1972-73: Oh, Henry! Patriots Climb to Top

Five-year-old Patrick Henry High, located in the sprawling Del Cerro-San Carlos area, had become a glamour school in the San Diego Section and one of the largest in the state with 3,800 students and growing.

The Patriots already had been to a section championship game in football, became powers in baseball and track and field, and had won championships in a host of so-called minor sports.

Basketball caught up with the others this season.

Coach Alan (Fritz) Ziegenfuss, a standout at Crawford in 1960-61 and a member of San Diego State teams coached by his father, George Ziegenfuss, took the Patriots’ program through a difficult initiation.

The Patriots were a painful 2-23 in 1968-69, their first season, and followed with records of 12-15, 21-9 and 18-12, before running the table in the rowdy Eastern League (12-0) and playoffs (4-0) to finish with a 29-2 record and a hard-earned championship this year.

Bill Finley of the Evening Tribune ranked Henry third in his preseason Top 10, behind No. 1 Madison and 2 Helix and ahead of 4 Poway and 5 Kearny.

Madison was living up to its billing early, with a 77-51 rout of Poway, as 6-foot-10 Rock Lee scored 33 points and pulled down 22 rebounds, giving coach John Hannon’s Warhawks victories over their three closest rivals in Finley’s ranking, all before the mid-December Kiwanis Tournament.

Days before trouncing Poway, Madison visited Henry and pulled away to a 77-69 victory as Rock Lee and Mark Oswalt combined for 52 points; Mark Fitzner had 21 and Mike Larch-Miller 16 for Henry. The school named after Dolly’s husband James, who was the third president of the United States, also had scored a 71-69 victory over Helix.

26^TH ANNUAL KIWANIS TOURNAMENT

Forty-five teams entered, making the event one of the largest in the country.

Fifteen Helix players, led by Wilbert Olinde’s 17, scored in an 88-56 win over Vista.  Twelve players made the box score in Kearny’s 71-50 win over Santana.

Patrick Henry shot 70 per cent from the field in the first half and 62% for the game, and sent Helix home, 82-63. Mike Larch-Miller was 10×13 (77 per cent) from the floor for all of his 20 points in the first half as Henry opened a 48-32 lead.

The win put the Patriots in the Unlimited finals against Madison, 50-41 winner over Kearny.

Madison was favored, having won 11 in a row against the Patriots, not counting a playoff in which the Warhawks snapped a 14-game, Summer League winning streak by Henry.

Ziegenfuss’ club finally prevailed, winning the championship, 59-57, in overtime before about 2,000 persons at San Diego State’s Peterson Gym.  Mark Fitzner’s 12-foot shot over Rock Lee with five seconds remaining in the extra session was the difference. Fitzner was 8×10 from the field in the second half and scored 26 points.

Madison-Henry marked the first time since 1965 that two teams from the city had gotten to the finals.

POWAY DENIES EVELETH

La Jolla’s 3-0 start was its best since the 1963-64 squad won its first 28.  Rick Eveleth and Charlie Buchanan were the Vikings’ most valuable players on that team and Eveleth coached this one.

La Jolla won the 1963 Kiwanis Tournament, 68-50 over Monte Vista and Eveleth’s club this year faced Poway in the Limited Division finals, the Vikings’ first appearance since he was a player.

“I’d want to win this game even if I hadn’t played back then,” Eveleth said, but Poway scratched out a 58-57 victory.

Marian outscored Fallbrook, 58-41, for the Classified Division championship.

COVINA

–Poway moved to the consolation division after being seeded fifth and losing to unseeded Fullerton, 64-45, in the first round.  The Titans rebounded to defeat Rosemead Bosco Tech, 55-54, and Covina Northview, 72-60, but dropped the consolation final to Whittier California, 75-55.

BARON-OPTIMIST

Host Bonita Vista and the community optimist club, in their third year, attracted the County’s three top teams, Madison, Henry, and Helix, to its 12-team field, which featured slate of 25 games over four days.

A Henry-Madison repeat of the Kiwanis Tournament finale almost didn’t take place as Helix, shooting 58 per cent, raced to a 41-27, third quarter lead over the Warhawks, who then went on a 24-6 run that stunned the Highlanders into a 65-61, semifinals defeat.

“What really happened, we choked,” Highlanders coach Gordon Nash told Jack Williams of the Evening Tribune. “We haven’t shown we can play under pressure yet.  We haven’t put four quarters together all season against a good team.”

Fueled by the comeback, Madison made it two out of three against Henry in the final, 59-53.

UNIVERSITY

The host Dons fell to top seed Kearny, 66-54, after knocking off second-ranked Hoover, 50-41, in the semifinals.

EL CENTRO ELKS

Calipatria defeated Coronado (6-20), 64-53, for the Limited Division championship.

A four-overtime, 84-77 victory over Indio must have exhausted Orange Glen (11-16), which went down in succeeding games to Las Vegas Rancho, 100-44, and to El Central, 66-49, the latter in the game for third place.

–Morse topped Yuma King of Arizona (KOFA), 66-58, for the consolation title.

CHINO

It was over quick. Escondido (8-16), San Dieguito (6-18), and Chula Vista (11-15) dropped first-round games and lost consolation games the next day.

PLAYOFFS

Madison was No. 1 in the final Evening Tribune Top 10, followed by Henry, Helix, and Kearny and the Warhawks were making their seventh consecutive trip to the playoff on the heels of a sixth straight Western League championship.

“We know how to get to the Sports Arena (site of the final three rounds), but we don’t know what to do when we get there,” said Coach John Hannon.

Madison had finished second once and third four times, eliminated on five occasions by the eventual champion.

Hannon did not suspect how prescient his words were.

LUCK DOESN’T CHANGE

Madison denied that its first-round playoff game with Bonita Vista (19-10) was a grudge match, but the Warhawks remembered the sting of a 113-56 loss in the 1971-72 playoff third-place contest. Madison pulled away to an easy, 68-43 victory to cruise into a quarterfinals game at the Sports Arena against Morse.

With 35 seconds the play, Morse, which trailed early, 10-0, and 35-30 at halftime, had taken a 49-39 lead in the third quarter.  The Warhawks battled back, but the Tigers retrieved the lead on Ollie brown’s 12-foot jump shot, 68-67, with 15 seconds remaining.

Madison’s Jim Hoffmann went up for a shot on the next possession but Alan Cunningham blocked Hoffman’s effort and drove for a basket at the other end of floor.

Final score Morse, 70, Madison 67.

All five Tigers starters were in double figures, led by Andre Robinson’s 17.  Cunningham had 15, Mark Bernard and Sam Williams, 14 each, and Brown, 10.

“The playoffs aren’t an annual thing with us and when you get to them it’s something to get excited about,” Morse coach Tom Williams said to Bill Finley of the Tribune after more than 300 Tigers supporters stormed the floor.

Morse (21-9) was eliminated by Kearny, 66-50, in the semifinals and lost to Helix, (28-4), 90-68, in the third-place game.

PATRIOTS AT TOP OF GAME

Henry flattened University (17-12), 62-38, in its first playoff test and took out Poway (23-7), 70-49, before meeting Helix in the semifinals.

Helix was better in March than it was in the 19-point loss to Henry in December, but the Patriots outscored the Highlanders, 38-22, in the middle two quarters and won, 61-56.

The Patriots led Kearny (25-7) by 14 points after three quarters and out rebounded the Komets, 42-26, in a title-clinching, 64-53 victory.

Patriots guard Bruce Gorder was a unanimous choice by the media as the tournament’s’ most valuable player after scoring 20 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

THEY SAID IT

Helix coach Gordon Nash, to Jack Williams on the officiating after Helix clinched the Grossmont League championship, 66-55 over Monte Vista (16-12):  “I felt we played poorly, so I don’t feel anything.  Yes, it was physical.  I thought we got butchered out there.  But I can’t call it for the refs.  If I do they give me a T.”

La Jolla coach Rick Eveleth after a 67-44 loss to Madison: “They must have a lot of respect for us; they left their starters in all the way.”

Madison coach John Hannon in response to Eveleth: “We wanted to establish our superiority; we wanted to build our confidence.”

Hoover coach Hal Mitrovich:  “When I think of Patrick Henry I break into a cold sweat.”

Patrick Henry coach Fritz Ziegenfuss, after the Patriots clinched the Eastern League title, 73-57, over Morse: “What a relief.  We should have won this league two years ago and we could have won it last year.”

John Hannon, after the quarterfinals loss to Morse, to Bill Finley:  “I don’t know what you can say.  We had a great year.  We went 25-4, won a tournament and won our league.  But unless you win the playoffs nobody remembers your name. I thought this was a team that could do it.  Maybe us winning this thing isn’t in the cards.”

Kearny’s Mark Zielinski, to Jack Williams after scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the Komets’ semifinal win over Morse:  “I can’t dribble and I can’t drive, but I shoot well and play defense.”

BRUIN BOUND

Helix’ Wilbert Olinde, the County’s leading scorer with 621 points, demonstrated why UCLA wanted Olinde to follow Helix’ Bill Walton to the Westwood campus.

Olinde’s performance against Mount Miguel (19-9) underscored his all-around play.  The 6-foot, 7-inch senior made 12×13 shots from the field from the field and 9×11 from the free-throw line for 33 points, plus contributed 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 8 blocked shots in an 80-63 win over Mount Miguel.

MARIAN CRUSADES

Terry Belsan, coach Manny Silva’s nominee as the best player in the South Bay, pulled 26 rebounds and scored 18 points in a 67-50 win over Hilltop that lifted the Crusaders’ record to 12-4, signaling as many wins as in 71-72 and better than the 9-16, and 6-17 of the previous two years.

Silva’s team finished 24-6, setting a school record for wins and tying Jan Chapman’s 19-6 and 21-6 clubs of 1966-67 and ’67-8 for fewest losses.

Belsan had 24 points and five others scored in double figures in a 109-39 victory over Coronado.  Marian won its other game with the Islanders by the football score of 26-19, after a first half  of 16-14.

It was a shock of quake intensity when the Crusaders, winners of 18 in a row, lost at 6-17 Castle Park, 76-73 in overtime.  The loss prevented the South Bay squad from a 16-0 Metropolitan League season.

Castle Park was 28×32 from the free throw line.  The Trojans’ Jim Damesworth scored 29 points, including all nine of Castle’s in overtime.

HOW ‘BOUT HOOVER?

Hoover had descended into mediocrity following the retirement of Charlie Hampton after the 1962-63 campaign.

The Cardinals’ record since Hampton’s departure was a flaccid 124-123 with one winning season in the last six, until Hal Mitrovich coached the Redbirds to a 21-8 record and second place in the Eastern League.

Hoover had not won a league championship in 11 years or posted 20 wins since Hampton’s 25-2 club in 1961-62.

“I think it’s hard for kids around here to believe we have a good team,” noted guard Bobby Brinn after the Cardinals opened 3-0 for the first time since 1965-66.  “It’s been so long since anybody went to a basketball game they’ve forgotten where the gym is.”

Basketball scoring leaders, not including Southern Prep League teams, whose results were not always available:

Oakes, Borrego Springs, averaged 23.3 points with 327 points in 14 games. White, San Miguel School, averaged 23.2 points with 186 points in 8 games. Wiggins, St. Augustine, averaged 19.1 points with 286 points in 15 games.

KRAMER GOES PRO

Patrick Henry’s Joel Kramer, a 6-foot-7 forward and the Patriots’ leading scorer, played collegiately at San Diego State and was drafted in the third round, No. 67 overall, by the NBA Phoenix Suns. Kramer got into all 82 NBA games as a rookie and played five seasons with Phoenix and one season in Israel.

CLASS A

Ramona (18-5) won its second straight title and third  in four years, out running San Diego Military Academy, 86-80, in a game in which defense did not seem to be a priority.

Ramona’s Dan Stockalper scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and Clarence Clark led with 31 as the Bulldogs got down 35×70 field goal attempts to the Eagles’ 35×92.

EASTERN DUSTUP

Hoover trailed Lincoln (12-15), 52-46, at the end of three quarters and then blew out the Hornets at Lincoln, 71-63, with a 25-11 fourth quarter.  “Unruly” Hive spectators provoked referee Doug Harvey into a visit with Lincoln officials.  Harvey declared that unless one spectator, a member of the Lincoln track team, was not removed from the building the game would be suspended.

Several incidents reportedly took place after the game, one resulting in a Hoover cheerleader being treated for a head injury, according to the Evening Tribune.

SAN PASQUAL ARRIVES

Winless at 0-9 in football and winless in gymnastics and cross country, the first-year San Pasqual Eagles also lost their first seven games in basketball.

But then was a light.  The Eagles scored their first athletic achievement, 63-49, over Imperial and then claimed the El Centro Elks tournament Limited Division consolation title, 51-47, over Calexico.

The light dimmed. The Eagles were 1-17, 10^th in the Avocado League, and 3-22 overall.

SIGN OF TIMES

Greenfield, favored in the Class S regional playoff in Missouri, overcame a stall to beat Miller, 13-7. Greenfield led, 6-1, after three quarters and kept Miller at a distance in fourth.

JUMP SHOTS

Patrick Henry’s 70-46 win over Grossmont (13-13) in December snapped a 19-game winning streak for the Foothillers…Inglewood Morningside, which defeated Madison, 66-58, in early December, was 28-0 before bowing to Glendale Hoover, 67-59, in the Southern Section playoffs…Hoover, closing with a 20-1 run, defeated San Diego, 82-65, after trailing, 64-62…Henry set an Eastern League scoring record in a 95-51 win over St. Augustine and shared the mark a week later when the Morse beat St. Augustine, 95-47…Lincoln had defeated Henry, 91-40, in 1968-69…Hoover’s 6-foot-5 center Bill Gay was better known later as a defensive lineman in the NFL…Gay was a second-round draft choice out of USC by Denver in 1978 but played almost all of all of his 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions and had  44.5 career quarterback sacks…Clarence Clark’s 45 points led Ramona past Borrego Springs, 115-19, for the season’s single-game high by one team… Jody Schmitz of Fallbrook (21-5) led all individual scorers with 49 in a 103-77 win over Escondido…Schmitz’ outburst also broke the school record of 47, set by Paul Lockridge in a 90-31 win over Brown Military in 1950-51…Schmitz’s 23.2 average led the section and he was the first North county player to achieve that distinction since San Dieguito’s John Fairchild led with 428 in 1960-61…the 2, 3, and 4 highest averages behind Schmitz also were by North County players…Craig Brown of Crawford (10-17) scored 527 points, the second most ever by a sophomore…Bonita Vista’s Paul Halupa scored 575 in 1967-68…by finishing first in the final Evening Tribune Top 10, Madison became the first school to finish first in the Top 10 in football and basketball…the first time the teams met in the Eastern League, Henry topped Morse, 51-45, in three overtimes…two of the three-minute extra sessions were scoreless…Rock Lee had 31 points in Madison’s 108-66 triumph over Point Loma (13-14), the Warhawks joining Marian, Ramona, and Fallbrook as the only teams to reach triple figures…Henry was the third team in Eastern League history to go undefeated…Hoover (8-0 in ’60-61) and St. Augustine (12-0 in ’69-70) also were perfect…

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