“Power, deception, speed, coordination, all wrapped in 11 (blue and) white packages from the Border City.”

Such was the observation of a Los Angeles Times reporter who witnessed San Diego High’s 27-0 victory over host Santa Barbara along with 5,000 others at Peabody Stadium in the Southern California playoff semifinals.

“Either Santa Barbara had a bad case of stage fright or the club was astounded by the size of the Coast League champions, who must have averaged nearly 190 pounds per man,” wrote Irving Eckhoff.

The Hilltoppers shocked the Golden Tornado with an opening touchdown drive of five consecutive first downs and 72 yards in 11 plays. They finished with a 298-122 advantage in total yards, rushed for 251, and had 14 first downs to 3.  Santa Barbara had made six consecutive appearances in the playoffs.

Coach Hobbs Adams’s Hilltoppers, favored to win their first title since 1916, charged into the championship game against Inglewood, a team Adams purposely scheduled to compare his team against a potential playoff opponent, and defeated, 21-0,  in the season opener…

…and lost!

The  Sentinels, defending champions, who started the season 0-2-1 and didn’t score until the third game, came into the contest with a 7-2-1 record and made it two straight championships with a 7-6 victory before a crowd estimated at 10,000 in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

As had happened before (Covina, 1925) and would happen again (Santa Monica, 1947; Long Beach St.  Anthony, 1948; Fullerton, 1950;  Anaheim, 1953; Santa Monica, 1954; Downey, 1957, and Long Beach Poly, 1958) a powerful San Diego team, this one 10-0-1 and on a roll, would fall short.

The Hilltoppers’ powerful ground game, led by Ollie Day, Ambrose Schindler, Halden Grey, Kenny Brown, and Coye Dunn, never took hold even after they managed a 6-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes.

San Diego’s R.C. Moore recovered a fumble on Inglewood’s five-yard line on the game’s second play.  The Cavers missed their opportunity, stopped on fourth down.

DREADED MISSED P.A.T.

Following the exchange, Bill Troxel committed Inglewood’s second consecutive fumble and the Hillers’ Jim Riveroll recovered on the three-yard line.  Halden Grey nudged into the end zone on the second play for a touchdown.

Day, who had made 8 consecutive points after touchdown, sailed a kick high and wide to the left.

San Diego had an untidy advantage.

Troxel returned a punt 50 yards in the second quarter but San Diego was able keep the Sentinels at a distance for the remainder of the half.  The Cavemen went to the dressing room with a tenuous, 6-0 lead.

Trouble arrived with the second half kickoff. Two disastrous penalties by the Hilltoppers helped position Inglewood in San Diego territory.

Schindler’s 32-yard kickoff return was nullified by a clipping penalty that set the Hilltoppers back to their 25.  Another penalty for not coming to a complete set after a shift was for five yards.  On fourth down Schindler’s punt went off the side of his foot and out of bounds on San Diego’s 41.

Inglewood labored 14 plays for the tying touchdown by Norm Padgett, and then Troxel scored the winning point after when he caught a lateral from quarterback Padgett and jogged in from the flank.

Inglewood had the edge in yardage and a 9-3 advantage in first downs.  The Cavers, after averaging five yards for 54 rushing attempts the week before at Santa Barbara, were shut down.

Day, Schindler’s alternate at quarterback in the Cavers’ single wing formation,  had 130 yards in 30 rushing attempts in the semifinals but was held in check by the smaller, quicker Inglewood forwards.

TAKE THE METRO

There were 15 high schools in San Diego County.  San Diego was in the elite Coast League of big Southern California schools. Hoover was stepping out as an independent after three seasons in the City League.

What to do with the other 13?

The Metropolitan League was formed, with eight teams playing their first games in the circuit of city and suburban schools on Oct. 6, 1933.

As Charles Savage of The San Diego Union wrote:  “The Metropolitan High School League, which was born with the New Deal last spring, will come before the gaze of the public this afternoon….”

The U.S. was reeling from the Great Depression.  President Franklin Roosevelt, with approval from Congress in early 1933, instituted a series of economic programs known as the “New Deal.”

Byrne saw birth of the Metropolitan League as offering a “new deal” in San Diego County.

Affected were schools from the Southern Prep League and the disbanded City League.

La Jolla, Point Loma, Grossmont, Sweetwater, Army and Navy Academy, Oceanside, Coronado, and Escondido were members of the new alignment.

Officials from the Southern League’s Fallbrook, Mountain Empire, Julian, and Ramona met at the San Diego YMCA and scheduled competition in basketball, track and field, tennis, and baseball.

Mountain Empire, almost two hours away from San Diego in remote Campo, was the only Southern school fielding a football team.  The Redskins adhered to a limited schedule against Imperial Valley teams or local junior varsity clubs.  Fallbrook would send out its first varsity squad in 1936, Ramona in 1938, and Julian in 1967.

HERE COME  HARES

Although Santa Ana and San Diego played for the 24^th time since 1905 in one of the Southland’s oldest rivalries, the big game almost always was Long Beach Poly.  The road to a championship went through the Jackrabbits, this season coping with the recovery of their campus, virtually destroyed by a massive earthquake that struck months before.

Orian Landreth’s team came South with a 5-0 record, better than San Diego’s 4-0-1, but the Hilltoppers prevailed 19-12 in a game of big plays in front of 8,000 at City stadium.

Schindler connected with Kenny Brown on a 52-yard touchdown pass play and ducked through his left tackle on a 48-yard spinner play to clinch the victory in the fourth quarter.

Grant Stone gave the Cavers a 13-0 lead at halftime when he scooped up a punt blocked by Coye Dunn and raced 48 yards.  It was Stone’s third touchdown with a recovered blocked punt.  Kenny Woodruff put Poly on the scoreboard with an 80-yard punt return.

CIF FACES POVERTY HEAD ON

California Interscholastic Federation, governing body of high school athletics in Southern California, was forced to charge dues to all its members.  The CIF had a minus treasury for the first time when the 1933-34 school year began.

The CIF Southern Section had been self supporting since it  began operation  in 1914, drawing revenue through a percentage of proceeds of championships played in all sports. Promotion of the 1933 Southern California and state track meets and effects of the Great Depression necessitated the move, according to commissioner Seth Van Patten.

The assessment schedule was based on student enrollment:

 100 or less, $2.50.

100 to 500, $5.

500 to 1,000, $10.

1,000 to 2,000, $15.

2,000 or more, $20.

A revenue stream of $1,250 was calculated.  That would make up the deficit and provide operating expenses until the championship football games, said Van Patten.

WHAT’S YOUR NAME AGAIN?

A bonus for the CIF was an additional $25 playoffs revenue from San Diego High, which forfeited its 1933 baseball season following the second game of the playoffs when it was discovered that two Hilltoppers had played in a meaningless game in the Imperial Valley the previous summer.

Chet and Henry (Swede) Smith admitted they used aliases when they appeared in the contest.  The Cavers, heavily favored to beat Santa Maria in the Southern California finals, had their 19-3 record erased and were bounced from the playoff finals.

CARDINALS COME OF AGE

Hoover stepped up in class in its fourth varsity season, opting to go independent and playing San Diego for the first time.

Chester Webber of the Elks Club provided a trophy and 12,000 turned out in City Stadium.

Coach John Perry’s Redbirds marched 64 yards to the 20-yard line, stopped by the halftime gun.  It was Hoover’s only threat as San Diego won 33-0.

FOOTBALL IS KING

San Diego High, enrollment almost 2,900 in three grades, was one of the largest schools in the state and Hobbs Adams did not want for football candidates.  More than 100 turned out in September.

Adams scheduled Sweetwater and Calexico on the same day in the season’s first week.  His plan was for the Cavers’ varsity and fourth units to play one of the opponents and his second and third units to play the other.

The varsity played Sweetwater and the newly-formed sophomore squad played Calexico. Escondido originally was to be San Diego’s opening opponent, but Cougars coach Harry Wexler pulled his squad and took on Hemet at home.

GONE FISHIN’

A popular summer occupation for decades for San Diego area athletes was work in the local tuna fleet. Cavers letterman halfback Bob Chase didn’t return from an extended trip until the third game of the season.  Meals aboard ship agreed with Chase, who came back 15 pounds heavier at 167.

Chase was one of nine lettermen returning from the 1932 team that was 7-2. Only two regulars were guard Jim Riveroll and end Alex (Pudge) Gentles.

CIF, GET LOST!

The CIF informed John Perry the Cardinals would qualify for the playoffs by winning five of their eight games.  Hoover still was invited with a 3-2-3 record but declined because the CIF wanted the Cardinals in the minor division.

Hoover’s opponent would have been Grossmont, which also was not interested.  Hoover wanted to go big school.  Grossmont, 9-0 and the first Metropolitan League champion, perhaps did not want to risk a loss and put a blight on its undefeated season.

4 ALL-SOUTHERN  TEAMS 

Ambrose Schindler was on the all-Southern California first team, guard Jim Riveroll on the second team, end Alex (Pudge) Gentles on the third team, and center Bill Simons on the fourth team.

Tackle Dave Devarona of Point Loma also was on the fourth team, along with halfback John Scott of Coronado.

Ollie Day, the County’s leading scorer with 90 points who alternated with Schindler, made a terrific, late-season run (8 touchdowns in 3 games) but after votes were cast.

Player of the year was Los Angeles Jefferson end Woody Strode, who went on to act in 70 motion pictures and was one of the first African-American players to sign with the NFL Los Angeles Rams in 1946.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

San Diego police chief Harry Raymond was summarily canned by City Manager Fred Lockwood.  Donning his “fighting clothes”, Lockwood charged that  “Raymond’s not the man for the job.  He has shown no executive ability.”

The Chief got the word when he returned from lunch to find a successor in his office.

AZTECS GET GYMNASIUM

Completion was nearing for a 50,000 square-foot, $200,000 edifice that would host athletic offices and serve as the San Diego State Aztecs’ basketball gym. For years the building housed the 1,800-seat home court for the Aztecs.

BURGLARS LIKE FOXES

For the third time in three years a Fox Theater venue in San Diego was robbed.  Bad guys struck at Seventh Avenue and B Street. The Fox North Park at 29^th and University, and the Fox Balboa at 4^th and E also had been hit.

BARBERS TRIMMED

San Diego city council was asked to get involved in a dustup over the cost of a haircut.  An arbitrary price of 65 cents scheduled under the barbers’ section of the California Recovery Act spurred outrage.

The barbers finally agreed to 50 cents for haircuts, .25 for shaves, .40 for women’s neck trims, and .35 for children’s cuts.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

This never caught on in San Diego:  Players for Jefferson High in San Antonio did not have jersey numerals but letters.  When all linemen were in the game the letters spelled Mustang, the team nickname.

TEACHER AND PUPIL 

John Perry’s Hoover Cardinals battled to a 6-6 tie with Long Beach Wilson, led by first-year  head coach Rockwell (Rocky) Kemp, former USC athlete who played for Perry at San Diego High from 1922-24.

ARMY-NAVY SPANS THE GLOBE

The boarding school in Pacific Beach put an 0-8 team on the field and they came from faraway locales, such as Ketchikan, Alaska; Tijuana, Mexico, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Monograms were awarded to 15 players and the team manager at the semi-annual lettermen’s dance.  Not explained but endorsed by Cadet brass was the accepted invitation of Grossmont’s championship team, coach, and principal, who were honored guests.

MAGIC STEEL CARPET

Railroad travel has been described as the “civilized way” of getting to a destination and was a mode San Diego High used.

The Cavers boarded a northbound train at Santa Fe Depot at 2:15 p.m., switched to Southern Pacific in Los Angeles, and arrived in Santa Barbara around 9 p.m.  They also rode the Santa Fe to Los Angeles the day before the CIF finals.

TRUE GRID

Phoenix Union came here a day before its game with San Diego and stayed at the upscale U.S. Grant Hotel… San Diego overnighted in Whittier before pushing on to Alhambra for a Saturday afternoon game… Francis Leary, letterman guard in 1930, re-enrolled at Hoover after dropping out of school for a year… Hoover used a huddle instead of calling plays at the line of scrimmage during a game with San Diego State Frosh… three ex-Cardinals knew Hoover’s signals… Oceanside drove 99 yards in the last two minutes to beat Point Loma on a eight-yard pass with 10 seconds remaining, 13-12…the Pirates then  came out in blue jerseys and “flaming” red pants when they met Sweetwater… the Pirates’ colors may have changed; they are green, white, and black today… Hoover was stopped three times inside Yuma’s five-yard line in an 0-0 tie, highlighted by the first game under lights in Yuma history, courtesy of the local Merchants’ Association…an Escondido player hid near the sideline, then caught a pass and scored in a 6-6 game with Coronado…Covina lost track of downs and did not punt from its seven-yard line…St. Augustine used the blunder to score in a 6-6 tie…Long Beach Poly and Santa Barbara accused the Cavers of fibbing, claiming they were much bigger than listed weights…Hobbs Adams, shrugging off the accusations as “psychology”, said he weighed all his players and they averaged out at 167, a healthy size for that era…The San Diego Union invited all area coaches and spouses to view “College Coach,” a movie in which the entire USC squad appeared…Pat O’Brien played a ruthless coach, Dick Powell and Ann Dvorak co-starring… the film was viewed at the Plaza Theater, a block from Union offices…Hal Higgins, years later co-owner of Higgins and Crosthwaite’s successful sporting goods emporium at 10^th  Avenue and B Street, was a standout for La Jolla….

 

San Diego High represented one of the best football coaching jobs in the state, but was John Perry all in?

Perry ruminated that the 1925 season, which ended in a bitter, 13-6 loss to Covina in the CIF championship game, was too long, ending Dec. 12, and a reason his club had let down in the title game.

That apparently was why Perry’s started practice a week later this season and moved the start time from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., still  ending around 6.

Perry also had been delayed getting back to school because he was attending a summer football class in Los Angeles taught by USC coach Howard Jones.

Despite Perry’s seeming detachment, the Cavemen appeared ready to make another strong run.  Superstar halfback Bert Ritchey was back for his third varsity season, joined by tackle Cy West, and several other holdovers from the 10-1 team of the year before.

Albert Crosthwaite, a fullback on the 1923 squad, was back in to school after a two-year hiatus. Players were eligible as long as they hadn’t reached their 21st birthday.

Youngsters also were moving up from coach Gerald (Tex) Oliver’s B team, which defeated Huntington Park, 13-6, for the 1925 Southern California championship.

And there were incoming sophomores from Roosevelt and Memorial, teams which played for the championship of the city junior high league in ’25.                                    

After a 27-0 victory in the opening game against the San Diego State Frosh, the Hilltoppers lost sight of the end zone. They scored three touchdowns and 29 points, total, in seven Coast League contests.

The Cavemen dropped back-to-back road games at Long Beach Poly and Whittier, which knocked them out of playoff consideration, but still finished with a 6-2 record.

UNHAPPY SCRIBES

Local newspaper writers were stunned and peevish after the 15-3 defeat at the hands of the Whittier Cardinals, in their eyes at least three-touchdown underdogs.

There was a story in The San Diego Union two days before the Santa Ana trip in which Perry, despite his earlier statements concerning the long season, confirmed the report of a possible Christmas or New Year’s Day game with Phoenix Union.

That game did not materialize.

IS PERRY OUT?

Perry’s 52-14-5 achievement in seven seasons would not seem raise any doubt about his future as coach.

But the afternoon San Diego Sun  published a story Nov. 19, 1926, the day before the Hilltoppers’ last home game against South Pasadena, that declared Perry was out as coach:

“A complete rearrangement of the coaching staff at the San Diego high school has taken place, and will go into effect at once, it was made known today.

“John Perry, who heretofore coached varsity football, becomes supervisor of physical training and director of school athletics, but will have no coaching connections with the various teams.

“John Hobbs, assistant grid coach to Perry, and in direct charge of the second team, is now head coach of the Hilltop varsity football team.”

The timing of the no-attribution, no-byline article was curious, with two games remaining on the schedule.  It looked as if Perry was being removed from his position and given a highfalutin’ title of reduced significance.

NOTHING TO IT?

San Diego principal Glenn Perkins reacted with a non-denial denial the next day in the scrambling, morning The San Diego Union:

“For two years there has been serious consideration of appointing Perry physical education director in charge of all athletics and naming Hobbs mentor of the varsity football squad, but to date that has not been done and it is hardly likely that it will be affected until next fall, if at all,” said Perkins.

Perkins added that “should the position ‘director physical education’ be created Perry can have it if he chooses and undoubtedly Hobbs will be named varsity football coach.”

Perry responded with a flowery no comment and Hobbs ducked the issue.  “How could I assume control of the varsity football team now when I have called varsity basketball practice for Monday afternoon?” said Hobbs.

SUN STORY ON THE MONEY

The Sun article may have been premature but Perry did step down after the season and became a P.E. coach and head of the athletics department.  He would stay away from football until starting the program at the new Hoover High in 1930.

The Sun also was correct about the “rearrangement” of the coaching staff.

Hobbs became head football coach and remained in charge of basketball.  Dewey (Mike) Morrow began a legendary career on the hilltop, replacing Perry as baseball coach, and Glenn Broderick took over the track program.

Perkins, principal since 1923, was replaced at the end of the school year by John Aseltine, who also became a legendary figure, leading the way until his retirement in 1954.

ARE THEY ON SAME PAGE?

Despite the loss to Whittier, the Cavers still were in the Coast League title hunt when they went to Long Beach, where a controversial play prompted Perry to protest the game.

Principal Glenn Perkins a day later would say there would be no protest.

Trailing, 3-0, Perry told referee Arthur Badenoch, the head coach at Inglewood, that San Diego end Roy Schoettler, a transfer from Santa Ana, was going to “hide out” near the Cavers’ sideline on the play following the third-quarter kickoff.

Penalty flag.

Badenoch had noticed a Long Beach player offside on the kickoff, according to press reports.  The referee asked San Diego captain Eddie Moeller if the Hilltoppers wanted the penalty or the ball.

Moeller took the ball.  The stratagem worked, John Donohue teaming with Schoettler on a 65-yard scoring pass play to apparently put the visitors in front, 6-3.

Badenoch nullified the play.  The whistle had not been blown to begin play after the referee and Moeller, the San Diego captain, had discussed options.

COACH LOOKS BACK

Twenty-five years later, at a San Diego High homecoming, Perry had a different recollection.

“It worked okay, for (Schoettler) caught the ball and scored in spite of the fact that he was detected by Long Beach,” Perry told George T. Herrick of the Evening Tribune.

“However,” Perry added, “our enthusiasm was dampened when the umpire announced Long Beach had called time out.  It was the only time in my 31 years of coaching that I ever protested a game.”

The coach recalled that the Cavers tried the play again, but a Long Beach defender deflected the pass into the hands of a teammate, who ran 50 yards for a score in Poly’s 10-0 victory.

TRANSFER RED FLAGGED

Two weeks into practice, the Cavers’ stock went up when quarterback Jimmy Meeks and end Laurie Hall transferred in from Hollywood High and were reported to have moved into San Diego’s enrollment district.

Meeks had set a national record of :15.1 in the 120-yard high hurdles, finished second in the 220 lows, and anchored the Sheiks to a national record of 1:29.9 in the 880-yard relay at the state meet in Palo Alto the previous spring.

FRAT BOYS

Meeks entered the opening game in the second quarter but was benched in the second half after he was penalized for “slugging” a San Diego State  Frosh player.

Days later it was learned that Meeks and Hall had been bounced at Hollywood because they violated a state interscholastic rule by becoming members of a school fraternity.

Santa Ana, which filed a protest in 1925, claiming that Hilltopper Russ Saunders had boxed professionally, alerted Coast League bosses.

“We shall place our cards on the table and let league officials act,” said principal Perkins, who thought the rule was unfair and wasn’t sure it would hold up in a court of law.

Meeks and Hall were out.

SANTA ANA UNHAPPY

Tex Oliver, the ex-Hilltop B coach and track mentor, now was head coach at Santa Ana. The Saints still were unhappy about another protest apparently submitted by San Diego.

Santa Ana wanted Harvey Durkee reinstated. Durkee had played in a practice game in 1925 after not having completed a semester of attendance following a transfer from Huntington Beach.

The few minutes in the ’25 game was declared a full season by the Coast League after Durkee left school, then returned in February, 1926, and completed a full semester thinking he’d be eligible in the Fall.

Durkee and Santa Ana officials were told the player was out of eligibility.  Perry also claimed that Durkee transferred without changing his home address and therefore would be ineligible for a full year.

INDIRECT CRITICISM

Perry’s next-to-last game as coach and Oliver’s first against his former boss was a 9-7 success in overtime for the visiting Cavers, but there were no huzzahs from the San Diego media.

Despite the victory wrote Charles Savage of the Union:

“…Oliver’s speedy Saints team reversed the San Diegans dizzy; battered their way through the heavy San Diego line for 15 first downs, and worked the ball within the shadows of the visitors’ goal five times only to lose the ball on fumbles.”

Savage  ended with this zinger:

“The San  Diegans didn’t display any more fighting spirit here today than they have at any time this season.  In fact, their showing could not have been much worse.  And San Diego has displayed some poor football this season.”

A Southern California championship in 1922, two Coast League titles in the league’s four years, and a .768 winning percentage since 1920 apparently were not enough.

Perry couldn’t be blamed for taking a step back.

OVERTIME

San Diego and Glendale were locked in a scoreless tie at the end of regulation play.  A Coast League rule, “unique in that it’s the only one in the country,” according to a newspaper report, allowed each team 10 “alternating plays” each, the team ending up in the enemy territory being awarded the victory

The Hilltoppers were declared 2-0 winners. They had defeated Santa Ana in a similarly-formatted extra session.

STARRING RED GRANGE

The Pantages theater and The San Diego Sun newspaper invited members of the football teams of San Diego High, St. Augustine, and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot to a showing of “One Minute To Play”.

The silent movie (talkies still were a few years away) starred Harold (Red) Grange, the all-America halfback from the University of Illinois who had signed with the NFL Chicago Bears and was marketed by C.C. (Cash & Carry) Pyle.

Grange, playing the role of “Red Wade”, shook off an injury, came into the game with one minute to play, and scored the winning touchdown.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Politics in Coronado, the allegedly sleepy community across San Diego Bay, made for angry bedfellows.

The city auditor decked the city manager, twice, in a fist fight outside City Hall and then dropped the manager again a few days later in the street in front of the building after tempers flared during a contentious meeting of the town’s honchos.

A newly appointed city marshal and said gentleman along with a trustee was sued for $25,000 for assault after expelling an angry attorney from the meeting.

All members of the fire and police departments either were fired by the Coronado board of trustees or resigned.  The fistic-proficient city auditor, was fired and the city recorder resigned.

The attorney, struggling with the two officials, claimed to have strained  ligaments in his shoulder.

Typical of the almost comic events was the firing in the morning of a police boss, who was reinstated in the afternoon…and then immediately resigned.

SUBURBS AND BACK COUNTRY

+Point Loma and Mountain Empire, which opened in 1925, joined the County League as varsity members and Oceanside, fielding its first squad, made for an eight-team circuit.

+Escondido, 5-4 under first-year coach Amner Petty, posted its first winning season since 1919 and  first league victory since 1921.  The Cougars opened with a 14-0 victory at first-year Brea-Olinda, which took students from neighboring Fullerton High, holding the Wildcats to one first down and 18 total yards.

+Sweetwater was 7-0 in County play but dropped a 13-2 decision in the first round of the playoffs at El Centro Central.

+Oceanside’s first foray into football ended with a 1-6-1 record that included losses of 47-0 and 57-0 to league powers Coronado and Sweetwater, respectively.

+Mountain Empire, 45 miles East of El Cajon in the Mountain Community of Campo, was 0-6-1.  There were 12 males on campus, 11 were on the team and the other was coach Cy Walton.

TRUE GRID

Although he was in and out of games and hampered by a back injury all season, Bert Ritchey was second-team all-Southern California, perhaps a nod from the media selectors who chose Ritchey for a third-team spot despite Bert’s leading Southern California with 25 touchdowns in 1925…captain and tackle  Cy West also earned second-team honors…378 Alhambra supporters made reservations on the steamship S.S. Ruth Alexander out of Los Angeles and arrived the morning of the Moors’ game with San Diego…Alhambra was coached by Charlie Church, who would briefly be the Hilltoppers’ boss in 1928…word from the North was that Church was scrimmaging his charges two hours a day and had taken the team on a two-week trip to the High Sierras in the summer…. Eddie Moeller kicked a field goal from the 35-yard line, on first down in the first quarter, for a 3-0 victory over visiting South Pasadena…about 8,500 persons in City Stadium watched the Hilltoppers beat Pasadena, 6-0….

John Perry was 29-10-2 with a winning percentage of .738 in four seasons as San Diego High coach.

But that wasn’t good enough for one sportswriter on San Diego’s largest daily newspaper.

A crushing midseason, 26-0 loss to Long Beach Poly was followed by a “disinterested”, 13-0 victory over Coast League doormat Whittier.

“The wreck of the Hesperus didn’t have a thing on the disaster of the Cavemen,” wrote Alan McGrew of the Poly game, taking a page from Greek mythology.

McGrew, no Damon Runyan, was The San Diego Union beat man covering the Cavemen and regularly found fault with Perry’s stewardship, very unusual for the era.

The young San Diego High graduate was especially peevish in his account of the Whittier contest:

“…the team had no fight and players seemed to take the ‘I don’t care’ attitude. Coach John Perry seemed to be as bad as any of the players.”

McGrew said the starting backfield “was like four moving dead men.”

“Coach John Perry should receive a good part of the responsibility for the poor showing,” McGrew continued. “Since the Long Beach game he has lacked enthusiasm just as much as many of the players.”

McGrew thought the Cavers should turn in their uniforms if “the high schoolers intend to finish the season in the same miserable manner they played yesterday.”

PHOENIX, BUT FIRST AN EASY ONE

Principal Glenn Perkins and Perry scheduled a postseason game for charity against the Phoenix Coyotes, billed as champions of Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Texas.

William Richardson, the California governor, was going to attend and a large crowd was expected, proceeds going to the football fund at the Hilltop and to buy 50 uniforms for members of the band.

There would be a three-week layoff between the Whittier and Phoenix tussles, so Perry called John Nichols, his former Coronado coaching colleague, and booked a home contest against Nichols’ Oxnard squad.

The Yellowjackets reportedly had posted a 7-0 record, but the competition was against teams from small, neighboring Ventura County farming communities.

PUSHOVER?

McGrew went on the offensive again.

“Although it has been the general impression that the Oxnard Union High would be ‘pickings’ for the local high school eleven, the San Diego coach claims the northern squad will give the Hilltops plenty to worry about.”

McGrew had gotten to the point of sometimes not even referring to Perry by name.

Later:

“Perry has been inclined to blame sportswriters for his troubles.  First he did not want them to praise the work of his team, declaring that praise was bad for the players.

“Then he did not want the work of the team to be harshly criticized.  That, too, he thought was very bad.  Just what (Perry) wanted was hard to figure out.”

McGrew added that the Cavers would have been better served in 1920 had they hired a coach who had college playing experience, which Perry didn’t.

“At any rate the fact remains that all San Diego High can claim under Perry’s coaching this year is the championship of San Diego County (the Cavers defeated Sweetwater, 33-8).”

11 CONSECUTIVE PAT

Oxnard “looked like a kindergarten squad opposing eleven giants,” wrote McGrew.

The Yellowjackets were on the trampled end of a 77-0 San Diego stampede, highlighted by 11 successful points after touchdown and three touchdowns by probably the smallest varsity player in school history.

Firpo (Shorty) Bethauser, 4-feet, 4 inches, 116 pounds, if you believe the tape measure and scale, scored three touchdowns and was joined in the end zone by six other teammates.

On this day, the writer couldn’t criticize Perry’s coaching or the play of the team:

“Oxnard had no business being on the same field with the Hilltoppers, but this should not take credit away from the high schoolers. With (Coney) Galindo again calling signals. the team oozed with pep, fight, and aggressiveness.”

The season ended with a 0-0 tie against Phoenix, but despite the scoreless result, the teams’ combined 24 punts, and 120 yards in penalties, McGrew declared that “the crowd was lifted by thrilling plays and many long gains.”

NEW BOSS AT GROSSMONT

Up from Calipatria in the Imperial Valley, out of the University of Montana, came Ladimir Mashin the new athletic coach at Grossmont.

Mashin was better known as ”Jack”,  an easy cognomen for a man who was easy to know and respect.

Mashin would coach all teams and soldier through the Great Depression and World War II.

He retired from football as the winningest coach in County history after 25 seasons and a 9-1-1 campaign in 1947.

Mashin concentrated on track and field and tutored some of the finest dual meet and invitational teams in Southern California, turning out Grossmont distance runners and weight throwers who ranked among the best in the country.

Grossmont would be 4-5 this season, but championships were on the horizon.

Mashin had 17 winning seasons and finished football with a career record of 125-66-19, a .640 winning percentage.  The Foothillers won or tied 24 games in a row from 1932-34.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

John Perry and principal Glenn Perkins attended a meeting the first of September in Santa Ana, where San Diego High became a member of the Tri-County League.

Other schools were Long Beach Poly, Pasadena and Whittier from Los Angeles County and Orange County entries Fullerton and Santa Ana.

A couple weeks later the CIF announced that the alignment would be known as the Coast League and, with exception of the 1941-45 period, the Coast would be San Diego’s home until the San Diego City Prep League was formed in 1950.

San Diego and Poly, which first played against each other in 1910, would be enduring members of the so-called “T.N.T. League”.

The other  schools came and went and newcomers replaced them, but the  circuit always was respected as being as strong as any in the state.

The Hilltoppers had been members of a Coast League alignment with Poly, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Whittier in the 1920-21 school year, but, while participating in most sports, they were an independent in football.

RULES AND REGS

General admission to all Coast League games was .50.  All funds derived from advance sales were to go to the school selling the tickets.  Game expenses were to be deducted before there was a split of gate receipts.

Perpetual trophies would be offered in all sports with each school annually contributing $25 to the bauble fund.

Officers of the league were Harry J. Moore of Long Beach (also state CIF representative), president; R. O’Mara, Pasadena, vice president, and H.A. Hammond, Santa Ana, secretary and treasurer.

SWEETWATER WHO?

Coach Herb Hoskins’ Red Devils competed in the shadow of San Diego for years, but, despite a 33-8 loss to the Hilltop team in the season opener, won the County League with a 6-0 record, compiled a 7-3 mark overall, and earned a Southern California playoff bid.

Sweetwater upset Orange, 7-0, in a quarterfinals game but was beaten, 27-7, by Long Beach Poly in the semifinals.

Sweetwater often was a San Diego opponent in the first game, but Hoskins and Perry dickered over financial terms this year.

Perry, as coach of the home team, offered a $100 guarantee to the Red and Gray-colored squad from National City.  Hoskins wanted a 50-50 share of the gate receipts.

“I can get a Northern team to come to San Diego for as much as Sweetwater wants,” said Perry.  “My club’s as good as any Northern club,” countered Hoskins.

The game was played but no result of the bargaining was published.

GENERATION GAP?

Ages of San Diego High players were from 15 (Phil Winnek) to 20 (Coney Galindo, John Fox, and Howard Williams).  Al Schevings was 21 when he graduated in June, 1923.

Galindo, Fox, and Williams would have another year of eligibility in 1924.  Rules eventually would change, such that a youngster could not be 19 years of age before Sept. 1 of his senior year.

HONORS

End Barkham Garner of Sweetwater was on  the all-Southern California first team.  End Jim MacPherson of San Diego and center Otis of Sweetwater were on the second team.

SIGN OF THE TIME

Neal Anderson, automobile editor of The San Diego Union, embarked on a unique trip.  Anderson, riding in a Nash Touring car, covered the 572 miles of San Diego County roads and highways in 18 hours, leaving the Nash showroom floor at the Shaw agency at midnight and arriving back at 6 p.m that day.

TRUE GRID

San Diego’s Ed (Carburetor) Caballero intercepted 5 passes in one game and threw  five interceptions in another…Whittier’s joining the league allowed San  Diego to fill an open date late in the season…San Diego’s trip to Stanford not only was disappointing  but long…the team took the train to Los Angeles and then boarded the Lark for the 470-mile overnight ride to San Francisco…the Cavemen, who played on the dirt surface of City Stadium, complained of the slippery, grass gridiron on the Palo Alto campus, resulting in numerous fumbles and a reported nine first-half injuries…the Cavers hit the rails again for an early-morning ride to an afternoon game in Fullerton…San Diego road games usually were of two days’ duration…Hal Fitzpatrick,  Al Schevings, Eddie Ruffa, and Bob Perry, members of San Diego’s 1922 championship squad, were on the San Diego State varsity…the Montezuma Mesa school numbered only 160 boys in the entire enrollment…Schevings left and later was on the squad at USC…a midweek Sweetwater game with Fleet Air was called off because rules restricted the airmen from leaving their base on North Island….

There were no state championships, but it was a solid season in San Diego Section  basketball.

Foothills Christian, behind McDonald’s all-star T.J. Leaf, was third in the state in Cal-Hi Sports‘ final boys Top 40 rankings.

Cathedral ranked 14th and St. Augustine 23rd.

The 2015-16 finish showed marked improvement  over the 2014-15 Cal-Hi rankings, in which St. Augustine was 23rd, Torrey Pines 24th, and Foothills Christian 36th.

Foothills gained  currency when it defeated Santa Ana Mater Dei, 50-44, in the Southern California quarterfinals before bowing to Chino Hills, 82-62.

Chino Hills (35-0) won the state championship and is national champion, according to all major polls.

Foothills lost its first game to the San Bernardino County squad in December, 106-86, but came closer than any California school when it dropped an 85-83 decision to the Huskies in January.

A basket by Leaf had put the Knights ahead, 83-82, with 13.3 seconds remaining.

3 IN TOP 20

Mission Hills was seventh in the girls, followed by La Jolla Country Day at No. 10 and Bishop at No. 19.

La Jolla Country Day was 15th and Mission Hills 30th in the final 2014-15 rankings.

The last state champions were in St. Augustine boys and Horizon girls in 2013-14.

RECORD LITTLETON’S DESTINY?

A highlight of next season is expected to be The Bishop’s Destiny Littleton’s pursuit of the state career scoring record.

Littleton averaged 35.7 and scored 1,178 points this season, giving her a three-season total of 2,934.  San Diego’s Charde Houston set the California record with 3,837 from 2000 to 2004.

HOOPLA

Cathedral rose as high as 10th in the Cal-Hi poll after an 82-80, overtime win against Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, but fell following a 72-56, semifinals loss to Torrance Bishop Montgomery…St. Augustine was 17th before dropping a 68-55,  semifinals game at Encino Crespi…Charde Houston played four seasons at Connecticut and is in her ninth WNBA season as a member of the New York Mercury…despite the CIF’s desired “competitive equity,” the Southern Section dominated the  regionals…the San Diego, Los Angeles, and Central  came up short, as all 12 boys and girls division winners were from the Southern Section….

How Cal-Hi Sports viewed San Diego Section squads:

BOYS

DIVISION	TEAM	RECORD	RANK
Top 40	Foothills Christian	25-5	3
	Cathedral	21-7	14
	St. Augustine	24-8	23
	Torrey Pines	26-5	37
I	St. Augustine		8
	Torrey Pines		15
II	Mission Bay	21-9	17
	Army-Navy	21-11	19
III	Kearny	31-4	9
IV	El Camino	29-7	4
	*Grossmont	23-8
	*San Marcos	22-8
V	Bonita Vista	21-13	12
	*Mission Vista	16-13

GIRLS

DIVISION	TEAM	RECORD	RANK
Top 20	Mission Hills	29-4	7
	La Jolla Country Day	24-6	10
	The Bishop’s	25-8	19
I	The Bishop’s		6
	Torrey Pines	22-9	15
II	Mount Miguel	21-12	17
III	Eastlake	26-7	13
	*Horizon	19-13
IV	*La Costa Canyon	23-10
V	Grossmont	25-6	13
	*Escondido Adventist	23-5

*Honorable Mention.

Army-Navy had a 5-0 record.  San Diego High (4-1) had just been run off the field,  51-0 by the 5-0 Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits.

Did Army-Navy have a chance the following week against the Hilltoppers and their 24-year-old, rookie head coach, John Perry.

No.

Perry addressed a school assembly the day before his team would meet coach Paul Jones’ Cadets.

Perry said no team in the United States could beat San Diego by the score Long Beach had mustered and that was by a fluke, which the writer of the story did not reveal and which begged the question, how could a 51-point loss be determined “by a fluke”?

“Furthermore,” said Perry, “San Diego is still in the running (for the Southern California championship) and with the addition of new forms of offensive and defensive playing, we expect to take a little revenge on the innocent Army-Navy men.”

Certainly not the coach talk of later years.  If Perry actually was quoted accurately or felt some pressure and was nervously boasting to the school assembly, or the writer’s imagination was in overdrive, or both, Perry’s words rang true.

The Hilltoppers rained 19 touchdowns on their outmanned opponents.

Although a touchdown by Army-Navy’s Brick Crowell tied the game, 7-7, the score was 26-7 after one quarter, 75-7 following a 49-point second quarter, and 103-7 after three.

The final count, 130-7.

POURING IT ON?

Did Perry run up the score?

His squad numbered only 24 with just a handful of reserves. The teams played 15-minute quarters and rules of the day meant that Army-Navy kicked off after each touchdown.

San Diego’s John Hunter scored 7 touchdowns and added 15 points after for 57 points.  Nine other Cavemen scored touchdowns.

The only team in state history to score more points in one game was Santa Rosa in a 141-0 victory over St. Helena in 1924.

To prevent such runaways CIF sections decades later installed “mercy’ rules and running clocks, usually when one team was ahead by 40-45 points.

Hunter’s point total was bettered in San Diego County only by the 80 points Coronado’s Frank (Toady) Greene scored in a 108-0 victory over Sweetwater in 1929.

PRE-PRACTICE MANTRA

A story with no byline in The San Diego Union captured the youthful Perry’s approach when he addressed his football candidates in the San Diego High auditorium at their first meeting Sept. 3, 1920.

“We want to get the spirit of 1920 this season,” said the coach.  “We’ve heard too much about the spirit of 1916.  It’s getting a little old.  We must forget those victories and win others.”

Other remarks by Perry:

“At 4 p.m. next Tuesday I shall call the roll of the first squad.  Coach (A.E.) Shaver and Captain (Lawrence) Hall will do the same for the second and third squads.”

“Any man absent without  a good excuse for two successive nights will have to turn in his uniform.  We have too many out for work to bother with shirkers.

“And furthermore, you fellows keep up in your studies,  They’re the big thing as football is the big sport.  You can understand me when I say the fellow with all brawn and no brains is no football player.

“Three things you must have for football: obedience, aggression, and concentration.  With this goes about sixty per cent fight.  It’s the fellow with fight and brain who makes the great player.”

EASY DOES IT

Union headline on Sept. 24:  “Scrimmage Hard on Hilltop Boys; Five Knocked Out”.

Apparently Howard Williams, Ed Rawlings, Fred Manning, Gerald Snyder, and Harold (Hobbs)  Adams “were taken unconscious from the fray”, an intrasquad scrimmage before the season opener against Sweetwater.

Williams is reported to having returned, “but collapsed at the end of practice”, and may not play in the opener.

Hard to believe, but flimsy helmets and pads offered little protection..

NEW SCHOOL, OR NOT?

Grossmont High opened this year, located on what was known as the Riverview campus in Lakeside.

It would be two years before the school moved to the top of the Grossmont Summit in La Mesa, where it sits today overlooking the El Cajon Valley.

But was Grossmont really a new school in 1920?

On the school’s 90th anniversary in 2010, “The Fountain of Hope” was remembered in a campus publication:

“The class of 1916 donated a drinking fountain made of granite from a local quarry to the old El Cajon Valley Union High School and inscribed ‘Class of 1916’”.

The El Cajon Valley High we know today didn’t open  until  1955, when it drew much of the student population from Grossmont, which originally had been home to students from as distant as Pine Valley, 25 miles away, and further east.

The early-century “El Cajon Valley High” is not even a footnote in local prep sports history, but a team with the designation “El Cajon” played games against San Diego High in 1902, 1904, and 1907.

According to Don King, San Diego High historian and author of Caver Conquest, the 1904 game was against the El Cajon Town team.  An ensuing contest was noted as being against the community’s high school.

SWEETWATER ON SCHEDULE

Grossmont’s first graduating class numbered 37 students.  There were 11 faculty members with an enrollment of about 150 in four grades. A total of 320 students were enrolled when the new campus opened in 1922.

Green and white was chosen as school colors, but they were changed to blue and gold in 1927.

The athletic teams didn’t become known as the Foothllers until 1921, but Grossmont fielded a team this season, under coach J. Howard Becker, and didn’t score a point in four games against schools that became their County League rivals.

One of those opponents was Sweetwater, an emerging South County school Grossmont would play every season through 1960 except 1941 and ’52.

RULES MADE TO BE BROKEN?

The CIF, established in 1913, increasingly found its desired role of friendly, neighborhood cop to 90-plus schools devolving into that of a grouchy high school vice principal in charge of discipline.

The Cavemen’s game at Long Beach triggered a major dispute between the governing body and one of its members.

While 8,000 mostly Jackrabbits faithful (about 300 San Diego supporters made the 4-hour trip north) cheered as their team punctuated the victory with 28 fourth-quarter points, Poly officials received a telegram during the game inviting the team to play Englewood High of Chicago.

The ambitious Chicago squad wanted to play the coast school for what Englewood officials described as a national championship game on Christmas Day.  Poly bosses immediately wired back that they accepted.

NOT SO FAST

CIF secretary Seth Van Patten told Poly administrator Harry J. Moore that Long Beach was required to compete in the 10-team Southern California playoffs and in a possible state title contest.

According to CIF rules, teams were supposed to turn in their gear once they completed play in Southern California or on the state level.

Despite the shellacking, San Diego was a likely semifinals opponent for Long Beach, if the teams won earlier playoffs.

The CIF determined postseason invitations were for schools that had at least three wins over “representative” opponents.

CAVEMEN MEET STANDARD

San Diego had qualified for the postseason after victories over Los Angeles Franklin, Fullerton, and Orange.

The Cavers defeated Van Nuys, 81-0, in a quarterfinals contest on the same day that Long Beach Poly advanced with a 55-0 victory over Los Angeles Poly.

John Perry wanted no part of a second game in Long Beach.  Principal Harry Wise told the CIF that San Diego would play the game only at a neutral site, preferably at Pomona, a good distance from the Jackrabbits’ base.

After defeating L.A. Poly, Long Beach gave the CIF the figurative middle finger salute and pulled out of the remainder of the postseason.

The scrambling CIF then gave San Diego a day’s notice that it would play in the semifinals against L.A. Poly, despite the Mechanics’ 0-55 score against Long Beach.

San Diego led most of the game after John Hunter’s 25-yard field goal, but the Mechanics scored a touchdown in the last five minutes to win, 7-3.

L.A. Poly’s reward was a berth in  the finals, in which it lost to Santa Monica, 49-0.

HARES OFF EASY

The game with Englewood never was played, but Long Beach accepted another challenge from the high school in Everett, Washington.

The Everett Seagulls defeated the Jackrabbits, 28-7. Poly then won  the “championship” of the southwestern united States by defeating Arizona’s Phoenix Union, 102-0.

The CIF followed by announcing that Poly was being “kicked out”.  Not suspended, but “kicked out,” no longer a member of the federation.

The punishment didn’t last long.  The Jackrabbits were back in the fold for basketball season.

CAVEMEN BASEBALL OUT

But the bumbling CIF wasn’t so easy on the San Diego High baseball team, which defeated Cleveland East Tech in a two-game, “national championship series” the following spring.

The baseball Cavemen were hit with a judgment in the 1921-22 school year, barred from playing against high school teams for one season and suspended from the Southern California playoffs.

UNEVEN OFFICIATING

Local banking executive and football referee Mouney Cassar Pfeffercorn convened a meeting at the First National for representatives from high schools and service football teams.

“There are many football officials here but almost everyone has a different interpretation of a rule,” said Pfeffercorn, who noted that problems were cited by out-of-town teams, which complained that local flag throwers incorrectly interpreted.

Officiating pay generally was $10 for referee and $7.50 each for umpire and linesman.  A fourth official, on request, received $5.

Born in Austria in 1883 and a naturalized American citizen since 1908, Pfeffercorn was active on many sporting fronts in San Diego in the first half of the 20th century.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

Robert Clark and Justin Bennett of San Diego will be out of the Franklin game “unless they can dig up more credits”, reported The San Diego Union. The article also said that “Howard Williams, Chalmers McKenzie, and Harold (Hobbs) Adams also are reported  behind in their studies and will  not play Saturday.”

LARGE STUDENT BODY

Six weeks into the school year, San Diego High listed 2,370 students, making it one of the largest high schools in the country, according to the Evening Tribune.

City elementary schools reported enrollment of 9,000, although daily attendance was at least 1,000 fewer.  “An appeal is made to the parents of the city to make the attendance of every child as punctual and regular as possible,” said a City Schools statement.

ARRAY OF ACTIVITY

Football was king but not the only sport at the Grey Castle.  A class of beginners in swimming started, a chess club was in competition, and tennis was popular. Girls interscholastic basketball was due to begin.

DON’T BE SO NOSEY

Team captain Lawrence Hall sustained a broken nose before the opening of practice when he dived off the high board at a plunge in Del Mar and struck the bottom of the pool.

Hall was recuperating when he engaged in a medicine ball exercise with a teammate a week later and the ball struck Hall in the face.

Hall sustained a second, rearranged schnozz and was on  the sideline for another three weeks.

CORONADO STREAK ENDS

A 21-7 loss to Sweetwater was the first for Coronado against County League competition since a 47-0 defeat by Escondido in 1914.  The Islanders had won 16 in  a row and not been scored on by their suburban competition.

HONORS

Guard Gordon Thompson and back John Hunter of San Diego made the all-Southern California second team,  Long Beach Poly’s Jim Lawson was player of the year.

QUICK KICKS

Missing the Van Nuys playoff with wrist and shoulder injuries cost John Hunter a shot at Bryan (Pesky) Sprott’s school record of 156 points in one season, set in 1916…Hunter played only eight games but had 18 touchdowns, 24 points after, and a field goal for 135 points…Seth Van Patten, a former baseball coach at Escondido, was elected CIF Secretary…John Perry’s idea of giving his San Diego players a respite from the humdrum of practice was a 2 ½-mile “dogtrot” to and from the nearby Golden Hill Playground…Perry admonished his gridders before the Long Beach trip to “play hard but not dirty and do not bet on the game”…San Diego’s 81-0 playoff win over Van Nuys was called in the fourth quarter because of darkness… the Southern Section playoffs would include 10 teams, more than the state’s three other sections:  Central (6), North Coast (4), and Northern (4).

 

Bill Walton was 33-0 in his senior season at Helix.  T.J. Leaf was 25-5 at Foothills Christian.

Walton’s Helix team dominated the San Diego Section, but the Highlanders’ 70-56 victory over Chula Vista in the AA finals in 1970 marked the end of season. Southern California playoffs were reserved only for Southern Section squads.

Leaf’s Foothills Christian team, benefiting from the modern CIF, competed beyond the San Diego Section playoffs, most recently reaching the Southern California regional semifinals.

Walton was a 6-foot, 11-inch center who played with his back to the basket, and scored and played defense with equal abandon.

Leaf is a 6-10 power forward with a wider range of offense but did not command defense as did Walton.

If pro basketball is the correct measuring stick, basketball has evolved and improved to a point in the San Diego area that we now can claim many NBA or international players.

Before Walton you could count the number of NBA players from San Diego on one hand plus two or three fingers.

Leaf is moving on to UCLA, where Walton won two national collegiate championships and NBA titles with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics.

Leaf is a longshot to match Walton’s  post-high school achievements but that will not diminish the mark he made at Foothills Christian.  T.J. finished his career second to his brother, Troy, as the San Diego’s Section’s career scoring leader.

Leaf was at the wheel as the small El Cajon school traveled with the big shots, playing a national schedule against teams in California and the U.S.

Thirteen of the Knights’ 30 games were against opponents outside the San Diego Section, including three against Chino Hills, the No. 1 team in the country, and another against nationally ranked Waterloo Sacred Heart of Connecticut.

Walton seldom ventured beyond the County, but his performance in December, 1969, at the prestigious Covina Tournament got him on the national stage.

Helix defeated Rancho Cucamonga Alta Loma, 90-35, Montebello, 72-48, El Monte Arroyo, 92-57, Long Beach Millikan, 71-49, and Pasadena, 110-68.

Millikan went on to win the major Southern Section championship.

Against the playoff-bound Pasadena Bullpups, Walton scored 50 points, had 34 rebounds, and made Sports Illustrated and its Faces in the Crowd feature.

The Highlanders averaged 88.2 points a game, went past 100 five times and topped 90 on 10 other occasions.  Walton scored 964 points and averaged 29.2, but he is remembered as much for his unselfish play and dominating defense.

Foothills Christian won by an average score of 71-52, had games of 97 and 96 points and bettered 80 in eight other contests.

Leaf scored 852 points and averaged 28.4 points, shot 68 per cent on field goal attempts and made 29 three-point baskets with an average of 39 per cent from behind the arc.