	Fallbrook	25	610	24.4 (3)
Norman Baker	San Diego	24	598	24.9 (2)
Ray Epton	Madison	23	575	25.0 (1)
Terry Fields	Sweetwater	25	561	22.4 (7)
Charlie Panos	San Marcos	24	555	23.1 (6)
Lawrence Winters	Kearny	22	523	23.7 (4)
Troy Thrower	Patrick Henry	26	523	20.1
Todd Iseminger	Grossmont	22	511	23.2 (5)
Charlie Steel	Hoover	24	508	21.16 (9)
Paul Nelson	Marian	24	498	20.8 (10)
James Wilson	El Camino	23	488	21.21 (8)
Billy Washington	Patrick Henry	26	488	18.8
Jim Douglas	Vista	24	462	19.3
Aaron Combs	Sweetwater	25	456	18.2
Lawrence West	Morse	24	455	19.0
Brian Busch	Fallbrook	24	454	18.91
Brent Barnes	San Marcos	24	453	18.87
Craig Weiss	La Jolla	23	451	19.6
Tyrone Miller	Sweetwater	25	449	18.0
Herman Webster	San Diego	24	440	18.3
Russ Swier	Ramona	21	409	19.5
Paul Taylor	Chula Vista	24	404	16.8
Dally	Orange Glen	21	385	18.3
Rob Rittgers	Santa Fe Christian	21	383	18.2
Scott Fite	Serra	20	382	19.1

JUMP SHOTS

The arrival of Tommy Fields as a transfer from Chula Vista was the third recruiting (?) coup by Sweetwater Coach Gary Zarecky in three seasons…Darren Lee came in 1979-80 and Tyrone Miller in 1980-81…Floyd Evans, head coach at Riverside Poly, was reprimanded by Ivy League bosses and his school principal, who said in a statement that Evans “did not operate within the CIF Athletic Principles and Code of Ethics,” after leaving star Cheryl Miller in a game in which Miller scored 105 points and the Bears defeated Riverside Arlington, 179-15….