The season’s first showdown came in the Horsman Invitational at  West Hills and the tournament championship and this week’s No. 1 ranking went to St. Augustine.

Trey Kell fired from three-point range and, driving to the hoop, twisted around Torrey Pines defenders to score 28 points and lead the Saints to a 60-55 victory in a matchup of unbeaten teams.

Torrey Pines went to the foul line 17 times in the first three quarters.  St. Augustine did not make its first visit until early in the fourth quarter.  The Saints led throughout and had opened a 42-33, third-quarter advantage.

La Costa Canyon, the preseason number one, dropped a 61-59 decision to Hoover, then rebounded with a 74-50 win over the Cardinals.

Mater Dei was off to a fast start, then fell to Capistrano JSerra, 63-48, and West Hills Chaminade, 55-47, in the Catholic Cup Challenge in Phoenix.  The Crusaders defeated St. Mary’s of Phoenix, 74-60, in the same event.

* Last year
**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
NR Not previously ranked.

Others receiving votes: Lincoln, 15; Escondido, 6; Valhalla, Cathedral, 5 each; Mission Hills, El Cajon Valley, 1 each.

Thirteen sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego);
Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego correspondent);
Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com);
Andrew Smith (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera and Jack Cronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
and Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).

The discussion already is in full swing.  Who’s No. 1?

The U-T San Diego preseason basketball poll has La Costa Canyon No. 1 and St. Augustine No. 2.

North County bias by a majority of the voters aside,  I’ll take the Saints.  Call me South-of-Highway-56-biased, at least for this vote.

Saints Coach Mike Haupt, 330-173 in 18 seasons, guides the state’s defending Division III champions, 29-4 in 2012-13 and returning, among others, four-star San Diego State commit Trey Kell.

La Costa Canyon, 28-6 last season, was eliminated by Westlake, 66-64, in the Southern California playoff quarterfinals in D-II.

The Mavericks opened with a 56-46 victory over Poway earlier this week.  St. Augustine has beaten Serra, 70-47, and Santa Fe Christian, 80-38.

A top 10  adjustment should already be in the works. El Camino, No. 4, was edged by No. 6 Foothills Christian, 74-71, and unranked Poway topped Foothills, 72-70.

In other action:

No. 9 Mater Dei has been the busiest with wins over Chula Vista, 78-55; Rancho Buena Vista, 83-43; Castle Park, 66-33; Patrick Henry, 63-40, and Grossmont, 55-49.

No. 8 San Marcos eased up in the second half but still rolled over Castle Park, 102-18. Cathedral, No. 10, defeated Patrick Henry, 69-48.

Hoover, No. 3, topped Vista, also No. 10, 61-55.

*Last year
**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
NR Not previously ranked.

Others receiving votes: Westview, 7; Escondido, Mission Bay, 5 each; Lincoln, Helix, 3 each; Eastlake, 2; Serra, Oceanside, Canyon Crest, 1 each.

Twelve sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego);
Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego stringer);
Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera and Jack ronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section office);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Jodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
and Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).

Cal-Hi Sports honcho Mark Tennis continues to build a case for Eastlake as the San Diego Section’s No. 1 team, although the 31 members of the U-T San Diego voting panel have re-installed Oceanside as No. 1, followed by Mission Hills.

Eastlake is third.

Answers should be forthcoming in the Open Division playoffs, which begin tonight.  Eastlake and Oceanside could meet in next week’s semifinals.

Eastlake is ranked 12^th in Cal-Hi Sports’ latest poll, followed by Mission Hills, which rose from 20^th to 14^th, and Oceanside, back in the poll at 25^th.

“Bubble” teams included Helix and Madison.  Cathedral did not get a call, its loss to St. Augustine three weeks ago a collective kick in the pelvic region.

“Based on our assessment of their record and the who beat who, a young Eastlake is our top dog until someone from the CIFSDS beats them,” wrote Tennis.

Tennis then made a more interesting observation.  “If the boys from Chula Vista were the top seed in the San Diego Union-Tribune (sic) poll, they would most likely be a Top 10 team (in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings).

Eastlake’s only loss in a 9-1 season was to Chandler Hamilton 28-17, in the season’s opening game.  Hamilton is a Top 10 team in Arizona.

THE BOWLS

Eastlake is sixth in the newsletter’s South Division I ratings  for State Bowl consideration. Madison is fifth and St. Augustine seventh in D-II.  Francis Parker and Christian are 1-2 in D-IV.

HOOPS

Cal-Hi Sports is not particularly impressed with San Diego Section basketball teams.  Not one was in its preseason Top 10.  La Costa Canyon is 22^nd, El Camino (with standout guard Jason Watson transferring from Army-Navy) 26th, and St. Augustine 35th.

Foothills Christian and Hoover are on the bubble.

Don Hegerle, a leader and playmaker for 1950s San Diego State basketball teams and who later coached at Escondido High, passed away on Sept. 9.

Hegerle, 82, was a fast, slashing guard who fearlessly drove to the basket and fired jump shots for one of the best teams in Aztecs history.

He was a vital player on the 1955-56 Aztec team that overcame three straight losses at the start of the season and went on to post a 23-6 record.

Hegerle averaged 10.9 points and scored 315 points, third highest on the team, which was paced by Tony Pinkins (18.1) and Danny Newport (14.7).

The Aztecs earned a berth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament in Kansas City by defeating Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, 93-69, Pasadena Nazarene, 78-62, and Humboldt State, 91-63.

After enduring a 30-hour trip to the Midwest by rail, the Aztecs’ opening contest following a first-day bye had a 10:30 a.m. tipoff.  They defeated Alderson-Broaddus of Philipi, W.Va, 77-64.

San Diego State’s season came to an end in another contest that began the next morning.  The Aztecs were eliminated by Gustavus-Adolphus of St. Peter, Minnesota, 69-60.

Hegerle, who played high school football, basketball, and baseball at Point Loma, was head coach at Escondido for five seasons before going into administration.

The 1957-58 team, paced by brothers Toby and Steve Thurlow and Jim Gabbard, posted a 20-11 season  and tied for the Avocado League championship.

Hegerle’s overall record with the Cougars was 73-50.

A lifelong basketball fan, Hegerle’s favorite team became the University of San Diego Toreros.  His son-in-law is Ky Snyder, athletics director at USD.  Snyder’s wife, Sue, was a standout in track and field at San Pasqual and later the women’s volleyball coach at USD.

Kenny Hale, one of the last surviving members of San Diego State’s 1940-41 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics basketball championship team, passed away at age 90.

A 1938 San Diego High graduate, Hale eventually went into coaching and had winning records at Hoover and Mission Bay.

Led by superstar Bill McColl, Hoover was 20-8 in Hale’s first season as coach and second in the Coast League in 1947-48.

Hale’s last team at Hoover was 23-3 in 1951-52 and won the City Prep League with an 11-1 record.

Hoover’s overall record under Hale was 76-45, with other years of 9-11, 10-16, and 14-7.

Kenny took over the new Mission Bay program in 1954-55 and built a winner before retiring from coaching after the 1957-58 campaign and going into administration.  Hale later  was principal at Horace Mann Junior High.

Hale’s record with the Buccaneers was 53-45.  They were 8-16 and 10-16 in the first two seasons and then got rolling with successive seasons of 17-7 and 18-6.

The Buccaneers won the prestigious, 32-team San Diego Kiwanis Tournament in 1956-57 and 1957-58.  They tied for second in the City Prep League in each of the last two seasons.

St. Augustine’s 6-0 run through the San Diego Section, Southern California regionals, and CIF State championship game resulted in the Saints making a huge leap to overall  No. 10 in Cal-Hi Sports’ final rankings for 2012-13.

Horizon finished No. 1 in Division V.

The Saints were “On the Bubble”, meaning unranked, at the end of the regular season.

Coach Mike Haupt’s club made its way up the ladder by shaking a three-game loss streak against Cathedral Catholic and winning the San Diego Section III title;

Overcame an 11-point four-quarter disadvantage versus West Hills Chaminade in the regional finals;

And fought off San Francisco Cathedral Sacred Heart in overtime in Sacramento for the State D-III championship.

The Saints’ 29-4 record was attained while losing to only two teams, thrice to Cathedral Catholic and once to Sacramento Sheldon.

Sheldon, 27-6, was fifth in the final Cal-Hi poll and Cathedral, 29-5, was 30^th.  The top four were Santa Ana Mater Dei, 34-2; Etiwanda, 28-4; Long Beach Poly, 29-4, and San Jose Mitty, 28-6.

Other San Diego-area teams in Cal-Hi’s top 40 included Army-Navy, 29^th, and Mission Hills, 37^th.

Mission Hills was 15^th in the state in D-I, Hoover, 31-6, was sixth and San Marcos 11^th in D-II.  St. Augustine was second  to Bellflower St. John Bosco, 24-7, in D-III and Cathedral fifth.

Army-Navy finished fourth in  D-IV.

Horizon, which also had a 6-0 run in the playoffs, improved to 21-11 overall and defeated Alameda St. Joseph Notre Dame 47-46 in Sacramento to jump to the top spot in D-V.  Foothills Christian, 19-15, climbed to ninth.