Kearny High became the second school (after Grossmont in 1971-72) in the 14-season history of the San Diego Section to win football and basketball championships in the same school year.

The Komets took the Grossmont accomplishment a giant step further.  They were undefeated in both sports, football, 12-0-1, basketball, 32-0.

No team has come close since.

Tying it together was Mark Hoaglin, a 6-foot, 8-inch, 230-pound tight end in football and a husky presence in basketball, the only Birt Slater-coached gridder to also be a regular starter for hoops coach Wayne Colborne.

How the Komets won 32 straight:

1—Kearny 74, Oceanside 46.  Poway transfer Rick Taylor, the son of Komets baseball coach Jack Taylor, scored 17 points.  The balanced Komets also received 19 from Alan Rhodes, 13 from Donald Page, and 10 from Greg Ashbaugh.

2—Page, with 20, and Taylor, with 18, were joined by seven others who scored in a 74-47 victory over a second Avocado League foe, Vista.

3—The Komets continued their run through the Avocado League, racing to a 40-14 halftime lead and easing to a 74-38 win over Orange Glen.

4—Hoaglin still was involved in football (he caught a pass for 25 yards and punted 4 times for 36 yards in Kearny’s 34-0 playoff victory over Sweetwater, reversing a 6-6 tie in the first game) and Grossmont, which would mount a championship bid in the Grossmont League, did not take advantage, never out of it but never really in it as Kearny moved on, 69-57.

5—Perennially tough Helix couldn’t penetrate a tough defense, which guided the Komets to a 53-28 victory.

6—Poway, which would win 21 games, tested the Komets’ resolve, leading, 37-35, into the fourth quarter before the Linda Vistans put together a 20-8 final eight minutes to win a 27^th annual Kiwanis Tournament opening game, 55-44.

7—Hoaglin, after celebrating the football championship, made his debut and matched Donald Page’s 19 points in a 73-45 win over San Dieguito.

8—The Komets flexed some muscle against Madison, their former Western League antagonist, scoring the first 16 points and cruising, 74-61.

9—Morse was 8-1, fresh from a 69-52 win over Helix, but the Tigers were run off the floor, 82-54, and trailed by 36 points at the end of three quarters.  Hoaglin scored 18 and three other starters, Alan Rhodes, Rick Taylor, and Donald Page scored at least 13.

10—Matchup of the year brought two teams together with a combined 18-0 record for the Kiwanis Tournament Unlimited Division title. Patrick Henry was defending San Diego Section champion and had won 25 in a row, including 64-53 over Kearny in the 1972-73 championship game.

The Patriots socked the Komets with a 14-0 run that erased a 39-30 Kearny advantage and put Henry in front, 44-39, with four minutes left in the game.

Staggered, Kearny regrouped, taking back the lead and separating with two free throws by reserve Phil Thompson with 55 seconds left in 52-48 barnburner.

The last of the County’s unbeaten teams, the Komets were rewarded with a week off before the New Year.  They led the CIF, averaging 68 points on offense and holding opponents to 46.8.

11—January began with Page scoring 17, Rhodes 16, and Hoaglin 15 in a 74-52 victory over St. Augustine in the University Tournament.

12—Santana came with a deliberate offense, the polite term for a semi stall.  Kearny eased, 45-29.

13—Alan Rhodes’ 18, Rick Taylor’s 16, Donald Page’s 12, and Mark Hoaglin’s 11 were enough keep Hoover at a distance, 64-56.

14—A Kiwanis Tournament championship game encore, this time the Komets administering the big punch. Trailing, 29-26 at halftime, Kearny whacked Patrick Henry with a 10-0 blitz at the start of the third quarter and they pulled away to lead, 43-32, before going into a slowdown.

Henry never got closer than 4 points in the last period, although they scored with 13 seconds left to make the final 49-47.

15—Coach Wayne Colborne’s club was living dangerously.  They opened Western League play with a 63-60, overtime victory at 13-3 San Diego, which moved to the West this season after 13 years in the Eastern loop.

Kearny trailed, 38-29, in the third quarter before jumping in front, 41-40.  They trailed again, 48-47, with 4:34 left but tied the Cavers, 56-56, at the end of regulation.  Rick Taylor’s seven free throws during the extra session pulled out the win.

Taylor was 9×10 from the charity stripe and Kearny shot 49 per cent from the field.  Alan Rhodes led the second-half comeback and had 23 points.

16—Nine players, led by Taylor’s 18, scored in a 75-39 rout of Madison.

17—Morse didn’t give up without a struggle, staying close almost all the way before bowing, 66-58, as Taylor scored 21 and Page 20.

18—It wasn’t getting easier.  Kearny finished with a 21-8 fourth quarter to shake the pesky University Dons, 51-38.  Uni held the Komets to four points in the third quarter and defended strongly, forcing a number of off-balance shots.

19—Kearny shot 56 per cent from the floor, Point Loma 28 per cent.  The Pointers fell, 60-32. Page led with 16 and backup Ed Simpson had 14.

20—Hoaglin (23), Page (22), and Taylor (22) combined for 67 points and Clairemont was left behind, 86-64.

Kearny might have approached the school record of 97, set in 1968-69 versus Granite Hills, but the Komets just maintained in a 19-19 fourth quarter as reserves got some minutes.

21—A 25-6 first quarter was all that was needed in an 85-47 romp over St. Augustine.

22—Mark Hoaglin scored 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, the Komets’ shot 55 per cent from the floor, and dominated the rematch with San Diego, 80-55, before a capacity crowd of 1,000 in the Komets’ gym. Kearny’s 1-3-1 zone defense swarmed the Cavers, who shot 38 per cent from the field.

“We’re coming on,” said Colborne.

San Diego coach Gary Todd:  “To fast break you have to get some defensive rebounds. There weren’t any rebounds.  Everything they shot was going in.  Then, when we came down against their zone, we couldn’t move fast enough to get good shots.”

Kearny made 28 free throws to the Cavers’ four.

23—67-57, Hoover. The Cardinals were behind by four points with 1:30 left in the game and had the ball, having run off eight points in a row to close to 60-56.  A 16-6 run had brought the Cardinals back after they lagged, 54-40, after three quarters.

Rick Taylor scored 14 points, including six of the last seven; Donald Page had 17 and Alan Rhodes 21.

24—72-60 over Madison, which scored the last 11 points against reserves.  The Warhawks officially stepped down from the Western League throne, on which they sat for seven straight seasons.

25—The third game, matching No. 1 and No. 2, brought no charm for Henry.  Mark Fitzner’s late, 20-foot looper forced an overtime, but the Komets prevailed, 59-55. Donald Page’s three-point play got separation for Kearny

26—Taylor’s 20, Hoaglin’s 18, and Page’s 16 were the difference in an 81-62 victory over University.  The Dons wilted under a 22-10, third quarter run.

27—77-45, Point Loma.  Ten players scored for Kearny, which was assessed only 5 personal fouls in 32 minutes.  The Pointers were only slightly more aggressive, being whistled for 11 infractions.

28—A perfect, 10-0 Western League season concluded with a 58-45 victory against Clairemont.  The Linda Vistans led, 48-25, after three.

Kearny became the fifth team in County history to end the regular season undefeated, joining Hoover (25-0) in 1959-60, La Jolla (26-0), 1963-64, Mount Miguel (28-0), 1967-68, and Helix (29-0), 1969-70.

29—Chula Vista (16-14) trailed, 40-35, at halftime of the first-round playoff.  The Spartans then affected a stall strategy for the first four minutes of the third quarter.  The stall led to a turnover, which Kearny turned into an 8-0 spurt, and the Komets put away the Spartans, 69-45.

Chula Vista took three shots in the third quarter and was blanked, 6-0, for the period. Rick Taylor led the winners with 29 points.

30—Shooting 58 per cent from the field to Vista’s 37 per cent, the result was a 76-47 victory over the Panthers (17-11).  The Big Four, Hoaglin (17), Rhodes (16), Taylor (14), and Page (12) were in sync.

31—One more time and Happy Trails, Patrick Henry.

It is rare to beat the same opponent 4 times in one season, especially one with a 25-8 record, but Kearny again measured the Patriots, 73-57, in the playoff semifinal before 3,630 at the Sports Arena, Taylor had 24 points and Page 22.

32—Beating the same opponent three times in a season isn’t easy either. Hoover, which finished 24-8, had more wins than any Cardinals team since the 24-3 club of 1960-61.

After defeating Hoover by 8 and 10 points in previous meetings, Kearny pulled away before 5,143 persons in the Sports Arena to a 71-50, championship game victory.

“They were much more aggressive on defense than when we played them before,” Cardinals coach Hal Mitrovich said to Will Watson of The San Diego Union.

“We had hoped to stay close…and then go to the press in the second half and make a run at them, but they just wouldn’t let us do it.”

Kearny led, 39-24, at the half.

Colborne didn’t play a we-were-disrespected card, but he may have been thinking along those lines.  “I don’t know if we made believers of people or not,” he said in answer to a question. “It seemed that all we heard most of the season was that somebody could beat us.”

Colborne wouldn’t be drawn into any what-ifs.  His team had made its statement.  The Komets were balanced and consistent to the end.  They led the County with a 68.1 average on offense and their 49-point defense average was third.

The San Diego Section’s Big 4 of Open Division teams became a Big 5, when La Jolla Country eclipsed all with a dominating run through the state Division III playoffs.

The Torreys (23-13) were the only area squad to make it to the state level, where they defeated San Francisco University, 67-39, after Foothills Christian (24-7) was eliminated in the second round of the Southern California Open Division regional and Torrey Pines (25-7), Mission Bay (18-13), and St. Augustine (22-8)  were dismissed in the first round

The respected Cal-Hi Sports newsletter acknowledged two in its final Top 40:  Torrey Pines finished 19th and Foothills Christian 21st.

Foothills was ranked 13th by the Max Preps computer service and Torrey Pines was 29th, St. Augustine 41st, Country Day 52nd, and Mission Bay 86th.

Cathedral Catholic, the last team to beat La Jolla Country Day, in the San Diego Section playoffs, was 60th with a 24-10 record.

 

La Jolla Country Day’s state championship, the first by a San Diego Section team since 2015, served as the denouement for a basketball season that ended in disappointment for the big four of Torrey Pines, Foothills Christian, St. Augustine, and Mission Bay.

The manner in which ‘Day finished its season, routing San Francisco University, 67-39, for the state Division III crown and winning its five regional and state playoff games by an average score of 70-51, would lend support that the Torreys may have been the best team in the area.

There would be little argument with that premise except the Torreys’ last loss was to Cathedral in the Section D-I playoffs, 64-55.  That was their fifth consecutive and not long after 14-season coach Ryan Meier’s team, which fought injuries to important players during the season, was out of The San Diego Union-Tribune final Top 10 and entering the state playoffs with a 16-12 record.

The Torreys rolled, beginning with their next contest, a Southern California regional, 66-55 victory over Carlsbad that was followed by wins of 73-57 over Los Angeles University, 73-62 over Anaheim Fairmont Prep, 71-43 over La Crescenta Crescenta Valley, and the final against S.F. University.

POINTS AND BOARDS

Ryan Langbord, who will be shooting 3-pointers next season at Princeton University, led the Torreys with 23 points and 17 rebounds, and plugged a possible rebounding deficit with 10 in the first half, when 6-10 Jayson Taylor was in foul trouble.

“I do whatever is needed most,” Langbord told John Maffei of the Union-Tribune.  “Most important was winning the state championship.  It’s awesome.  Winning state is a priceless moment.”

That the Torreys went by air to Sacramento on the day of the game instead of leaving a day earlier and traveling by bus seemed significant.  Maffei wrote that the Torreys were “looking fresh, fast, and fit.”

‘Day was 1-2 during the regular season against two of the Union-Tribune poll’s final top 4.  They dropped a 73-67 decision to No. 1 Torrey Pines and split with Coastal League rival and No. 2 Foothills Christian, winning, 72-67, and losing, 63-52.

Torrey Pines, St. Augustine, and Mission Bay all were eliminated in their first Southern California regional tests and Foothills Christian was sidelined in the quarterfinals.

INTERSECTIONAL SUCCESS

San Diego teams were 26-24 in competition against schools from out of the section and out of state.  Foothills Christian (24-7) was 8-4, La Jolla Country Day (23-13) 6-5, Mission Bay (18-13) 6-7, St. Augustine (22-8) 4-5, and Torrey Pines (25-7) 2-3.

The Torreys’ state title was the ninth for the San Diego Section in boys’ competition and the first since 2013, when St. Augustine was a D-II winner over San Francisco Sacred Heart, 59-52, in overtime, and Horizon defeated Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame, 47-44.  There have been 11 championships in girls’ competition, beginning with the Terry Mann-led Point Loma Pointers, who dominated from 1984-87.

San Diego Section Boys and Girls champions and runners-up in state tournament competition, which resumed in 1981; the CIF did not hold championships on the state level from 1928-80:

DIVISION	TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE	YEAR
II	Lincoln	Mountain View St. Francis	74-59	2010
III	University	Redding Enterprise	51-48	1998
	St. Augustine	San Francisco Sacred Heart	59-52, OT	2013
	La Jolla Country Day	San Francisco University	67-39	2019
IV	Lincoln	San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake	63-50	1993
	Horizon	San Jose Valley Christian	78-45	2002
	Horizon	Hercules	77-62	2003
	Horizon	San Francisco Sacred Heart	60-52	2006
V	Horizon	Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame	47-44	2013
	RUNNER-UP	CHAMPION
II	La Costa Canyon	San Jose Mitty	78-57	2002
	Oceanside	Modesto	50-47	1984
III	St. Augustine	Santa Cruz	67-56	2005
	Lincoln	Daly City Jefferson	77-71	1988
IV	Lincoln	Salinas Palma	55-54	1992
	Helix	Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent	59-46	2017
V	Christian	Colusa	62-48	1990
	Horizon	Modesto Christian	56-47	1997
		GIRLS
I	Point Loma	San Francisco Wilson	53-48	1985
	Point Loma	Sacramento Grant	56-50	1986
	Point Loma	Sacramento Grant	60-44	1987
II	Point Loma	Chico Pleasant Valley	64-55	1984
IV	The Bishop’s	Stockton St. Mary’s	59-54	2001
	La Jolla Country Day	Richmond Salesian	72-41	2012
V	Christian	Ripon Christian	45-43	1992
	Christian	Ripon Christian	49-47	1995
	La Jolla Country Day	San Lorenzo Redwood Christian	69-57	2001
	La Jolla Country Day	Modesto Christian	53-49	2002
	La Jolla Country Day	Palo Alto Eastside Prep	40-36	2015
	RUNNER-UP	CHAMPION
I	San Diego	Oakland Technical	58-54	2004
II	El Camino	Chico Pleasant Valley	63-49	1985
IV	La Jolla Country Day	Stockton St. Mary’s	56-51	2003
	La Jolla Country Day	Piedmont	60-51	2004
	La Jolla Country Day	Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent	67-65	2008
V	Christian	Menlo- Atherton	59-39	1993
	Christian	Ripon Christian	60-46	1994
	Christian	Santa Rosa Rincon Valley Christian	53-38	1997

 

La Jolla Country Day’s Boys Division III team will try to become the ninth San Diego Section squad to win a state championship Friday afternoon against San Francisco University High in Sacramento.

The Torreys, who were 5-5 in the Coast League but have won eight in a row on the section and regional level, are 22-13.  They’ll face the North Coast Section champion Red Devils, who have won 10 of their last 11 and are 27-9.

Torreys are ranked 73^rd in the state by Max Preps, University 89^th.

The 8 seed La Jollans roared past 6 seed La Crescenta Crescenta Valley, 71-43, in the Southern California final.  University topped Monterey, 44-41.

The two other San Diego Section teams that reached the Southern championship were knocked off by higher seeds.

The 2 seed San Diego Southwest boys fell to No. 1 Bakersfield Foothills, 69-55, in D-V and the 5 seed La Jolla Country Day girls were eliminated by No. 2  Fullerton Rosary, 62-53 in D-I.

The last San Diego Section boys to win a state championship was in 2013, when St. Augustine defeated San Francisco Sacred Heart, 59-52, in overtime, and Horizon topped Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame, 47-44.

The most recent San Diego champion was in 2015, when the La Jolla Country Day girls defeated Palo Alto Eastside Prep, 40-36.

Past San Diego Section Boys champions and runners-up in state tournament competition, which resumed in 1981; the CIF did not hold championships on the state level from 1928-80:

DIVISION	TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE	YEAR
II	Lincoln	Mountain View St. Francis	74-59	2010
III	University	Redding Enterprise	51-48	1998
	St. Augustine	San Francisco Sacred Heart	59-52, OT	2013
IV	Lincoln	San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake	63-50	1993
	Horizon	San Jose Valley Christian	78-45	2002
	Horizon	Hercules	77-62	2003
	Horizon	San Francisco Sacred Heart	60-52	2006
V	Horizon	Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame	47-44	2013
	RUNNER-UP	CHAMPION
II	La Costa Canyon	San Jose Mitty	78-57	2002
	Oceanside	Modesto	50-47	1984
III	St. Augustine	Santa Cruz	67-56	2005
	Lincoln	Daly City Jefferson	77-71	1988
IV	Lincoln	Salinas Palma	55-54	1992
	Helix	Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent	59-46	2017
V	Christian	Colusa	62-48	1990
	Horizon	Modesto Christian	56-47	1997

 

Five-year-old Patrick Henry High, located in the sprawling Del Cerro-San Carlos area, had become a glamour school in the San Diego Section and one of the largest in the state with 3,800 students and growing.

The Patriots already had been to a section championship game in football, became powers in baseball and track and field, and had won championships in a host of so-called minor sports.

Basketball caught up with the others this season.

Coach Alan (Fritz) Ziegenfuss, a standout at Crawford in 1960-61 and a member of San Diego State teams coached by his father, George Ziegenfuss, took the Patriots’ program through a difficult initiation.

The Patriots were a painful 2-23 in 1968-69, their first season, and followed with records of 12-15, 21-9 and 18-12, before running the table in the rowdy Eastern League (12-0) and playoffs (4-0) to finish with a 29-2 record and a hard-earned championship this year.

Bill Finley of the Evening Tribune ranked Henry third in his preseason Top 10, behind No. 1 Madison and 2 Helix and ahead of 4 Poway and 5 Kearny.

Madison was living up to its billing early, with a 77-51 rout of Poway, as 6-foot-10 Rock Lee scored 33 points and pulled down 22 rebounds, giving coach John Hannon’s Warhawks victories over their three closest rivals in Finley’s ranking, all before the mid-December Kiwanis Tournament.

Days before trouncing Poway, Madison visited Henry and pulled away to a 77-69 victory as Rock Lee and Mark Oswalt combined for 52 points; Mark Fitzner had 21 and Mike Larch-Miller 16 for Henry. The school named after Dolly’s husband James, who was the third president of the United States, also had scored a 71-69 victory over Helix.

26^TH ANNUAL KIWANIS TOURNAMENT

Forty-five teams entered, making the event one of the largest in the country.

Fifteen Helix players, led by Wilbert Olinde’s 17, scored in an 88-56 win over Vista.  Twelve players made the box score in Kearny’s 71-50 win over Santana.

Patrick Henry shot 70 per cent from the field in the first half and 62% for the game, and sent Helix home, 82-63. Mike Larch-Miller was 10×13 (77 per cent) from the floor for all of his 20 points in the first half as Henry opened a 48-32 lead.

The win put the Patriots in the Unlimited finals against Madison, 50-41 winner over Kearny.

Madison was favored, having won 11 in a row against the Patriots, not counting a playoff in which the Warhawks snapped a 14-game, Summer League winning streak by Henry.

Ziegenfuss’ club finally prevailed, winning the championship, 59-57, in overtime before about 2,000 persons at San Diego State’s Peterson Gym.  Mark Fitzner’s 12-foot shot over Rock Lee with five seconds remaining in the extra session was the difference. Fitzner was 8×10 from the field in the second half and scored 26 points.

Madison-Henry marked the first time since 1965 that two teams from the city had gotten to the finals.

POWAY DENIES EVELETH

La Jolla’s 3-0 start was its best since the 1963-64 squad won its first 28.  Rick Eveleth and Charlie Buchanan were the Vikings’ most valuable players on that team and Eveleth coached this one.

La Jolla won the 1963 Kiwanis Tournament, 68-50 over Monte Vista and Eveleth’s club this year faced Poway in the Limited Division finals, the Vikings’ first appearance since he was a player.

“I’d want to win this game even if I hadn’t played back then,” Eveleth said, but Poway scratched out a 58-57 victory.

Marian outscored Fallbrook, 58-41, for the Classified Division championship.

COVINA

–Poway moved to the consolation division after being seeded fifth and losing to unseeded Fullerton, 64-45, in the first round.  The Titans rebounded to defeat Rosemead Bosco Tech, 55-54, and Covina Northview, 72-60, but dropped the consolation final to Whittier California, 75-55.

BARON-OPTIMIST

Host Bonita Vista and the community optimist club, in their third year, attracted the County’s three top teams, Madison, Henry, and Helix, to its 12-team field, which featured slate of 25 games over four days.

A Henry-Madison repeat of the Kiwanis Tournament finale almost didn’t take place as Helix, shooting 58 per cent, raced to a 41-27, third quarter lead over the Warhawks, who then went on a 24-6 run that stunned the Highlanders into a 65-61, semifinals defeat.

“What really happened, we choked,” Highlanders coach Gordon Nash told Jack Williams of the Evening Tribune. “We haven’t shown we can play under pressure yet.  We haven’t put four quarters together all season against a good team.”

Fueled by the comeback, Madison made it two out of three against Henry in the final, 59-53.

UNIVERSITY

The host Dons fell to top seed Kearny, 66-54, after knocking off second-ranked Hoover, 50-41, in the semifinals.

EL CENTRO ELKS

Calipatria defeated Coronado (6-20), 64-53, for the Limited Division championship.

A four-overtime, 84-77 victory over Indio must have exhausted Orange Glen (11-16), which went down in succeeding games to Las Vegas Rancho, 100-44, and to El Central, 66-49, the latter in the game for third place.

–Morse topped Yuma King of Arizona (KOFA), 66-58, for the consolation title.

CHINO

It was over quick. Escondido (8-16), San Dieguito (6-18), and Chula Vista (11-15) dropped first-round games and lost consolation games the next day.

PLAYOFFS

Madison was No. 1 in the final Evening Tribune Top 10, followed by Henry, Helix, and Kearny and the Warhawks were making their seventh consecutive trip to the playoff on the heels of a sixth straight Western League championship.

“We know how to get to the Sports Arena (site of the final three rounds), but we don’t know what to do when we get there,” said Coach John Hannon.

Madison had finished second once and third four times, eliminated on five occasions by the eventual champion.

Hannon did not suspect how prescient his words were.

LUCK DOESN’T CHANGE

Madison denied that its first-round playoff game with Bonita Vista (19-10) was a grudge match, but the Warhawks remembered the sting of a 113-56 loss in the 1971-72 playoff third-place contest. Madison pulled away to an easy, 68-43 victory to cruise into a quarterfinals game at the Sports Arena against Morse.

With 35 seconds the play, Morse, which trailed early, 10-0, and 35-30 at halftime, had taken a 49-39 lead in the third quarter.  The Warhawks battled back, but the Tigers retrieved the lead on Ollie brown’s 12-foot jump shot, 68-67, with 15 seconds remaining.

Madison’s Jim Hoffmann went up for a shot on the next possession but Alan Cunningham blocked Hoffman’s effort and drove for a basket at the other end of floor.

Final score Morse, 70, Madison 67.

All five Tigers starters were in double figures, led by Andre Robinson’s 17.  Cunningham had 15, Mark Bernard and Sam Williams, 14 each, and Brown, 10.

“The playoffs aren’t an annual thing with us and when you get to them it’s something to get excited about,” Morse coach Tom Williams said to Bill Finley of the Tribune after more than 300 Tigers supporters stormed the floor.

Morse (21-9) was eliminated by Kearny, 66-50, in the semifinals and lost to Helix, (28-4), 90-68, in the third-place game.

PATRIOTS AT TOP OF GAME

Henry flattened University (17-12), 62-38, in its first playoff test and took out Poway (23-7), 70-49, before meeting Helix in the semifinals.

Helix was better in March than it was in the 19-point loss to Henry in December, but the Patriots outscored the Highlanders, 38-22, in the middle two quarters and won, 61-56.

The Patriots led Kearny (25-7) by 14 points after three quarters and out rebounded the Komets, 42-26, in a title-clinching, 64-53 victory.

Patriots guard Bruce Gorder was a unanimous choice by the media as the tournament’s’ most valuable player after scoring 20 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

THEY SAID IT

Helix coach Gordon Nash, to Jack Williams on the officiating after Helix clinched the Grossmont League championship, 66-55 over Monte Vista (16-12):  “I felt we played poorly, so I don’t feel anything.  Yes, it was physical.  I thought we got butchered out there.  But I can’t call it for the refs.  If I do they give me a T.”

La Jolla coach Rick Eveleth after a 67-44 loss to Madison: “They must have a lot of respect for us; they left their starters in all the way.”

Madison coach John Hannon in response to Eveleth: “We wanted to establish our superiority; we wanted to build our confidence.”

Hoover coach Hal Mitrovich:  “When I think of Patrick Henry I break into a cold sweat.”

Patrick Henry coach Fritz Ziegenfuss, after the Patriots clinched the Eastern League title, 73-57, over Morse: “What a relief.  We should have won this league two years ago and we could have won it last year.”

John Hannon, after the quarterfinals loss to Morse, to Bill Finley:  “I don’t know what you can say.  We had a great year.  We went 25-4, won a tournament and won our league.  But unless you win the playoffs nobody remembers your name. I thought this was a team that could do it.  Maybe us winning this thing isn’t in the cards.”

Kearny’s Mark Zielinski, to Jack Williams after scoring 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the Komets’ semifinal win over Morse:  “I can’t dribble and I can’t drive, but I shoot well and play defense.”

BRUIN BOUND

Helix’ Wilbert Olinde, the County’s leading scorer with 621 points, demonstrated why UCLA wanted Olinde to follow Helix’ Bill Walton to the Westwood campus.

Olinde’s performance against Mount Miguel (19-9) underscored his all-around play.  The 6-foot, 7-inch senior made 12×13 shots from the field from the field and 9×11 from the free-throw line for 33 points, plus contributed 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 8 blocked shots in an 80-63 win over Mount Miguel.

MARIAN CRUSADES

Terry Belsan, coach Manny Silva’s nominee as the best player in the South Bay, pulled 26 rebounds and scored 18 points in a 67-50 win over Hilltop that lifted the Crusaders’ record to 12-4, signaling as many wins as in 71-72 and better than the 9-16, and 6-17 of the previous two years.

Silva’s team finished 24-6, setting a school record for wins and tying Jan Chapman’s 19-6 and 21-6 clubs of 1966-67 and ’67-8 for fewest losses.

Belsan had 24 points and five others scored in double figures in a 109-39 victory over Coronado.  Marian won its other game with the Islanders by the football score of 26-19, after a first half  of 16-14.

It was a shock of quake intensity when the Crusaders, winners of 18 in a row, lost at 6-17 Castle Park, 76-73 in overtime.  The loss prevented the South Bay squad from a 16-0 Metropolitan League season.

Castle Park was 28×32 from the free throw line.  The Trojans’ Jim Damesworth scored 29 points, including all nine of Castle’s in overtime.

HOW ‘BOUT HOOVER?

Hoover had descended into mediocrity following the retirement of Charlie Hampton after the 1962-63 campaign.

The Cardinals’ record since Hampton’s departure was a flaccid 124-123 with one winning season in the last six, until Hal Mitrovich coached the Redbirds to a 21-8 record and second place in the Eastern League.

Hoover had not won a league championship in 11 years or posted 20 wins since Hampton’s 25-2 club in 1961-62.

“I think it’s hard for kids around here to believe we have a good team,” noted guard Bobby Brinn after the Cardinals opened 3-0 for the first time since 1965-66.  “It’s been so long since anybody went to a basketball game they’ve forgotten where the gym is.”

Basketball scoring leaders, not including Southern Prep League teams, whose results were not always available:

Name	Team	Games	Points	Average
Wilbert Olinde	Helix	32	621	19.4 (6)
Jody Schmitz	Fallbrook	26	602	23.2 (1)
Tim Ness	Orange Glen	27	550	20.4 (3)
Jim March	Bonita Vista	28	539	19.3 (7)
Rock Lee	Madison	27	528	19.6 (4)
Craig Brown	Crawford	27	527	19.5 (5)
Chuck Zink	Poway	30	518	17.3
Dave Moore	San Marcos	24	510	21.2 (2)
Geoff Northrup	La Jolla	30	496	16.5
Mike Mace	Orange Glen	27	495	18.3 (10)
Mark Oswalt	Madison	29	493	17.0
Mark Dobransky	Mount Miguel	28	473	16.9
Joel Kramer	Patrick Henry	31	468	15.1
Terry Belsan	Marian	29	462	15.9
Angelo Branch	Lincoln	27	458	17.0
Harvey	Mar Vista	27	453	17.8
Mike Davis	Helix	32	453	14.2
Donald Page	Kearny	32	437	13.7
Bob Golden	Hoover	23	433	18.8 (8)
Rick Taylor	Poway	30	432	14.4
Ted Hike	University	28	420	15.0
Mark Fitzner	Patrick Henry	31	409	12.9
Tony Russell	La Jolla	29	407	14.0
Jackson	St. Augustine	22	406	18.5 (9)
Dan DeKock	Grossmont	26	404	15.5
Frank Prowse	Hoover	29	402	13.9

		CLASS A
Clarence Clark	Ramona	19	485	25.5
Dan Stockalper	Ramona	23	418	18.2
Spain	La Jolla Country Day	22	366	16.6
Donald Tavie	San Diego Military Academy	19	332	17.5
Ferrari	Francis Parker	20	319	15.9
Conklin	Ramona	21	307	14.6

Oakes, Borrego Springs, averaged 23.3 points with 327 points in 14 games. White, San Miguel School, averaged 23.2 points with 186 points in 8 games. Wiggins, St. Augustine, averaged 19.1 points with 286 points in 15 games.

KRAMER GOES PRO

Patrick Henry’s Joel Kramer, a 6-foot-7 forward and the Patriots’ leading scorer, played collegiately at San Diego State and was drafted in the third round, No. 67 overall, by the NBA Phoenix Suns. Kramer got into all 82 NBA games as a rookie and played five seasons with Phoenix and one season in Israel.

CLASS A

Ramona (18-5) won its second straight title and third  in four years, out running San Diego Military Academy, 86-80, in a game in which defense did not seem to be a priority.

Ramona’s Dan Stockalper scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half and Clarence Clark led with 31 as the Bulldogs got down 35×70 field goal attempts to the Eagles’ 35×92.

EASTERN DUSTUP

Hoover trailed Lincoln (12-15), 52-46, at the end of three quarters and then blew out the Hornets at Lincoln, 71-63, with a 25-11 fourth quarter.  “Unruly” Hive spectators provoked referee Doug Harvey into a visit with Lincoln officials.  Harvey declared that unless one spectator, a member of the Lincoln track team, was not removed from the building the game would be suspended.

Several incidents reportedly took place after the game, one resulting in a Hoover cheerleader being treated for a head injury, according to the Evening Tribune.

SAN PASQUAL ARRIVES

Winless at 0-9 in football and winless in gymnastics and cross country, the first-year San Pasqual Eagles also lost their first seven games in basketball.

But then was a light.  The Eagles scored their first athletic achievement, 63-49, over Imperial and then claimed the El Centro Elks tournament Limited Division consolation title, 51-47, over Calexico.

The light dimmed. The Eagles were 1-17, 10^th in the Avocado League, and 3-22 overall.

SIGN OF TIMES

Greenfield, favored in the Class S regional playoff in Missouri, overcame a stall to beat Miller, 13-7. Greenfield led, 6-1, after three quarters and kept Miller at a distance in fourth.

JUMP SHOTS

Patrick Henry’s 70-46 win over Grossmont (13-13) in December snapped a 19-game winning streak for the Foothillers…Inglewood Morningside, which defeated Madison, 66-58, in early December, was 28-0 before bowing to Glendale Hoover, 67-59, in the Southern Section playoffs…Hoover, closing with a 20-1 run, defeated San Diego, 82-65, after trailing, 64-62…Henry set an Eastern League scoring record in a 95-51 win over St. Augustine and shared the mark a week later when the Morse beat St. Augustine, 95-47…Lincoln had defeated Henry, 91-40, in 1968-69…Hoover’s 6-foot-5 center Bill Gay was better known later as a defensive lineman in the NFL…Gay was a second-round draft choice out of USC by Denver in 1978 but played almost all of all of his 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions and had  44.5 career quarterback sacks…Clarence Clark’s 45 points led Ramona past Borrego Springs, 115-19, for the season’s single-game high by one team… Jody Schmitz of Fallbrook (21-5) led all individual scorers with 49 in a 103-77 win over Escondido…Schmitz’ outburst also broke the school record of 47, set by Paul Lockridge in a 90-31 win over Brown Military in 1950-51…Schmitz’s 23.2 average led the section and he was the first North county player to achieve that distinction since San Dieguito’s John Fairchild led with 428 in 1960-61…the 2, 3, and 4 highest averages behind Schmitz also were by North County players…Craig Brown of Crawford (10-17) scored 527 points, the second most ever by a sophomore…Bonita Vista’s Paul Halupa scored 575 in 1967-68…by finishing first in the final Evening Tribune Top 10, Madison became the first school to finish first in the Top 10 in football and basketball…the first time the teams met in the Eastern League, Henry topped Morse, 51-45, in three overtimes…two of the three-minute extra sessions were scoreless…Rock Lee had 31 points in Madison’s 108-66 triumph over Point Loma (13-14), the Warhawks joining Marian, Ramona, and Fallbrook as the only teams to reach triple figures…Henry was the third team in Eastern League history to go undefeated…Hoover (8-0 in ’60-61) and St. Augustine (12-0 in ’69-70) also were perfect…

 

Three San Diego Section teams remain in play in the Southern California regional basketball playoffs, with La Jolla Country Day having representatives in Boys’ Division III and Girls’ D-I.

San Diego Southwest also reached the finals in Boys’ D-V.

The three local squads all face daunting tasks, as they will be on the road Tuesday night in the last stop before the state finals March 8-9 in Sacramento.

Coach Terry Bamford’s seasoned and tough 5 seed La Jolla Country Day Torreys visit No. 2 Fullerton Rosary. Coach Ryan Meier’s Boys’ No. 8 are at No. 6 La Cresenta  Cresenta Valley.

Bamford’s Torreys were the last San Diego Section team to win a state title when they defeated Palo Alto Eastside Prep, 40-36, in 2014-15.

DIVISION	TEAM	RECORD	OPPONENT	RECORD
		BOYS
III	8 La Jolla Country Day	21-13	@6 *La Cresenta Cresenta Valley	29-5
V	2 San Diego Southwest	28-7	@1 **Bakersfield  Foothill	22-11
		GIRLS
I	5 La Jolla Country Day	22-11	@2 *Fullerton Rosary	25-8

BOYS SEMIFINALS

DIVISION III

8 La Jolla Country Day 73, @4 *Anaheim Fairmont 62.

V

2 San Diego Southwest 45, 3 *Perris Orange Vista 43.

GIRLS SEMIFINALS

DIVISION I

5 La Jolla Country Day 57, 8 *Riverside King 53.

III

5 Serra 50, @1 **McFarland 75.

6 *^Pacific Palisades 59, @2 San Marcos 48.

V

5 *Anaheim 47, @1 Madison 41.

*Southern Section.

*^Los Angeles City Section.

**Central Section.