1994-95: McCoy, Others made for Dynamic Season

DECEMBER, 1994

–Six-foot, 11-inch Jelani McCoy started the season with 41 points and set a San Diego Section record with 16 blocked shots in an 85-82 win in the Hilltop/Pizza Hut tournament. El Camino’s Dee Boyer blocked 15 shots in a 1989 game.

–Dimitri Hodgkinson scored 37 points and El Cajon Valley reached triple digits in the Norsemen-Warhawk tournament…and lost! The Braves were edged by Mar Vista, 104-101.  Valhalla and Madison were tournament hosts. Sophomore Jorge Salazar had 43 for the Mariners.

–Lincoln’s defending state Division IV champion kept sending El Camino to the free-throw line and the Warriors responded by converting 30×35 attempts and knocked down the Hive, 99-94. Lincoln was 12×22 from the line.

–Lincoln defeated Morse, 110-88, and surpassed the school record of 107 against Granite Hills in 1982-83.

TOURNAMENTS FLOOD SCHEDULE

A dizzying number of events included the 48^th Kiwanis, 35^th Lt. Jim Mitchell Memorial, and 22^nd Francis Parker. Others were played locally, state-wide, in Nevada, and Hawaii.  Many were dubbed with the misnomer “classics”.

–Poway (7-2) won the 16-team Kiwanis, 76-52, over Mount Miguel (8-2), capitalizing on a 40-23 advantage in rebounds.

–Jelani McCoy set a section record with 19 blocked shots in a 69-66 victory over Rialto Eisenhower in the first round of the Jim Mitchell.

It’s getting hectic,” said McCoy.  “I’m not chasing the record, but when I get close, people remind me.”

NO REST FOR SCRIPPS

–The fifth Above the Rim classic was just that, powerhouse teams soaring on a national level.  Teams from throughout the U.S. were at Torrey Pines.

Second-year Scripps Ranch four hours earlier had beaten Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, 75-72, and then gave national power Santa Ana Mater Dei a run well into the third quarter.

Almost 3,000 persons in the 2,500-seat Falcons gym watched with stunned enthusiasm as the Falcons moved to a 41-34 lead with 4:59 remaining.

Monarchs coach Gary McKnight called timeout and switched his team from man-to-man to zone defense.  ‘Dei went on a 19-2 run and won, 75-63. Ashante Johnson had 28 points against both Gorman and Mater Dei and Scott Charity had 27 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

–Mater Dei (16-1) defeated Brooklyn Lincoln (9-2) and its all-America guard Stephon Marbury, 92-77, for the championship.  Marbury scored 39 points.  Schea Cotton had 33 for the Monarchs.

JANUARY, 1995

Home is where the victories are.

Scripps Ranch came into its Western League opener at St. Augustine with a 12-1 record, but the Saints had not lost on their floor since 1991-92.

The result was Western League basketball at its most competitive as the Saints (10-4) pulled out a double-overtime, 77-73 victory.

Jelani McCoy’s two free throws with 10 seconds left sealed the victory.  McCoy had 28 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots, while Scripps’ Ashante Johnson scored 20 points and pulled 10 rebounds.

–Jorge Salazar’s 21 points were augmented with 11 assists as Mar Vista got Harbor League play under way with a 115-78 win over Christian.  The Mariners earlier had whipped CETY’s of Tijuana, 117-39.

–Stormy weather and leaky roofs postponed three games:  Chula Vista at Eastlake, Kearny at Point Loma, and Ramona at Escondido. Coronado’s game at Crawford was suspended at halftime with the Islanders leading, 30-18.

McCoy was held to a season-low 6 points by the policing of 6-6 Nate Walton, a transfer from Torrey Pines, and University topped St. Augustine, 64-49.

Walton the No. 2 son of former Helix great Bill Walton, scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and declared, “There was nothing like this at Torrey Pines.  People on campus talked about (the game) all week.  This is the biggest thing I’ve ever been involved in.”

McCOY REAL McCOY

–Two weeks later, McCoy, playing before a raucous home crowd, had 28 points, 26 rebounds, and blocked 11 shots in a 58-46 revenge win.  Walton was held to eight points.

–“I wasn’t a force the first time,” said McCoy, “and there was some question who was the No. 1 center (McCoy or Walton) after that game.”

Ashante Johnson drained a three-point attempt with 4 seconds left in regulation and tipped in the winning basket with 4.7 seconds remaining in overtime to get Scripps Ranch past La Jolla, 63-61.

Scoring leaders, unofficial, some games not reported:

NAME	TEAM	GAMES	POINTS	AVERAGE
Jelani McCoy	St. Augustine	29	749	25.82 (5)
Jeremy Killion	Rancho Bernardo	27	712	26.37 (3)
Tim Rabetoy	Julian	23	689	29.956 (1)
Matt Jager	Vista	26	676	26.0 (4)
Sonny Drago	Ramona	27	650	24.07 (7)
Mike McNair	Kearny	27	647	23.96 (8)
Ashante Johnson	Scripps Ranch	32	643	20.09
Al Smalley	Fallbrook	21	608	28.95 (2)
Greg Clark	Grossmont	24	595	24.791 (6)
Will Goodloe	Mar Vista	27	566	20.96
Jared Evans	Helix	25	563	22.52 (10)
Harres Karim	Mira Mesa	24	550	22.91 (9)
Daral Guthro	Chula Vista	25	541	21.64
Lee	Point Loma	26	539	20.73
Louther	San Marcos	27	537	19.88
Robinson	Southwest	26	530	20.38
Jamie Hooper	La Jolla Country Day	25	526	21.0
Swanson	Tri-City	24	500	20.83
Miller	San Diego	24	475	19.79
Paris Corner	University City	23	472	20.52
J.B. Haskett	La Jolla	26	471	18.1

Van Hoeve, Covenant, 17×359, 21.1. Miller, El Cajon Valley, 21×429, 20.4.

El Camino took out its frustrations on Escondido, 109-54, after an upset, 64-59 loss to Torrey Pines. Four Wildcats scored at least 15 points.

Scott Charity adhered to the maxim that it is better to be late than never, scoring 23 of his 25 points in the second half as Scripps Ranch beat Mission Bay, 76-61.

Kearny’s Mike McNair and Point Loma’s Eric Bell matched four, three-point baskets, but McNair outscored his opponent, 34-18, and Kearny won, 63-55.

Eastlake (7-0) stayed unbeaten in the Metropolitan League when Rusty Skinner dropped  in an 18-foot jumper to get the Titans past Chula Vista, 54-52.

KOMETS’ MARK FALLS

Mike McNair scored 47 points to break Wilburn Strong’s school record of 42 points, set in 1968-69, and led the Komets to an 84-74, Eastern League win over Serra.

Harres Karim scored with eight seconds remaining and then blocked a shot as Mira Mesa nudged San Diego, 48-47.

FEBRUARY, 1995

Matt Jager scored 40 points, but Poway’s Steve Francis was dominant in the Titans’ 79-74, double overtime win over No. 8-ranked Vista.  Francis had 33 points and six three pointers and made a three with one second left to force a first overtime.

–With one second remaining in the first overtime, Francis was fouled attempting a half-court shot.  He made three successive free throws to force a second extra session, in which Poway outscored Vista, 8-3.

University City sophomore Paris Corner threw up a 70-foot prayer that drained the bottom of the net as the Centurions (10-15) upset Scripps Ranch (19-5), 59-58.

“When you start the second half with a technical foul, you let the other team back in the game,” said Lincoln coach Charlie Paulk of the T the Hornets’ received for a slam dunk basket during warmups before the third quarter.

–The Hornets led, 36-24, at the start of the third quarter but Jelani McCoy led the Saints on a 23-14 run with five, thunderous slam baskets that brought the visitors back into the game.

–Lincoln held on for a 69-66 win despite McCoy’s 34 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 blocked shots.

Rancho Buena Vista clinched its first Palomar League championship in the school’s eight-season history with a 72-70 win over runner-up Rancho Bernardo.  Tim Giles’ basket with three seconds left pulled out the win for the Longhorns.

CENTURY CLUB

TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE
Horizon	Midway Baptist	119-30
Mar Vista	Tijuana CETY’s, Mexico	117-39
Mar Vista	Christian	115-78
El Camino	Oceanside	115-50
Lincoln	Clairemont	114-38
Lincoln	Morse	110-88
El Camino	Escondido	109-54
West Hills	El Cajon Valley	107-74
Mar Vista	El Cajon Valley	104-101
Mar Vista	El Cajon Valley	102-92
Mar Vista	Marian	102-76
Mar Vista	Crawford	101-66
Mar Vista	Clairemont	101-51
El Camino	Carlsbad	100-57
Tri-City	Midway Baptist	100-20