The Helix boys and Serra girls are still in the hunt.

Both teams have reached the finals of the Southern California Regional playoffs, last step before the state championships March 24-25 at the Golden Center in Sacramento.

Helix (30-5), the No. 2 seed in Division IV, defeated Carson of the L.A. City Section, 56-53, for its 21st consecutive victory, 15^th in a row at home, and now will play its fourth straight game as host, Saturday night at 6.

The Highlanders will take on Reedley Immanuel (23-8), with the winner meeting the Northern California champion, either Salinas Palma or Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent, which also play Saturday evening.

D-III six seed Serra (23-10) qualified to meet 1 seed Anaheim Rosary (28-5) after a 57-51 win over No. 2 Camarillo.

SIX ELIMINATED

St. Augustine strived mightily against the taller and favored hosts from Santa Ana Mater Dei, but the Saints were only 6 for 22 in three-point attempts and committed 22 turnovers in a 63-57 loss.

Taeshon Cherry scored 25 points and had 11 rebounds for the San Diego club and was the best player on the floor.

The Saints should be back knocking on the door again in 2017-18.

Fourteen D-III seed Orange Glen’s unexpected ride came to an end when the Patriots were outscored, 17-7, in overtime and dropped a 72-62 decision at No. 2-ranked Villa Park.

Mission Hills was a 66-57 loser at Long Beach Poly and The Bishop’s, after a 315-mile ride, over the Grapevine and up Highway 99, were run off the floor by Clovis West, 73-31, in Girls’ Open Division contests.

Rancho Bernardo was a 57-49 loser to Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos in D-IV, and Olympian was ousted, 70-53, by Riverside Notre Dame in D-V.

FINAL STATE SELECTIONS

With Cal-Hi Sports’ last rankings to be made after the state finals. San Diego’s representation could change.

St. Augustine had moved from seventh to fourth before the Mater Dei game and Torrey Pines was 15^th in boys’ play.

Mission Hills was fourth in the girls’ rankings and The Bishop’s had jumped from unranked to 12^th after upsetting Studio City Harvard-Westlake, 63-60, in the quarterfinals.

 

The  Southern California regional of the state playoffs reached the semifinal round after San Diego Section teams qualified eight of the 17 teams it sent to the weekend quarterfinals.

All local boys and girls teams except Helix will be on the road Tuesday night.  The Highlanders (29-5), seeded No. 2 in Boys’ Division IV, play host to 3 seed Carson (23-6)  of the Los Angeles City Section.

Beginning with Open Division  6 seed St. Augustine (28-4), a scrappy, 88-81 winner over nationally regarded and Southern California third-ranked Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, all section teams except Helix will be in against favored clubs.

The Saints will try for the third time at No. 2 Santa Ana Mater Dei (32-2), having lost to the Monarchs, 86-62, in the Diablo Inferno at Mission Viejo on Dec. 3 and 74-62 at the Nike Extravaganza Feb. 4 at Mater Dei.

If there is a potential Cinderella, the D-IV Orange Glen Patriots are the top candidate at this juncture.

The 14 seed from east Escondido visits No. 2 Villa Park.  The Patriots are the South’s lowest ranked squad still alive in  boys or girls.

The lowest overall  seed in the state still playing is Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, a No. 15 in the Northern California D-II regional. Eastlake, a 12 seed in D-V and not in the box below, visits No. 1 Riverside Notre Dame.

Helix, should it defeat Carson, would take on the winner of No. 1 Burbank (25-9)  and No. 5 Reedley Immanuel (22-8) on Saturday, March 18, at 6 p.m. If Burbank wins, the Bulldogs would host.  If Immanuel wins, Helix would host.

GIRLS SEMIFINALS LOADED

The Bishop’s (30-3), seeded fifth in the Open, will make the South regional’s longest trip, 368 miles, to face No. 1-ranked Clovis East (31-2).

Mission Hills (31-2), seeded  third in the Open, revisits 2 seed Long Beach Poly, which sent the Grizzlies home with a 58-41 loss in the first round of the 2015 regional.

The four Girls’ opponents are ranked 2, 1, 2, and 1.  One of those top-ranked squads is No. 2 Camarillo, which represents a 175-mile trip for No. 6 Serra.

BOYS

Division	Team	Opponent
Open	6 St. Augustine (28-4)	@2 Santa Ana Mater Dei (32-2)
III	14 Orange Glen (23-9)	@2 Villa Park, 25-6
IV	2 Helix (29-5)	3 Carson (23-6)

GIRLS

Division	Team	Opponent
Open	3 Mission Hills (30-2)	@ 2 Long Beach Poly (25-3)
	5 The Bishop’s (30-3)	@1 Clovis West (31-2)
III	6 Serra (22-10)	@2 Camarillo (30-3)
IV	4 Rancho Bernardo (23-6)	@1 Rancho  Cucamonga Los Osos (25-3)

 

With Open Division play beginning with quarterfinals tonight, seventeen of 31 San Diego Section teams still are in the Southern California regionals of the state playoffs.

Boys teams won seven of Wednesday’s 13, opening-round games, were 6-1 in road games, and 3-3 at home.  

Four lower seeds, Vista, Orange Glen, Olympian, and Mission Hills won and three higher seeds, Foothills Christian, Mater Dei, and La Costa Canyon lost.

Girls teams won 6 of 14, opening-round games Wednesday, were 6-1 at home, and 0-7 on the road.   Favored Poway was beaten by Huntington Beach, 52-43, in the only upset.

Biggest surprises so far were No 11 seed Vista’s remarkable, double-overtime, 97-94 win at No. 6 Rancho Santa Margarita and, just a few miles South, No. 13 Orange Glen’s 66-65, overtime victory at No. 4 Capistrano Valley.

Going into tonight’s four Open Division contests, San Diego Section clubs are 13-14 overall, 9-4 at home, and 6-8 on the road.

San Diego teams will be visitors in 11 of the 16 quarterfinals games.

BOYS FRIDAY, MARCH 10

Open	6 St. Augustine (27-4)	@3 Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (27-4)
	8 Torrey Pines (28-4)	@1 Torrance Bishop Montgomery (27-2)

BOYS  SATURDAY, MARCH 11

Div.	Team	Opponent
I	11 Vista (29-3)	@3 Woodland Hills Taft (26-10)
II	12 Mission Hills (22-8)	13 Pasadena (25-6)
III	8 Santa Fe Christian (21-10)	@1 Ontario Colony (28-5)
	13 Orange Glen (22-9)	@6 Selma (30-4)
IV	2 Helix (28-5)	7 West Torrance (23-8)
V	4 Brawley (27-7)	13  Olympian (29-3)

GIRLS FRIDAY, MARCH 10

Open	3 Mission Hills (29-2)	6 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda (26-2)
	5 The Bishop’s (29-3)	@4 Studio City Harvard-Westlake (25-4)

GIRLS SATURDAY, MARCH 11

Div.	Team	Opponent
I	8 La Jolla Country Day (18-11)	@1 L.A. Windward (26-4)
III	6 Serra (21-10)	@3 L.A. Marlboro (22-8)
	7 Mater Dei (22-11)	@2  Camarillo (29-4)
IV	4 Rancho Bernardo (26-6)	5 Cerritos Valley Christian (22-9)
	6 Scripps Ranch (27-5)	@3 Sun Valley Village Christian (29-3)
V	7 Escondido Adventist (23-3)	@2 Irvine Crean (19-11)

 

 

Thirty-one teams from the San Diego Section begin play Wednesday and Friday nights in the Southern California regional  playoffs.

Regional winners will qualify for the state championships against Northern California winners.

The CIF state committee which created the seedings and brackets based on the power ratings model didn’t think highly of the San Diego Section’s 15 boys’ teams chances or those of the 16 girls’ squads.

Helix, seeded 2 in Boys’ D-IV, is the highest ranked boys club.  Brawley, a 4 seed in D-V, is the only other male team with a seeding higher than 6.

Helix (28-5) gets a Wednesday night home game against No. 15 Granada Hills (14-16), better known as the alma mater of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.

Brawley, Foothills Christian, Mater Dei, and Santa Fe Christian are the only others with home games.

St. Augustine and Torrey Pines, San Diego Section Open Division finalists, were placed in the eight-team regional Open, which begins play Friday night.

Helix, on an 18-game winning streak and having played a decidedly easier, mostly local schedule, was given a lower division slot and a presumed stronger prospect of advancing to the to the state final.

St. Augustine and Torrey Pines played stronger intersectional schedules and were “rewarded” with first-round road games against loaded, nationally ranked Southern Section teams Chatsworth Sierra Canyon  and Torrance Bishop Montgomery, respectively.

GIRLS FARE BETTER

Nine teams earned seeds that will give them home games, beginning Wednesday night.

Mission Hills (29-2) is No. 3 in the Open Division and plays host on Friday to a dangerous 6 seed, 28-2 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda.

Rancho Bernardo (4), The Bishop’s (5), Serra (6), Scripps Ranch (6), Mater Dei (7), and Escondido Adventist (7) all will act as hosts.

The biggest underdog of all 31 teams appears to be the Guajome Park Frogs, who have a 19-9 record but are seeded 16^th in boys’ D-V and will travel to No. 1 seed Riverside Notre Dame.

FINAL UNION-TRIBUNE TOP 10

1–St. Augustine, 2–Torrey Pines, 3–Foothills Christian, 4–Helix, 5–Vista, 6—Mater Dei, 7—Mission Hills, 8—Santa Fe Christian, 9—La Jolla Country Day, 10—Canyon Crest.

BOYS PAIRINGS

DIV.	SEED	TEAM	W/L	VS.	SEED	W/L
OPEN	6	St. Augustine	27-4	@Chatsworth Sierra Canyon	3	27-2
	8	Torrey Pines	28-4	@Torrance Bishop Montgomery	1	27-2
1	7	Foothills Christian	24-6	Oak Park	10	22-8
	11	Vista	28-3	@Rancho Santa Margarita	6	21-8
II	8	Mater Dei	23-5	Studio City Harvard-Westlake	9	21-11
	12	Mission Hills	21-8	@Moreno Valley Rancho Verde	5	26-3
III	7	La Jolla Country Day	19-10	L.A. Washington	10	22-6
	8	Santa Fe Christian	20-10	Vista Murrieta	9	24-5
	14	Orange Glen	21-6	@Capistrano Valley	3	25-6
IV	2	Helix	27-5	Granada Hills	15	14-16
	13	Sage Creek	14-17	@Twentynine Palms	4	27-3
	14	Lincoln	21-12	@L.A. Carson	3	21-6
V	12	Olympian	28-3	@Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian	5	22-5
	16	Guajome Park	19-9	@Riverside Notre Dame	1	29-3
	4	Brawley	21-7	L.A. Watts New Design	13	19-2

GIRLS PAIRINGS

DIV.	SEED	TEAM	W/L	VS.	SEED	W/L
OPEN	3	Mission Hills	29-2	Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda	6	28-2
	5	The Bishop’s	28-3	@Studio City Harvard-Westlake	4	25-4
I	8	La Jolla Country Day	18-11	L.A. Palisades	9	25-9
	13	Eastlake	23-7	@Brea-Olinda	4	23-7
II	13	La Costa Canyon	25-5	@L.B. Millikan	4	19-8
	14	Westview	19-10	@Mission Hills Chaminade	3	16-11
	7	Poway	24-6	Huntington Beach	10	23-9
III	13	San  Marcos	19-11	@Lawndale Leuzinger	4	23-10
	6	Serra	20-10	L.A. Westchester	11	18-16
	7	Mater Dei	21-11	San Juan Capistrano JSerra	10	16-14
IV	16	Lincoln	27-4	@Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos	1	22-3
	4	Rancho Bernardo	25-6	L.A. Torres	13	20-6
	6	Scripps Ranch	26-5	Pasadena	11	22-10
V	12	Maranatha	19-8	@Palos Verdes Rolling Hills	5	28-3
	7	Escondido Adventist	22-3	Riverside Carnegie	10	16-4
	15	Pacific Ridge	10-14	Irvine Crean	2	18-11

 

The rubber didn’t hit the road.

So it was with the endangered 1942 season, buffeted by the winds of war that thrust San Diego to the forefront of the defense effort.

Gasoline rationing shortly would go from volunteered to mandatory.  Night football was out. So was travel.

The long-distance conference call became a popular means of communication in the CIF.

San Diego school officials were thinking long and hard and worried.

John Aseltine’s concern was magnified when he returned from the summer school break.  The San Diego High principal was greeted by telephone messages from principals at Compton and Alhambra.

Across town at Hoover, principal Floyd Johnson was alerted to a call from the Pasadena Bullpups.

The three Northern schools, located at least 120 miles away and members with the Hilltoppers and Cardinals in the 17-team Major Conference, were candid with their San Diego colleagues.

They wanted out of scheduled road games. As the days passed so did other Los Angeles-area clubs.  Uncle Sam had spoken.

San Diego and Hoover, the far South links of the league, suddenly were on the outside looking in.

Travel, always an annoying fact of life for teams in the “Border Town”, was now a problem that could not be overcome.

A shortage of fuel did not exist, according to “Mandatory Gas Rationing…lots of Whining”, in a historic review of 1942.

America had plenty of gas, but there was a shortage of rubber.

Defense plants in San Diego and elsewhere were badly in need of the substance. Imports had “slowed to a trickle”, since many traditional sources had fallen under Japanese control.

Jumpy and cautious after the Pearl Harbor attack, the government also enacted “dim-outs,” which virtually banned after-dark illumination.  San Diego and the numerous coastal communities on U.S. 101 from Mexico to Canada were considered vulnerable to Japanese air raids.

Backyard bomb shelters were being dug everywhere.

METRO TO RESCUE

Relief for the traditional powers would come from their so-called “county cousins” and   “little brothers” in the city.

The Metropolitan League, composed of the city’s Point Loma and La Jolla and the County’s Sweetwater, Grossmont, Coronado, Oceanside, and Escondido, invited Hoover and San Diego to join their league.

With a caveat:

Hoover and San Diego would be asked to split their squads  in order to bring the others more competitively in line with the big schools.

Coaches and administrators passed the proposal in a meeting at San Diego State that preceded the San Diego County Football Officials’ Association first gathering of the season.

The Metro went from a seven-team conference to one of 11 teams, including the San Diego Blues and San Diego Whites and Hoover Reds and Hoover Whites.

San Diego and Hoover divided their teams in a “choose-up” ceremony officiated by Sweetwater athletic director Vance Clymer.  Two leading players at each school selected players for their teams with alternate picks.

The White and Blue San Diego squads became known as the Cavemen and Hillers.  Hoover stayed with Whites and Reds.

City schools principals released a statement that said the proposed circuit was being accepted in  light of a wartime measure and it was their hope to cooperate with the war effort to the extent of conserving rubber and gasoline and relieving traffic on the highways.

Instead of three-hour-plus runs to the North, Hoover and San Diego  came into line with the others.  The longest trip now would be an occasional 40-to-50 mile, mid-day jaunt, usually when Grossmont or Sweetwater played Oceanside or Escondido.

The Southern League, with Vista, San Dieguito, Army-Navy, and Ramona, shared little travel.  League members Brown Military and St. Augustine, whose games did not count in the standings, played all their games on the road.

The Southern League’s breathing was labored.  Except for the Saints, teams played no more than 5 games.

Travel would be reduced even more in the future.

LESS GAS, MORE RUBBER

The best way to conserve rubber was to make it more difficult for people to use their automobiles.  And the best way to do that was  to limit the amount of gasoline purchased.

Americans soon were introduced to the ration card, which had to be presented on every trip to the filling station.

Class A drivers were allowed only 3 gallons a week.  Class B drivers (factory workers, traveling salesmen) were allowed 8 gallons a week.

Classes C, T and X were not subject to restriction.  Those classes included war workers, police, doctors, letter carriers, truck drivers, politicians, and other “important people”.

WHOA, NELLIE!

The Cavemen came out of the “draft” with the best player, quarterback Nelson Manuel, who topped all scorers with 86 points (14 touchdowns, 2 PAT) and led his squad to an 8-0-1 record.

One of Manuel’s teammates was tackle George Schutte, future USC lineman, longtime coach and instructor at San Diego City College, and legendary football game official.

Schutte also has a place in USC history.  His outstanding block sprung a Trojans runner for a touchdown in USC’s mighty challenge to unbeaten, No. 1-ranked Notre Dame in 1948.

Before 100,571 fans in the Los Angeles Coliseum, underdog USC led Notre Dame, 14-7, until an 82-yard kickoff return and pass interference penalty positioned the Irish to tie the game with 35 seconds remaining and extend their unbeaten streak to 28 games.

MANUEL THE FIRST?

Evening Tribune writer Bud Maloney, years later, suggested that Nelson Manuel may have been the first black T-formation quarterback.

The T was introduced in 1940 by Stanford coach Clark Shaughnessy, whose team upset Nebraska 21-13 in the 1941 Rose Bowl.

San Diego’s Joe Beerkle became a disciple and was among the first high school coaches to install the T.  Beerkle positioned the athletic and savvy Manuel behind the center.

CAVEMEN DOMINATE CARNIVAL

With Manuel passing for one touchdown and running for another, the Cavemen led the San Diego and La Jolla aggregations to a 21-7 victory over Hoover and Point Loma in the fifth annual City Schools carnival, with proceeds from the crowd of 8,000 going to the Red Cross.

Beerkle and Hoover coach Raleigh Holt stayed with their original plans not to combine squads. The Hillers and Hoover Reds were scoreless in the fourth quarter.

WHAT ABOUT THE BIG GAME?

There still would be the 10^th annual San Diego-Hoover game for city bragging rights.  The split squads would come together as one for a single game after the Metropolitan League season.

That the San Diego varsity defeated the Hoover varsity, 20-6, before about 8,000 in Balboa Stadium was no surprise.

In the season’s first “big game”, the Cavemen (5-0-1) met the Reds (5-0-1) in what the downtown media described as having “the earmarks of a real grid titanic.”

The visiting Cavemen made it no contest, winning, 41-13.  Nelson Manuel threw touchdown passes to Bill Nevins (2) and Jim Wallace and finished the day with touchdowns on runs of one and nine yards.

The Cavemen and Hillers posted a 3-0-1 record against the Whites and Reds, the Cavemen earning the championship with a 7-0-1 league record. The Reds were second at 6-1-1.

Operating under the new league setup an additional, “minor division” title was awarded to a pre-war Metropolitan League member, the nod going to Point Loma, which was 6-1-2 and third overall.

Point Loma clinched the title with a 26-6 victory over La Jolla as Larry Purdy threw two touchdown passes to Ed Klosterman and ran for another.

It was a somewhat pyrrhic victory for the Pointers, whose head coach, Bill Bailey, was leaving and moving downtown to become head coach at San Diego in 1943.

FIELD GOALS, ANYONE?

Until the soccer-style kicker emerged in the early 1960s, San  Diego teams would go years without even attempting field goals. Not this season:

–Carl Kruger, Coronado, 35 yards, in 6-3 loss to Hoover Reds.

–Neal Black, San Diego,  31 yards in San Diego Hillers’ 17-6 win over St. Augustine.

–Ted Smith, Grossmont,  33 yards  with five minutes remaining for difference in Grossmont’s 9-6 victory over San Diego Hillers.

–Don Sparling, Grossmont, 20 yards in 9-7 win over Grossmont.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Sailor Richard Thornbrue, 22, of the Naval Air Station lived a red-letter day on Nov. 20, 1942.

Thornbrue, whose duties included administering “boots” (recruits) their haircuts, filed for a marriage license with Bernice Hendrickson, 19.

Earlier in the day the tonsorial specialist said he “nearly passed out” when apprentice seaman Henry Fonda took a seat on Thorngrue’s barber’s chair.

Fonda’s wavy locks soon were on the shop floor.  “He got a regulation cut, same as the other recruits,” said Thorngrue of the award-winning actor.  “There wasn’t much hair left when I finished.”

THEY’RE CALLED KEY CANS

Every public school room in San Diego was equipped with a “key kan” for collection of discarded keys which contained metals necessary to the war effort.

Old keys included copper, nickel, and zinc.  Proceeds from sale of the metal would go to the United Service Organization.

TRUE GRID

Because of the war the Southern League’s Fallbrook High, located near the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, did not field a team and would not be back on the gridiron until 1944…Halfback Tommy Parker and guard Ben Edens were among Hoover’s key players and later made their marks as coaches, “Tom” at Sweetwater from 1954-60, “Bennie” at Point Loma from 1955-1997…it was a fine moment in Jack Mashin’s long coaching career at Grossmont when only 14 Foothillers went out to battle the powerful San Diego Cavemen but came away with a 13-13 tie at Grossmont… …not much offense in the Hoover-San Diego varsity game, the Cavers gaining 141 yards to the Cardinals’ 64…San Diego’s Jim Wallace combined with Manuel on a reverse and hauled 54 yards for a punt return touchdown…Manuel scored twice on runs of 20 and 7 yards…Tony Gerache ran 95 yards for a touchdown as the Hillers defeated Oceanside 21-7…end Fred Gallup of Escondido, tackle Bob Kaiser of Hoover, guard Carl Kruger of Coronado, and quarterback Nelson Manuel of San Diego earned all-Southern California third-team honors…local football coaches who responded in the spring to a call from Uncle Sam:  Charlie Wilson, Point Loma; Marvin Clark, La Jolla; Pete Walker, Hoover….

 

.

Dougherty Gymnasium went out in a blaze…of technicals!

The final two games at  St. Augustine were in  keeping with the history of the  64-year-old building, a bandbox of often ear-splitting noise, tightly-packed crowds, and  barnburner finishes.

Foothills Christian coach Brad Leaf will be serving a suspension when the Knights open play in the Southern California regionals of the state playoffs next week.

Despite the 72-69 loss to the Saints in semifinals of the San Diego Section playoffs, Foothills will join St. Augustine, Torrey Pines, and five other local Open Division teams in the extended postseason.

Blame Leaf’s one-time benching on the decibel level created by the overflowing mass of humanity in the old gym or the spirit of Fr. Dougherty.

Fr. Joseph Dougherty was an Augustinian Provincial who led the  fund-raising drive that resulted in the Dec. 3, 1951, dedication of the squat, brick edifice that seats maybe 700 persons and occupies a campus niche on Palm Avenue between 32nd and Bancroft streets.

COACH BANISHED

Leaf received two technicals and an automatic ejection with 1.5 seconds remaining in the game.

As a team, Foothills was hit with three technicals because  a Knights player, or Leaf, called time out after Foothills rebounded a missed shot with 1.9 seconds remaining and the score tied at 69.

Foothills, however, was out of time outs, prompting the first whistle.

Leaf got into trouble when he began shouting that he had not called time out, resulting in technical No. 1.

When Leaf stalked the referee across the court, another in the crew raised his right hand to signal the second technical and ejection.

“It was a chaotic situation,” Leaf later said to writer John Maffei of the Union-Tribune.  “The gym was packed, everyone was standing. It was tough to hear or see anything….”

SAINTS ON RECEIVING END

The Saints’ Taeshon Cherry was shown the door three nights before after the player complained about a  foul in the second quarter of the Saints’ 68-45, quarterfinals win over La Costa Canyon.

CIF commissioner Jerry Schniepp overturned Cherry’s ejection after the crew of officials admitted  a mistake and that Cherry had not received two technicals, since the first whistle had resulted in a common foul.

Saints coach Mike Haupt didn’t start Cherry against Foothills but the 6-foot, 8-inch junior got into the game minutes later and scored 17 points.

OTTO MAN

The Saints’ game hero was Otto Taylor, a 6-1 senior who scored 23 points and hit three free throws in six attempts (two for each technical) with 1.5 remaining to give St. Augustine the victory.

SET SHOTS

Dougherty Gym will be used for other school purposes next season, when the Saints move into their new 1,500-seat arena on campus…the Open finals Saturday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus will match the No. 1 (St. Augustine) and No. 2 (Torrey Pines) teams in the Union-Tribune weekly poll…the Girls Open final will bring together No. 1 Mission Hills and No. 2 The Bishop’s…St. Augustine is eighth in the Cal-Hi Sports state top 20 and Torrey Pines  16th…Mission Hills is fourth and The Bishop’s is on the bubble in the Girls’ top 20….