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A palpable buzz was heard throughout San Diego gymnasiums this season, hummed to a pitch by a 5-foot, 8-inch sharpshooter with an unorthodox jump shot. St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules set scoring records and drew huge crowds, but Shaules and his husky teammate, Sammy Owens, were a virtual two-man team and the Saints, while making the scoreboard ...

Fast forward about month, to the round of 4 in the San Diego Section Open Division championships. If the Max Preps’ power ratings hold and the first and second rounds play out as expected, Torrey Pines (20-2) would play Mission Bay (21-4) in one semifinal and Foothills Christian (19-5) would meet San Marcos (18-2) in the ...

Mission Bay has not been a “brand” name in San Diego Section basketball, but the Buccaneers continue to hold sway in the Union-Tribune weekly poll.  They’re now 15-3 after Tuesday night’s 71-63 victory over Patrick Henry. The Bucs have beaten so-called brands No. 3 Foothills Christian and No. 8 St. Augustine and lost to No. 5 ...

Like the automobiles that are continually jarred by San Diego’s city streets, the supposed top teams in the San Diego Section negotiated a December full of potholes. Which is the best, as the season enters  league play and the weekend shootouts or the so-called”classics”? I cast my vote for Torrey Pines, followed by Mission Bay, Foothills Christian, ...

A nagging, Week 2 loss to Lancaster Paraclete that Helix appeared to overcome reared up again after the Highlanders were beaten by Folsom, 49-42, in the state 1-AA championship. Helix, seventh in the state going into the game as selected by Cal-Hi Sports, dropped to a final ranking of 10th.   Helix might have finished eighth or ...

Steele Canyon’s winning the State Division 3-A championships was comparative to an NFL team sneaking into the playoffs as a wild card and taking home the Super Bowl trophy. The Cougars of Coach Scott Longerbone were 4-4 at midseason, got into the San Diego Section playoffs as a No. 7 seed, won 4 games in San ...

Three coaches each moved up three spots in the annual review of those with at least 100 victories in their careers in this area or in the San Diego Section. Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto now has 218 victories and is fifth all-time behind Herb Meyer (339), John Carroll (248), Bennie Edens (239) and John Shacklett (229). Hamamoto ...

Unlikely season, unlikely conclusion. –A rare playoff run by San Diego teams in the Southern California playoffs. –San Diego High marched through four rounds to win its only CIF Southern Section championship, along the way setting a school single-game scoring record…maybe. –Hoover blitzed Class B opponents in an attempted sequel to championships in 1931-32, 1933-34, and 1934-35,  but ...

The San Diego Section has four chances to win at least one of the six state championships this week.  Last year the Section was 2-3, with victories by Cathedral in Division I-AA and Madison in D-3. Most of this week’s games appear tossups, but no team has a challenge like that facing the Helix Highlanders, who ...

Note:  Westlake Village Oaks Christian closed school today because of smoke and ash from the nearby wildfires. Helix is scheduled to play there Friday night, Dec. 7. The field at Southwestern  faces south to North but the football moved east. Helix, Steele Canyon, and Monte Vista, from the two Grossmont leagues in the foothills of San Diego ...

“Elevator! Elevator! We Got The Shaft!”  The cry is almost as old as the game.  Visiting teams shouting that the referees or the timekeeper were unjust, a polite term for being “homered”. The Huntington Beach Oilers felt that way when the Oilers, 4-0 on the season and a reported 20-1 in 1944-45, were on the short ...

The so-named expert is trying his hand again as 10 San Diego Section teams come together for the playoff finals at Southwestern College Friday and Saturday. I tied the Union-Tribune’s resident genius, prep honcho John Maffei, each of us picking seven out of 10 winners last week.  My bad was a stinko choice of Hilltop over ...

Fledgling Lincoln High began to create its great athletic legacy after Luther Hayes, a vital member of San Diego high’s 1955 Southern California championship team, transferred to the young school at 49th Street and Imperial Avenue. Hayes, 78, who passed on Thanksgiving Day, surrounded by his wife, Anita, and family at his home in Palos Verdes ...

Here they are, our predictions for the five San Diego Section semifinals and one final this week. I pretty much went with the seeds, although there are a few strays from chalk.  I’m not Colin Cowherd or the late “Jimmy the Greek,” so take these picks for what they’re worth. OPEN DIVISION 3 SAN MARCOS (9-2) @2 ...

Two young coaches destined to become legendary in San Diego basketball lore arrived as varsity mentors at the city’s two prep powerhouses. Rickey Wilson, a former San Diego High player, succeeded Lawrence Carr at Hoover and Merrill Douglas, a transplanted Montanan, took over for Bill Schutte at San Diego High. The schools  continued to be San Diego’s ...

CIF boss Jerry Schniepp had a thoughtful response recently to criticism of the San Diego Section playoff formula by writer John Maffei, but even if Schniepp’s assertion that the system implemented this year is the best of several that have been tried, teams like Bonita Vista. 0-11 and counting, continue to get postseason invitations. Bonita Vista ...

A doffing of the fedora to the 16, playoff-bound teams that won league championships: LEAGUE TEAM RECORD PREVIOUS Avocado Mission Hills 10-0 2013 Central San Diego 10-0 1960* City University City 9-1 2012 Coastal The Bishop’s 9-0 2016 Eastern Lincoln 8-2 1991+ Grossmont Hills Helix 9-1 2016 Grossmont Valley Granite Hills 8-2 2016 Imperial Valley El Centro Southwest 10-0 2010 Manzanita Calexico Vincent Memorial 8-2 2002# Metro Mesa Otay Ranch 7-3 NA^ Metro Pacific Montgomery 7-3 NA^^ Metro South Bay Hilltop 6-4 2013 Pacific Maranatha 6-3 2014** Palomar Ramona 10-0 2013 Valley Valley Center 9-1 2016 Western St. Augustine 7-3 2015++ *Tied for Eastern League championship, 1974. +Tied for Eastern League championship, 1994. #Won championship as member of Desert League; tied for Manzanita championship, 2016. ^First championship ...

What is it when Grossmont plays Helix? The Highlanders exercised their annual domination over the Foothillers, 57-3, last week. Grossmont had scored 157 points in its previous three games, wins of 51-14 over Steele Canyon, 54-26, over Valhalla, and 51-7 over El Capitan. Those scores matched up well with Helix’ victories of 58-7 against El Capitan and 41-7 ...

Chula Vista’s basketball history was brief and uninspiring. Two seasons, 12 wins, 18 losses, seventh and fourth-place-tie finishes in the Metropolitan League. No problem.  The Spartans emerged from the pack to win a Southern California championship this season. It was a nice accomplishment for the fledgling South Bay power, but not without a few assists, beginning a ...

Grossmont probably wouldn’t recognize the musket trophy if it defeats Helix this week. The Foothillers (6-2) and Highlanders (7-1) meet for the 61st time in what is known as the battle of the musket, although there has been only carnage lately. Helix has won the last 19 meetings, by an average score of 39-10. Since 2008, the average ...