Basketball is in beast mode as the New Year beckons, with games every night and tournaments galore, including the big one, the Torrey Pines Tipoff this week directed by Falcons coach John Olive.
There was an interesting matchup in a preliminary tipoff to Torrey Pines Monday night after John Maffei of The San Diego Union coordinated his weekly top 10.
Foothills Christian, which I had voted No. 1 last week, took on St. Augustine, No. 1 in Maffei’s poll today. The Saints, went on a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter and pulled away to a 75-61 victory.
The Saints’ two losses have been to Max Preps’ state No. 1 Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, 75-54, and No. 4 Santa Ana Mater Dei, 66-59.
No. 2 Cathedral , which earlier lost to Sierra Canyon, 59-46, defeated No. 4 Torrey Pines last night, 58-51, in another Torrey preliminary.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
| 1. | St. Augustine (10) | 10-2 | 126 | 1 |
| 2. | Cathedral (2) | 7-3 | 115 | 2 |
| 3. | Foothills Christian (1) | 6-2 | 107 | 3 |
| 4. | Torrey Pines | 10-1 | 89 | 4 |
| 5. | Mater Dei | 8-1 | 80 | 5 |
| 6. | Poway | 9-2 | 58 | 6 |
| 7. | Santa Fe Christian | 8-3 | 39 | 7 |
| 8. | San Ysidro | 8-3 | 38 | 8 |
| 9. | Carlsbad | 6-2 | 29 | 9 |
| 10. | San Marcos | 8-1 | 22 | 10 |
Others: 11. San Diego (5-1, 8 points). 12. Otay Ranch (9-1, 2). 13. Tie, Bonita Vista (7-2), Christian (7-2), Francis Parker (7-2), 1 each.
Panel: 13 sportswriters, sportscasters from San Diego County–John Maffei (The San Diego Union), Terry Monahan (Union-Tribune correspondent), Aaron Burgin (Fulltime Hoops), Steve Brand (Sabn Diego Sports Association), John Kentera, Braden Suprenant (97.3 FM The Fan), Steve (Biff) Dolan (Mountain Country 107.9 FM), Christian Pedsersen (SoCal Preps Insider), Bodie Silva (scorebooklive.com), Adam Paul (CPreps.com), Ramon Scott (eastcountysports.com), Brad Enright (L.A. Court Report), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
