1980-81: Patrick Henry Preseason Favorite for Third Title, But…

Moments from the season:

11/29/80

Nine players returned to the defending champion and preseason No. 1 Patrick Henry Patriots, including 1979-’80 San Diego Section player-of-the-year Steve Brown, fellow all-CIF selection Billy Washington, and Tom Dobyns, son of a 1957-58 Hoover standout. Five players also moved up from a 19-2 junior varsity.

Coach Alan (Fritz) Ziegenfuss, offspring of long-time San Diego State mentor George (Ziggy) Ziegenfuss, started the program with a 2-23 record 13 seasons before, improved to 12-15 the next season, and then compiled a 215-80 record in the ‘seventies, won two San Diego Section championships, and, after an early setback this season, the Patriots picked up where they left off.

—Seventh-ranked Morse also was expected to contend, with graduates from a 19-3 JV squad and tall veterans Cedric Phillips (6-5), Zach Trueblood (6-8), Kevin Jennings (6-3), and Brian Ritchey (6-8).

12/09/80

Sean Salisbury scored 30 points as the also named Patriots from Orange Glen (4-1) defeated visiting Henry 71-65.  It would be Henry’s only loss in a 24-1 regular season.

Orange Glen, leading by one, pulled away with two free throws and a technical foul free throw in the last 18 seconds.  Henry stars Steve Brown and Billy Washington fouled out in the last two minutes.

—Sweetwater introduced another transfer, 6-foot, 6-inch Tyrone Miller—last year it was Darren Lee, who became the county’s leading scorer—who quickly fit in with 20 points, joining teammates Calvin Murrell, 23, Aaron Combs, 20, and Juan Aguirre, 20, in a 111-46 win over Montgomery.

ALABAMAN WOWS

—Ken Johnson, a 6-8 ½, 240-pound transfer from Montgomery, Alabama, made a memorable debut with La Jolla.

Johnson scored as many points, 37, as opponent Clairemont in the Vikings’ 61-37 victory. He was 18×27 from the field, added 14 rebounds, and blocked 8 shots.

Johnson had been ruled ineligible in Alabama and had to battle through San Diego Section red tape before being cleared to play.

12/12/80

Three days following the blowout by Sweetwater, Montgomery took it on chin again, from Marian, 99-35. Fallbrook also came close to the century, 99-62 over El Camino.

—Henry, with 29 points from Steve Brown, 20 from Tom Dobyns, and 19 from Billy Washington, walloped Hoover, 100-63.

—Serra outscored Crawford, 9-6, in a fourth overtime to win, 62-59.  The score was 40-40 at the end of regulation.

12/13/80

—New No. 1 Sweetwater kept Chula Vista (No. 7) at a distance and won a ragged, early Metropolitan League showdown, 76-67. Bonita Vista beat Coronado, 96-52. Fallbrook socked San Pasqual, 98-51.

—Ken Johnson scored 30 points, pulled 18 rebounds, and had 4 blocks, but La Jolla was shackled, 19-8, in the third quarter and bowed to Patrick Henry, 63-53.  The Vikings committed 14 turnovers, five in last 4 minutes of the third quarter.

Henry’s Steve Brown on Johnson to Bud Maloney of the Evening Tribune: “There are a lot of big men who can score, but he can do so much more. He’s got a nice, soft touch.  He’s really a load out there.”

12/19/80

Ken Johnson scored 46 points in La Jolla’s 81-65 win over Ontario Chaffey.

1/2/81

Los Angeles Verbum Dei trounced Morse, 77-50, and Torrey Pines, 74-47, in a two-game swing through San Diego.  Morse actually had battled back from a 35-22 deficit to take a 36-35 lead before the roof fell in.

1/6/81

Juan Aguirre’s 15-foot basket was enough to beat Marian, 59-58, and keep Sweetwater tied for first in the Metropolitan League with Bonita Vista, 93-45 winner over Montgomery.

1/7/81

A 17-point lead was evaporating in the third quarter when Morse went almost six minutes without scoring.  The Tigers regrouped and beat Kearny, 60-54.

1/9/81

Patrick Henry trailed by five points at Morse with three minutes remaining, but the Patriots scored the next 10 points and stunned their host, 65-62. The Tigers’ Cedric Phillips led both teams with 27 points and 13 rebounds.

—John Elston’s two free throws with five seconds left appeared to bring Granite Hills home safe with a 54-53 lead over Monte Vista in the third overtime.  But a long, inbound pass to Mark Fielder and Fielder’s subsequent 18-foot fielder at the buzzer made for a 55-54 Monte Vista victory.

–Robert Pearson scored 41 points on 19×29 shooting and El Capitan retained its Grossmont League lead, 70-60 over Mount Miguel.

–Jim McBroom scored 37 points, but St. Augustine dropped a 90-59 decision to Hoover.

–Sweetwater outscored Southwest, 54-31, in the second half and moved to 8-0 in the Metropolitan loop and 14-1 overall with a 96-58 victory.

1/15/81

Ken Johnson scored 33 points and Craig Weiss 21, but visiting Serra surprised La Jolla, 72-65.

1/16/81

Sweetwater (15-1) struggled to its ninth consecutive Metropolitan League victory, 46-45, over patient, cautious Bonita Vista, which wondered what might have been.

With 43 seconds remaining, the Barons’ John Freeman followed a missed free throw by controlling the rebound and scoring a basket, followed by a converted free throw.

Not so fast.  Game officials, at least 10 seconds later, disallowed the free throw, saying Freeman stepped over the free throw line too soon.

The point that was taken away was enough for Sweetwater to avoid overtime and put the game away.

1/22/81

Alex Amaraz led with 22 points as Chula Vista slammed Montgomery, 101-59.

Somnambulance in the desert:  Calipatria outscored Holtville, 26-14.

1/30/81

Fallbrook, among many teams to score in the high nineties, some more than once, topped Escondido, 95-57.

CIF BOSSES’ NARROW VISION

2/2/81

Commissioner Kendall (Spider) Webb announced the San Diego Section board of managers had declined an invitation to participate in the state championship tournament, which would inaugurate at the end of the 1981-82 season.

“They see no reason to extend the season,” Webb told writer Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.  “They feel the San Diego Section championship produces enough honor, recognition, and prestige.”

The issue was virtually ignored at a board of managers meeting, despite obvious financial benefit to the section, competition and “I-played-in-the-state-tournament” bragging opportunity for players.

“Who said we should consider it?  Just because every other section participates shouldn’t influence us,” said Robert Thomas, Fallbrook Union District honcho.  “Maybe the others ought to change to our way of thinking.”

“It would be humorous if he wasn’t serious,” writer Steve Brand said of Thomas’ remarks.

2/3/81

Henry nipped Morse, 67-64, in two overtimes and the stars were out.  Morse’s Cedric Phillips scored 35 points and Henry’s Steve Brown 31.

The Patriots’ Tom Dobyns’ 4 free throws in the last 35 seconds were the difference, including two in final three seconds after Dobyns was fouled following his steal.

2/6/81

Ken Johnson scored 38 points in La Jolla’s 96-61 win over St. Augustine. San Marcos defeated Carlsbad, 96-83, as Willie Dudley (29), Kevin Feddock (26), and Chuck Panos (22) offset a 36-point effort by the Lancers’ Sid Mack.

IN TROUBLE, CALL KEN

2/10/81

Ken Johnson had 21 points in three quarters but was only 10×23 from the field and Serra was pressing, 44-43. Johnson scored 16 points in the last eight minutes including the Vikings’ final 12 for 37 total and delivered a 62-56 victory over La Jolla’s closest Western League challenger.

—San Diego’s Robert Moore made a run at Oscar Foster’s single-game scoring record with 37 points in the Cavers’ 75-69 win over University.  Foster scored 41 points in the 1966-67 season.

—Sid Mack rescued Carlsbad with a basket in the final two seconds as the Lancers nipped San Pasqual, 79-

77.

—Sean Salisbury’s put-back with six seconds left punctuated a 25-point effort as the Patriots edged Fallbrook, 54-51.

—Julian took it out on Cal Lutheran, 108-79, as all 12 Eagles scored from 5 to 18 points.

2/17/81

AZTECS RISE

Montgomery, 0-20, got off to a 20-6 lead over unsuspecting Coronado, was outscored, 25-12, in the middle two quarters, but stayed even with the 5-14 Islanders in a 13-13 fourth to experience the thrill of victory, 45-44.

2/19/81

San Marcos, trailing, 59-46, after three quarters, gathered itself with 26 points in the fourth quarter to nudge San Pasqual, 73-72.

2/20/81

Visiting Bonita Vista tied Sweetwater for the Metropolitan circuit championship with a 60-55 victory on the final night of the regular season and after a league grind of 18 games, each finishing 16-2.  The teams were even at the end of each quarter except the third, when the Barons created a 44-39 advantage.

SCORING LEADERS

PLAYOFFS   

3-A

QUARTERFINALS

Patrick Henry 71, Santana 55 (16-9).

The Patriots moved to 25-1 as Steve Brown scored 30 points.

Morse 40, Vista 34 (21-5).

Second in the final Evening Tribune Top 10, Morse outlasted the ball control offense of the third-ranked Panthers.

Mt. Carmel 76, El Capitan 74 (16-9).

Sundevils held off Vaqueros and Robert Pearson, who scored 34.

Orange Glen 61, Monte Vista 43 (19-7).

Bound for USC on a football scholarship, Sean Salisbury impressed visiting Trojans basketball coach Stan Morrison with a 24-point effort.

2-A

La Jolla 56, Sweetwater 52, 2 OT (24-4).

“I see no reason to change that opinion just because we won,” said straight talking Rick Eveleth, the La Jolla coach who had insisted all season that Sweetwater was the County’s most talented team.

Bonita Vista 61, Carlsbad 51 (13-13).

The game was delayed for at least an hour when it was discovered, just before the tip, that Bonita Vista’s home uniforms were the same shade of gold as Carlsbad’s road uniforms. A frantic scurrying to the home of Bonita Vista players dredged up enough dark blue road jerseys and the game went on, according to Bud Maloney of the Evening Tribune.

Serra 67, San Marcos 48 (11-13).

Oceanside 67, San Diego 61 (14-10)

1-A

Francis Parker 80, La Jolla Country Day 62.

Army-Navy 58, Santa Fe Christian 41.

SEMIFINALS

3-A

Patrick Henry 61, Mt. Carmel 56 (18-9).

Mt. Carmel purposely fouled Art Jackson, a 6-7, 225-pound center in the game for defense and rebounding.  Jackson missed both free throws and the Sundevils went after Jackson again with 51 seconds remaining and trailing, 55-54.  Jackson converted twice and the Patriots got four more points on free throws from Steve Brown and Tom Dobyns to escape.

Morse 62, Orange Glen 50 (20-6).

A good city team still was superior to a good North County squad.

2-A

La Jolla 50, Oceanside 43 (20-4).

Bonita Vista 49, Serra 48 (19-8).

By defeating Sweetwater in the league final to tie for the Metro championship the Barons were chosen by the league be its top seed in the postseason, a decision met with controversy and considered by some to be a shot at Sweetwater and its proclivity for attracting transfers.

Bonita lived up to its side of the bargain.  “You can say (the vote) was controversial, but I think my players have proved they deserve to be in the final,” said coach John Grande.

CHAMPIONSHIP

3-A

Morse 52 (23-5), Patrick Henry 50 (26-2).

After two great battles during the season, one a come-from-behind, 65-62 Patrick Henry victory, the other a 67-64 Henry win in two overtimes, the Morse Tigers got some redemption.

Rodney Flowers launched a 20-foot shot with six seconds left, after a Kevin Jennings steal and Morse timeout at 1:37.  Morse played for the final attempt and Flowers blossomed.

Morse had won its last five Eastern League games to reach the playoffs and ended the season on an eight-game winning streak.

2-A

La Jolla 69 (21-3), Bonita Vista 61 (21-7).La Jolla qualified for its first championship game since the 29-1 1963-64 team, featuring present coach Rick Eveleth, lost to Helix, 76-56. Ken Johnson scored 34 points, retrieved eight rebounds, and blocked 11 shots before 6,770 persons at the Sports Arena.

1-A

Francis Parker 73 (21-2), Calipatria 57 (18-5).

The Lancers rolled with their 1-2 punch of Ted Davis (28 points) and George Smith (16). Parker’s third championship in its sixth consecutive trip to the finals was over newcomer Calipatria, which joined the San Diego Section this year with Imperial Valley neighbors Holtville, Winterhaven San Pasqual, and Imperial.

CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENTS

MT. HELIX

Helix 55, Kearny 46.

–Sweetwater versus Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, which featured 6-foot, 6-inch Nigel Miguel, the preseason state player of the year, was the headliner.

The game turned on a 15-foot jump shot by Tyrone Miller with 3:20 remaining in the Red Devils’ come-from-behind, 46-45 victory, sealed only after a harrowing finish of missed shots and free throws for the loser.

Notre Dame led, 27-20, at halftime.  Miguel had 27 points. Six-foot, eight-inch Aaron Combs had 18 for Sweetwater.

HILLTOP JUNIOR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Chula Vista 58, Hilltop 52.

FRANCIS PARKER

Francis Parker 61, La Jolla Country Day 32.

GROSSMONT-MONTE VISTA

Monte Vista 52, Crawford 36.

SAN DIMAS

Morse defeated LaVerne Damien, 66-58, for the seeded division championship. Cedric Phillips of Morse was the division most-valuable player with 14 points and 14 rebounds in the championship game.

JIM MITCHELL MEMORIAL

Orange Glen 82, San Clemente 69.

The Patriots’ Sean Salisbury scored 40.

KIWANIS

The 34^th annual event started before Christmas on Dec. 23, broke for two days, and resumed Dec. 26.  Patrick Henry, behind Steve Brown’s 21 points, overcame turnovers on its first six possessions to win the 16-team, Unlimited Division, 56-54, over Helix.

–“We played too well in the first half,” said Rick Eveleth of La Jolla’s 69-61 win over Chula Vista in the 16-team Limited Division. The Vikings led, 41-29, after two quarters.  The coach thought that was the reason the Vikings “got away from our game” in the second half.

More blowouts: Helix whipped Montgomery, 95-48; Morse clouted Grossmont, 99-62, and Fallbrook defeated Southwest, 96-57.

–Morse fell behind Mt. Carmel, 24-8, and 46-28, then rallied with a 28-14 fourth quarter, but the Sundevils held on for 78-74 victory  in the second round.

–Scott Ogden’s last-second shot moved Vista past San Diego, 37-35.  The Cavers led, 35-34, with 14 seconds left, but Norman Baker was given a technical foul and ejected for biting the Panthers’ Bob Ike during a scramble for the ball.

25^TH PUNAHOU TOURNAMENT

After raising $45,000 for the trip, top-seed Sweetwater, the only mainland team at the Honolulu classic, defeated James Castle High of Kaneohe, Oahu, in the first round, 81-74, and gained the finals with a 68-59 win over Honolulu Radford.  University High of Honolulu outpointed the Red Devils, 64-54, in the final.

CARPINTERIA

San Marcos opened with an 85-56 triumph over Ventura St. Bonaventure but was beaten by host Carpinteria, 89-58, and then dropped a 58-55 decision to North Hills Los Angeles Baptist for third place.

CHINO

Escondido won its opener, 79-76 over Pomona Garey but lost in the semifinals to Montclair, 60-55 and to Temple City, 61-55, for fifth place.  San Pasqual lost to Pomona Ganesha, 68-53, and to Cerritos, 64-54.  Coronado packed it in after losses of 51-35  to Chino Don Antonio Lugo and 55-48 to Upland.

BARON-OPTIMIST

15 teams entered the 11^th annual, including a squad of American players from Taipei, Taiwan.

Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley, 114-46 over Montgomery, set a one-quarter record of 39 and tied the 1971 game record of Bonita Vista’s 114.  Westminster La Quinta beat Ramona, 104-34.  Madison beat Taipei, 110-20.

–Capistrano Valley topped San Clemente, 69-60, for the championship in matchup of South Coast League opponents from Orange County.

SANTANA

Patrick Henry, without Steve Brown, out with an ankle injury, defeated the host school, 71-58, in the semifinals and then, with Brown scoring 17 and Billy Washington 18, knocked off Mt. Carmel, 59-50, for the title.

POINT LOMA

Point Loma defeated El Cajon Valley, 99-55, and Mission Bay topped Mar Vista, 68-62.  The Pointers then beat Mission Bay for the championship.

CENTURY CLUB

 JUMP SHOTS:  Ken Johnson played collegiately at USC and Michigan State…he was the  28^th player selected, in the second round, in the 1985 NBA draft, and was with the Portland Trail Blazers for two seasons, averaging 4.1 points and 3.8 rebounds…Johnson’s 28.91  season average had been surpassed only by Madison’s Mitchell Lilly, 31.9 in 1976-77, and Helix’ Bill Walton, 29.1, in 1969-70…Johnson passed Bonita Vista’s Paul Halupa, who averaged 28.72 in 1968-69…Orange Glen’s Sean Salisbury, a Parade all-America in football, stuck to the gridiron at USC and played quarterback with five NFL teams from 1986-96 and was quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Grey Cup championship squad in 1988…Salisbury later went into radio and television and hosted a national show and appeared in motion pictures….

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