2017 Week 13: How an “Expert” Sees This Week’s Games

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 HELIX (10-1).

Helix dropped a 23-6 decision to Lancaster Paraclete in what was considered a moderate upset in the opening game. The Paraclete Spirits still are winning, 11-1 with only a 30-21 loss to well-regarded Westlake Village Oaks Christian.   Since that game in September the Highlanders have run off 10 straight victories, including their annual beat down of big brother Grossmont, 57-3, one month ago.

San Marcos, laboring in the  shadow of the neighboring and more renown Mission Hills, is 9-2 and sent St. Augustine packing last week, 41-21.  The Knights are the No. 2 team in the muscular Avocado League, despite a 38-21 loss to Torrey Pines and 49-27 loss to Mission Hills.

The Pick:  Helix.

5 TORREY PINES (7-4) @1 MISSION HILLS (11-0).

Mission Hills, 52-42 over Grossmont in the quarterfinals, has been here before and is the elephant among the Avocados, taking charge since Oceanside’s John Carroll retired and rode off with his 248 career victories.  Mission Hills’ Chris Hauser is moving up the list with 153 wins. Quarterback Jack Tuttle, wideout Chris Olave, and the rest of the Grizzlies’ crew will have the home crowd behind them.

Torrey Pines, despite four losses and a 7-4 resume, emerged as one of the best teams in the San Diego Section beginning in Week 5.  The Falcons were 5-2 down the stretch, losing to No. 1 Mission Hills, 24-23, and to La Costa Canyon, 27-21.

The loss to the Grizzlies was not surprising, but Torrey’s rematch seven days later with La Costa Canyon got people’s attention. The Falcons, pounding it with a flock of runners in the Wing T tradition of Ed Burke and used today by Coach Ron Gladnick, kayoed the Mavericks, 40-0, in a stunning 46-point swing.

The Pick: Torrey Pines.

DIVISION I

5 Oceanside (6-6) @1 El Camino (6-5).

2 Carlsbad (6-5) @3 Eastlake (9-2)

The Picks:  El Camino & Eastlake.

DIVISION II

7 Steele Canyon (8-4) @6 Granite Hills (10-2).

4 Otay Ranch (8-3) @1 Ramona (11-0).

The Picks: Steele Canyon & Ramona.

DIVISION III

4 Hilltop (7-4) @1 El Centro Southwest (11-0).

3 San Pasqual (7-4) vs. 2 Santa Fe Christian (7-4) @Torrey Pines.

The Picks: Hilltop & Santa Fe Christian.

DIVISION IV

3 El Centro Central (10-1) @2 San Diego (11-0).

4 Monte Vista (6-5) @ 1 University City (10-1).

The Picks: San Diego & University City.

DIVISION V

2 Crawford (8-4) vs. 1 Calexico Vincent Memorial (10-2) @Southwestern College.

The Pick: Calexico Vincent Memorial.

SCHEDULE STRENGTHS

Except for Division II, the new ratings system is working, but the real test comes in the next two weeks.

Three of the five top seeds still are in the hunt in the Open and Division I, respectively. The top 4 in III and IV are active and the top two will meet in the D-V championship.  Numbers 2 and 3 went down in D-II

The Bishop’s, No. 2 in D-II and a state finalist in 2016, lost a 61-52 shootout to 7 seed Steele Canyon and 6 seed Granite Hills topped No. 3 Valley Center, 49-30.

Two fifth seeds, Torrey Pines in the Open and Oceanside in D-I, will continue making their cases.

QUICK KICKS

El Centro Central has not scored on San Diego High in 100 years…not that the Spartans have had many opportunities…San Diego won at Central, 20-0, in 1987 and blanked the visitors from Imperial Valley, 28-0, in 1917 in the teams’ only meetings…San Marcos’ win over St. Augustine last week was the Knights’ fifth against no defeats versus the Saints…the teams had last met in 1984…Mission Hills remained 11th in Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50, Helix dropped from 25th to 26th, Ramona rose from 44th to 42nd, and Torrey Pines joined at 50th…San Marcos is on the bubble.




1940-41:  Douglas, Wilson Make Coaching Debuts

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 prime representatives, the Hilltoppers going 15-3 under Douglas and Hoover 10-4 under Wilson.

Teams in the Metropolitan and Southern Prep Leagues also commanded their shares of attention, but most headlines were about the war clouds looming in the West after a summer and early fall dominated by  the “The Battle of Britain”, fought between the British and Germans in the skies above the English Channel and London.

New Cardinals mentor Rickey Wilson (right) meets Hoover athletic director John Perry.

EARLY FINISH

San Diego and Hoover would join a 17-team super conference beginning in 1941-42 as the CIF attempted to separate large schools from small schools.  San Diego, Hoover, and Long Beach Poly, were the only members of the Coast League.

Down to three teams since Santa Ana bailed after the 1935-36 school year and Alhambra after 1938-39, the Coast basketball season was shortened.  The Hilltoppers and Hoover seasons ended  in late January.  The Metropolitan and Southern Prep were active through the end of February.

CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten often had to hustle to fill playoff brackets.  Some leagues, notably the Metro, at the geographical bottom of the Federation, just didn’t want to be bothered.  Records in the CIF archives showed only a four-team field this year.

Poly won the Coast, taking three out of four from San Diego and Hoover, but the Jackrabbits were beaten in the CIF finals by Glendale Hoover, 23-20.

BULLDOZING BULLDOGS

Ramona ran the table with a 12-0 record to win its sixth consecutive Southern Prep championship and then claimed a CIF Southern Section championship at Calexico, topping the Bulldogs, 29-23.

Junior Ray Boone would finish stellar basketball-baseball career at Hoover, become outstanding major league player, and father and grandfather of future major leaguers.

The victory, for the overall 13-0 Bulldogs of coach Charlie Snell, was for the San Diego-Imperial County area.

A spirited, six-game Metropolitan League race ended with Coronado, Escondido, and Grossmont, each 5-1, tying for first place.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

It took the San Diego news corps awhile to get it right with Ermer Robinson, the San Diego High star and future Harlem Globetrotter.  He was known as “Irma” Robinson for the first month of this, his junior season.

Martin Payne, the sports editor of The Russ, San Diego High’s weekly newspaper, covered several games for The San Diego Union and was the first to ensure that Robinson was correctly identified, when Payne covered the Hilltoppers’ 25-19 league victory over Long Beach Poly.

DECEMBER FANCY

–Known as the County Interscholastic Tournament, an eight-team event took place with games at San Diego High, Hoover, Municipal Gym, and San Diego State. Grossmont defeated Point Loma, 30-12, for the championship.

–San Diego and Hoover at the same time were in the Huntington Beach Tournament, which also included Coronado. The Islanders opened with a 46-7 victory over Laguna Beach as Bud Ingle scored 20 points.  They were eliminated the next day by Ontario Chaffey, 22-17.

Coronado Islanders were Metropolitan League co-champions with Escondido and Grossmont. Front row (from left) James Mealy, Bob Wright, Sevy Molino, Scott Daubin, Dexter Lanois. Back row (from left) Herman Riedlinger, Jacob Gayle, Willard Matott, Bill Johns, Fritz Sanderman, Bob Thompson.

San Diego defeated Hoover, 24-15, for the Huntington Beach title after advancing with wins of 28-20 over defending champ Chaffey and 29-23 over Long Beach Wilson.  Hoover was in the finals after defeating Whittier, 36-26, and Santa Barbara, 20-19.

San Diego was forced to give up the Huntington Beach trophy when Bob (Lefty) Felthaus was declared ineligible by the CIF a few days later for having signed a professional baseball contract in 1939, days before his 17th birthday.

Brooklyn Dodgers scout Tom Downey, under heavy criticism from local prep officials, said that he signed Felthaus after the player stopped attending school, his having dropped out of Hoover.  Felthaus became a student again at San Diego and had turned out for basketball.

–“Irma” Robinson scored 10 points as San Diego, playing for the first time without Felthaus, opened the post-Christmas Chino Tournament with a 42-9 win over San Juan Capistrano.  The Hilltoppers buried Huntington Beach, 38-13, but lost to Burbank, 30-20, in the semifinals.  Poly won its second straight title, 34-24, over Burbank.

–St. Augustine lost to St. Mary’s of Phoenix, 36-27 in the Los Angeles Catholic League tournament.  Hoover defeated Grossmont, 11-7, and Point Loma topped Hoover, 26-8, in finals of the San Diego High invitational for Class C and D teams, respectively.

WE’LL PLAY ANYONE ANYTIME

Army-Navy’s 34-33 victory clinched a best, two-of-three series against the Oceanside chapter of the Knights of Pythias.  The cadets were not as fortunate against the so-named Vista Outlaws, who prevailed, 21-15.

OFFENSIVE OUTBURSTS

Ramona’s 59-17 victory over Fallbrook represented the single-game scoring high for the season. The Bulldogs also defeated Julian, 53-26.

Julian’s Bud Farmer had the top individual performance with 24 in a 38-31 victory over Army-Navy and added 22 in a 30-24 win over San Dieguito. Julian’s 51-6 rout of Fallbrook, with Farmer scoring one point, represented the third, 50-plus game in the county.

Hilltoppers coach Merrill Douglas saw Maley as one of the keys to the following season.

LATE ADDITION

San Diego’s season was over but Coach Merrill Douglas enticed Chino to come south a couple weeks later.  Douglas employed only players who would return for the 1941-42 season, opening with a starting lineup of Ermer Robinson, Jim Warner, Ron Maley, Denzil Walden, and Gerald Patrick.

The underclassmen delivered a 32-15 victory. Douglas would respond to a call from Uncle Sam after the next season and not return until the 1946-47 campaign.

ANYTHING FOR THE TEAM

Hoover’s Willie Steele set a record of 24 feet, ¾ inch, in the broad jump at the Southern Section track finals in Glendale in May, a few months after Steele served as student manager of the varsity basketball squad.  Steele was awarded a letter by coach Rickey Wilson, as was B squad manager Monroe (Bookie) Clark.

Steele, who played class B basketball the season before, went on to win the national collegiate broad jump championship at San Diego State and was the 1948 Olympic gold medalist in the event, with an all-time best of 26 feet, 6 ½ inches.

BE IT EVER SO HUMBLE

St. Augustine principal the Very Rev. W.B. Kirk announced that the Saints had found a home and would join the Southern Prep League in the next school year, after free-lancing and scuffling as an independent since the school opened in 1922.  The agreement was for one year, depending on the circuit’s ability to develop a schedule for eight teams.

Ramona, Julian, Fallbrook, Brown Military, Army-Navy, San Dieguito, and Vista were the other SPL members.  St. Augustine’s games would not count in the standings and the Saints eventually joined the Southland Catholic League of the Los Angeles area in 1945.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

“The Russ” outgoing editor Graham Ostrander (left) makes traditional hand off of keys to student newspaper office at San Diego High. Accepting is spring semester editor Martin Payne. Event took place during dinner at Hotel San Diego.

The U.S. census for 1940 reported San Diego County’s population at 289,348, including 203,737 in the city.   Other “township” totals: Borrego, 90; El Cajon, 20,160; Encinitas, 4,473; Escondido, 9,487; Fallbrook, 2,308; Jacumba, 1,214; National City, 32,213; Oceanside, 8,191;  Ramona, 3,384, and Vista, 4,091.

San Diego State, which would win the 1941 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship, drew a record 19,256 persons to 17 home games in the 1,800-capacity Men’s Gym.  The largest turnout was 1,713 for Santa Barbara State, although the record was 1,907 for a 1939 game against the Broadway Clowns.

SET SHOTS

The San Diego High gym was packed to the rafters with an estimated 1,900 persons when Hoover upended the Hilltoppers, 32-17…seven days later San Diego won at Hoover, 32-17…Coronado’s Metro League co-championship was achieved despite Coach Hal Niedermeyer’s suspension of Bud Ingle, the Metro’s leading scorer in 1939-40; Bill Hakes, and Al Galpin, early in the season…the three-team Coast’s all-league squad featured San Diego’s Bob (Lefty) Felthaus, Bob Carson, and Jack Maupin…Felthaus’ selection apparently was made on his reputation; he didn’t participate in league play…Hoover’s Rupert Crosthwaite, later well-known in San Diego circles for his ownership of a local sporting goods store, made second team….




2017 Week 12: It’s Playoff System Controversy Time

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 apparently had a stronger “strength of schedule” than 6-4 Brawley or 5-5 Morse, but the Barons were only the most recent example of the “participation trophy” mentality that has been evolving since the CIF first admitted a losing team, coincidentally Bonita Vista, in 1984.

The CIF seemed to even go out of its way to include 0-10 San Marcos in 2006.

Headine announcing San Marcos’ admittance to 2006 playoffs.

Steve Brand, then of The San Diego Union, wrote of the Knights’ inclusion that year:

“Mission Hills dumped San Marcos, 42-0 (in the regular-season-ending game) but the Knights received an unexpected bonus.   They were given a playoff berth.

“Madison and Crawford were out of the postseason because of (combined 11) forfeits, but instead of constructing an eight-team playoff bracket in Division IV, the committee of former coaches, overseen by (commissioner) Dennis Ackerman, opted for a 10-team bracket.”

Of the 11 eligible IV possibilities in 2006, San Marcos was picked over another winless club, Kearny.

“0-10 is 0-10,” Knights coach Desi Herrera admitted to Brand, “but the beauty is we’re starting 0-0 and the playoffs are where we aspire to be.  I want the players to get used to going to the playoffs every year.”

San Marcos was game but bowed in the first round to Coronado, 27-21. Bonita Vista exited last week after a 35-19 loss to Oceanside.

SOLUTIONS, ANYONE?

If not fewer divisions, smaller brackets would make for a more competitive postseason.

That won’t happen. The more the merrier is the financially-enhancing go-to philosophy throughout the state CIF’s 10 sections.

There will be more blowouts this week as the surviving 44 teams from the original 64 reach the quarterfinals in Open, I, II, II, and IV.  D-V teams are in the semifinals. Games should tighten up the following week.

RECORD SETTER

The echoes of Rancho Buena Vista’s thundering herd of the late 1980s were loud and clear on Longhorn Drive last week.  Running back Dorian Richardson brought back memories of Markeith Ross, Scott Garcia, and O.J. Hall, who ran and ran and ran in that era for the Rancho squads of Coach Craig Bell.

Richardson scored 8 touchdowns and rushed for 499 yards in 37 carries in the Longhorns’ 62-43, first-round win over Santana.

The yardage total bettered the section record of 436 by Mt. Carmel’s Ken James in 2009.

Richardson’s record touchdown total would have led the County for the whole season in 1943 and  been runner-up in in 1937 and ’40.

Hoover’s Eddie Crain and San Diego’s Tom Poole each scored 25 points in the abbreviated, wartime, six-game season of 1943. Point Loma’s Paul (Red) Isom had 54 points in 8 games in 1937 and Sweetwater’s Marcus Alonzo had 54 in 8 games in 1940.

Frank Green of Coronado scored 11 touchdowns in one game and a ttoal of 80 points in  a 108-0 win over Sweetwater in 1929

CALVIN CONKED

Julian upset undefeated and favored Calvin Christian, 26-21, in the D-VI eight-man finals at Ramona.

Eagles quarterback Ozzie Martinez scored 20 seconds into the game when he faked a pass and hustled 65 yards for a touchdown.

Julian’s Roman Sanders halted a Crusaders drive with less than a minute to play when he returned an intercepted pass 28 yards, allowing the Eagles to take possession and do  akneel-down.

QUICK KICKS

Despite having a bye, Mission Hills profited from some playoff losses of teams ahead of the Grizzlies, who advanced from 16th to 11th in Cal-Hi Sports’ Top 50…Helix gave ground, dropping to 25th from 24th despite a bye, and Ramona moved from 48th to 44th…The Bishop’s and San Marcos are on the bubble.

 




2017: Week 11:  Hats Off!

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 since school opened in 2004.

^^Tied for Mesa League championship, 1986.

**Tied for championship as member of Ocean League, 2014.

++Won championship as member of Eastern League.

Not included:  Eight-man and Independent squads.

POSTSEASON PEEVISHNESS

Playoff selections have stirred emotions for as long as most people can remember.

In a simpler time, league champions and, sometimes, second-place teams were included.

Then the playoffs began to expand and expand and expand…and expand.

Coaches were drafted to make selections. Complaints of bias and oversight were as common as if the media or school bosses were making the choices.

Then a few years ago came the ratings system, which took into account team performances over a multi-year period.

The ratings are out, replaced this season by a combination of  formulas developed  by Max Preps and Cal Preps.com, two nationally recognized sites recommended by coaches.

Sixty-four of the San Diego Section’s 80-odd teams playing 11-man football have postseason dates on their calendars.

It was inevitable that stinko teams would be included, winless Bonita Vista (0-10), among several others.

“There is no perfect formula to determine the seeds, but I think this is very close to right,” said CIF honcho Jerry Schniepp to writer John Maffei.

Tell that to Brawley (6-4) and Morse (5-5), two schools that were left out, despite long playoff traditions and  success, apparently because they had insufficient strengths of schedules.

MEYER PULLED NO PUNCHES

I like what legendary Herb Meyer said about the playoffs to writer Steve Brand in 1998, after Meyer declined a playoff invitation for his sub-.500 El Camino team:

“If you’re upright and can take a breath you’re in the playoffs these days.  It’s a joke. The playoffs should be a reward for having a good season and I certainly don’t consider 3-6-1 a good season.”

IRONIC

It was such when Valley Center defeated Monte Vista, 51-10, in the regular-season ending game.

The victory was the 214th in Jaguar coach Rob Gilster’s career.  He’s now tied with, you guessed it, Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto for seventh place on the all-time list.

TURNAROUNDS

TEAM 2016 2017 COACH
San Diego 2-8 10-0 Charles James
El Centro Central 3-8 9-1 David Pena
Kearny 3-8 8-2 Will Gray
Montgomery 3-7 7-3 Sanjevi Subbiah
Otay Ranch 4-8 7-3 Lance Christensen
Ramona 5-6 10-0 Damon Baldwin
Crawford 3-7 6-4 Mike Wright

QUICK KICKS

The Bishop’s Mozes Mooney has 65 career touchdown receptions, one less than the state record, set in 2000 by Earvin Johnson of L.A. Cathedral and tied last week by Murrieta Valley’s Marquise Spiker…Mooney and Spiker both will  have opportunities for more in the playoffs…Mission Hills moved from 16th to 11th in Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly top 50…Helix climbed to 24th from 29th and Ramona from 50th to 48th…San Marcos is on the bubble,., Mission Hills, on top since Week 3,  finished the regular season No. 1 locally, with voting suspended from now until the end of the postseason….

The Union-Tribune Week 11 poll:

Rank Team 2017 Points Last Week
1. Mission Hills (24) 10-0 276 1
2. Helix (4) 9-1 256 2
3. Ramona 10-0 216 3
4. La Costa Canyon 7-3* 163 7
5. San Marcos 8-2 144 4
6. The Bishop’s 9-0 140 6
7. St. Augustine 7-3 99 9
8. Madison 8-2 88 8
9. Torrey Pines 6-4 82 5
10. Lincoln 8-2 20 NR

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

*Forfeit loss.

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Valley Center (9-1, 18 points),  Eastlake (8-2, 12) El Centro Southwest (10-0, 10), San Diego (10-0, 4),  Otay Ranch (7-3, 2), Grossmont (7-3, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




2017 Week 10: Regular Season Undefeated Prizes Await 6

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 over Steele Canyon.

Grossmont hasn‘t beaten Helix since 1992, a span of 20 consecutive losses to its La Mesa neighbor.

What gives?

The Foothillers are not alone.

Helix is to its league opponents, Grossmont  in particular, what San Diego was to those on its schedule in the old City Prep League.

The Highlanders are 35-1 in circuit play since 2010 and 50-4 since 2006.  The Cavers were 52-3-1 versus City League and Eastern League competition from 1950-59.

SIX STILL UNDEFEATED

–Calvin Christian (9-0) can earn its second straight, eight-man, Ocean League title against Foothills Christian (6-2).

The Crusaders, located in Escondido with a student body of about 125, are 26-4 in the last three years under Coach Randy Kreglow, who was 16-23 in his first four seasons.

–El Centro Southwest, 31-13 since 2014 under John Mitosinka, is 9-0 for the first time and will seek its first Imperial Valley League title since 2010 against Calexico.

–Mission Hills (9-0), unquestionably the North County’s leader—111-35-2 since 2006 under Coach Chris Hauser, after Hauser guided the Grizzlies through 1-10 and 4-6 beginnings in 2004 and ’05—can earn a seventh league championship in Hauser’s 13 seasons.

Mission Hills, which survived a tense battle last week and nosed out Torrey Pines, 24-23 (the Falcons scored with 1:01 left but botched the snap on a two-point conversion attempt  and then almost recovered an onside kick), will meet tough San Marcos (8-1), a loser only to Torrey Pines, 38-21, for the Avocado League title and Highway 78 bragging rights.

–Coach Charles James’s San Diego 9-0 squad can claim its first outright league championship since 1960, after sharing the crown in 1964, ’69, and ’74, when the Cavers attempt to keep pace with the 1925, ’47, ’55, ’57, and ’58 teams, which also were 9-0  at this juncture.

–The Bishop’s (8-0), which topped Classical, 73-0, to claim its third 70-point explosion in the last two seasons (with 4 more of at least 60 since 2015) will try to improve on its 20-13, all-time series lead against La Jolla Country Day and knock down the Knights’ third Coastal League title in the last 4 seasons.

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

La Costa Canyon used an ineligible player and it cost the Mavericks a 50-13 win over Mt. Carmel in the second game of the season.  The Mavericks are 7-2 competitively but 6-3 legislatively.

QUICK KICKS

La Jolla (5-4) visits University City (8-1) for the City League championship and Julian and Salton City West Shores, each 5-2, roll in the Citrus League title decider…Mission Hills dropped to 16th and Helix stayed at 29th in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports state top 50…Ramona moved from No. 50 to 48 and San Marcos is on the bubble..Mission Hills has 23 No. 1 votes and Helix picked up 3 for a total of  5  in the Union-Tribune  Week 10 poll:

Rank Team 2017 Points Last Week
1. Mission Hills (23) 9-0 275 1
2. Helix (5) 8-1 257 2
3. Ramona 9-0 213 3
4. San Marcos 8-1 185 4
5. Torrey Pines 7-2 154 5
6. The Bishop’s 8-0 123 6
7. La Costa Canyon 6-3* 115 8
8. Madison 7-2 69 10
9. St. Augustine 6-3 66 9
10. Point Loma 6-3 29 NR

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

*Forfeit loss.

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Lincoln (7-2, 22 points),  Valley Center (8-1, 12) El Centro Southwest (9-0, 8), Eastlake (7-2, 6) El Camino (5-4, 6),  San Diego (9-0, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

 

 

 

 

 




1949-50: 4th in League, 1st in Southern California

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 year before.

CIF Commissioner Seth Van Patten asked for some membership feedback when Van Patten posted his CIF newsletter in March, 1949.

Van Patten wanted to add a playoff bracket for small schools.

Big schools had dominated the postseason.  A team generated from a student body of 2,000 often was matched against another with an enrollment of several hundred less.

Van Patten must have liked the responses, because a new bracket for the little guys was implemented this season.

SPARTANS LIKE FOREIGN HOME

Point Loma opened a beautiful, 1,800-seat gymnasium on campus. The facility included a balcony on one side, similar to the 1939 vintage layout at Hoover.

The Point Loma gym for years would serve as the site for Harlem Globetrotters games, NBA preseason games, home games for the Pointers…and for the Chula Vista Spartans.

Chula Vista, like most of the area’s teams, did not have a court.  The Spartans would not move into the Chula Vista Recreation Center until the mid-1950s and into their campus gym until a few years after that.

Major playoffs had been held at one site after the first round of games, lately at Redondo Beach Redondo Union.

With a new division, Van Patten looked for a suitable site for games beyond the opening round.  Made aware of the facility in San Diego, Van Patten contacted Darrell Smith, San Diego City Schools’ athletics coordinator.

An agreement was reached between the City Schools and CIF that put in place a bracket of six squads competing over two days at Point Loma.

The teams were Chula Vista, Claremont, Brawley, Beaumont, San Dieguito, and Garden Grove.

MEDIOCRE RECORD

What was fourth-place Chula Vista doing in the playoffs?

The Spartans, 9-9 overall,  posted a 4-3 league record and tied with Kearny in the Metro, behind triple co-champions La Jolla, Point Loma, and Sweetwater.

Given the Metropolitan circuit’s playoff history, it was not surprising that the three co-champions each declined an invitation to participate.

Metro football winners, dating to the league’s beginning in 1933, generally bypassed the postseason.  The latest example was the first-place, 7-1 La Jolla football team in 1948.

Metro basketball champs recently had been more agreeable to participating, so there were some raised eyebrows when the door was left open for Chula Vista, which was selected over Kearny.

La Jolla’s Bill Reaves splits Kearny defenders Jim Neihart (left) and David Miramontes.

ANOTHER ASSIST

The Spartans caught one more break.  They were seeded into the semifinals, meaning they did not have play twice on Friday, as did Claremont and Garden Grove.

Claremont defeated Beaumont, 47-37, and Garden Grove eliminated San Dieguito, 45-39, in the first round.

Chula Vista, defeated Brawley, 46-27, and Claremont knocked off Garden Grove, 38-33, in the last of four Friday games.

The Spartans, beginning a decade in which they were a class power in football, basketball, and baseball, winning or competing for several championships, topped Claremont, 39-26 in the finals.

MUSTANGS CORRALED

San Dieguito, a member of the Southern Prep League since the school opened in 1936, rolled with a 14-0 league record and was 24-4 overall but must have felt as if salt was being rubbed into  a wound.

The wound was a 45-39 loss to Garden Grove in the playoff opener.  The salt was the league realignment in San Diego that left the Mustangs in the Southern Prep, which the Encinitans felt they had outgrown.

Lanky Graham Grande led 24-win San Dieguito.

Mustangs bosses and fans were upset they were not invited to the Metro, which was reconstructed after Kearny and La Jolla left to join the new City Prep League, which made its debut in the 1950-51 school year..

Led by 6-foot, 4-inch Graham Grande, the County’s  probable leading scorer with 423 points and 15.1 average, coach Jack Davidson’s club won league games by scores such as 83-22 (Mountain Empire) and 72-15 (Brown Military).

San Dieguito eventually would get its wish, joining the Metro in 1951 and then becoming part of the new Avocado League in 1954.

TOURNAMENT TRAIL

A record 24 teams, including 16 in the large, Unlimited Division and with St. Augustine an invitee for the first time, the third annual Kiwanis Tournament had a repeat winner as El Monte defeated Pasadena Muir, 44-29, in the finals.

Grossmont’s Phil Embleton tied Bill McColl’s record of 69 points in 4 games, a 17.3 average, but San Dieguito’s Graham Grande had 54 in 3 for 18.0.

San Diego defeated Hoover, 28-18, for fifth place in a disappointing performance by local teams and then surprised by winning the prestigious Western States Tournament at Compton.

The Cavers defeated Los Angeles Cathedral, 44-26, and Santa Monica St. Monica, 42-37, and reached the finals by dealing Ventura its second loss in 21 games, 45-38,  as Dean Davis scored 18 points and Roy Fields 17.

San Diego won the championship, 36-35, over L.A. Mt. Carmel and Davis was the tournament’s most-valuable player, joined by Fields on the all-tournament team. Hoover bowed in the consolation semifinals, 36-35, to Santa Barbara.

Chula Vista reached the consolation semifinals of the Chino Tournament before losing to Chino, 40-39.  The Spartans fell to San Bernardino, 37-23, in the opening game and beat Azusa Citrus, 38-29.

San Diego’s season ended with a 43-34 victory in the morning over Long Beach Jordan and an afternoon, 43-39 loss to Ventura in the Beverly Hills tournament.

INDOOR AND OUTDOOR CAVERS?

Host Pasadena Muir defeated San Diego, 42-26, in a Coast League opening weekend game. Not a shocking event, but the result as published had more questions than answers.

The San Diego Union account, probably telephoned in by San Diego coach Merrill Douglas or a student manager, described a  game that was played in an “open-sided gymnasium and it was rainy and frigid.”

A partially enclosed playing area, or was the game outdoors in inclement weather?  There was no follow story in local newspapers.

San Diego completed a 20-8 season with a 6-4 Coast League record and second place finish to Compton.  One of the victories was 32-31 at home against Muir in which the Cavers used a “wheel passing offense” while stalling the last three minutes.

Charlie Powell did not accompany the Cavers to the Western States event after missing practice during the Christmas Holidays and was not  part of the San Diego contingent that split a pair of weekend games in the Imperial Valley, beating Brawley, 39-30, and losing to Calexico, 32-26.

The 6-foot, 3-inch, 225-pound Charlie Powell of San Diego rumbled in the paint with Hoover’s George Boop (left) and unidentified Cardinal. San Diego won, 29-21.

HYPERBOLE

“Escondido pulled off one of the most surprising upsets in the history of local prep basketball,” wrote Gardner Morse in The San Diego Union after the Cougars defeated La Jolla, 32-30.  Hardly. The Cougars were 3-4 in league play and La Jolla was 5-2, same as Coronado and Point Loma.

OOPS

Sweetwater’s Pat Tomlinson survived an embarrassing moment against Vista in the Kiwanis Tournament.  Tomlinson scored a wrong-goal basket for Vista, but the Red Devils  won, 29-27, in overtime.

ARRIVEDERCI, COAST LEAGUE

San Diego, Hoover, and Grossmont were saying good bye to the historically most prominent circuit in Southern California, joining the new City Prep League after an announcement in early February, 1950.

The Cavers had been Coast members since 1923, except for the 1942-45 period of World War II.  Hoover joined in 1937 and Grossmont in 1948.

SET SHOTS

Hoover defeated San Diego, 62-38, in a game between alumni of the schools, proceeds going to financial aid at San Diego State for Cardinals and Cavers varsity players…San Dieguito won by an average score of 61-29  in running the table against Southern Prep League competition…Bill Foy of Army-Navy set a SPL individual record with 28 points in the Warriors 58-40 win over Fallbrook…Jack Goddard had 27 in Vista’s 67-22 triumph over Mountain Empire…three-year veteran Bob (Bama) Shell of St. Augustine had the highest single game scoring total of the season with 31 in a 58-36 victory over Sweetwater at Municipal Gym…season totals weren’t available but Grossmont’s Phil Embleton led Coast League scorers with 150 points in 9 games for a 16.7 average…Coronado passed on the Kiwanis Tournament but was all over the map, schedule-wise, losing to the  “taller and older” U.S.S. Badoeng Strait, 50-36, defeating Naval Air, 53-50, and losing to a Tijuana high school on a court in the Baja California community…Bill Reaves, who would coach La Jolla to a 28-1 record in the 1963-64 season, was a starting guard for the Vikings…future international badminton star and NFL game official Jim Poole was a Point Loma standout….