SoCalHoops High School News

Paul Smith & More: San Diego CIF Playoffs,
Brackets & Schedules--(March 1, 1999)

Paul Smith, who was a former coach at Helix High in San Diego last year, who abandoned the world of hoops (well, as a profession) for the drudgery of law school, has been posting up some great reports on the San Diego playoffs.   Since Pat McKinney of USDHS fame gave up the ghost for NorCal (Pat, are you still out there?) also for the law school route, we've only had Paul to send us stuff when and if he can.  Well, yesterday, he posted up a fine report on the Saturday Quarterfinal games played in Division I.  Here's his report, followed by a short report on what we could find and scrape together from "traditional" media sources such as the San Diego Union-Tribune, and we've also got the full brackets for Division I,  Division II, Division III, Division IV, and Division V.  Hey, it's better than a kick in the teeth (what's with all these violent metaphors we're using tonight. . . must be some repressed anger somewhere brewing :-).  Must have been that hard, hard, LACC gym floor we sat on all weekend watching the Rockfish Spring League (more on that later).  Here's Paul's report:

Some nights you really wish you could be at four games at once and last night (Saturday) was one of those nights, with three of the four quarterfinal games very closely contested. Here's a quick recap of last night's action.

#1 Southwest 81, #8 San Diego 78

Southwest amazingly won their 30th game of the season last night, defeating a very tough San Diego squad with some typically great play in the clutch. I've personally seen Southwest a few times this year and while they don't dominate often they seem to have a real knack for making things happen in the most important times of the game.

Someone who was at the game last night told me that San Diego had a four point lead late but Southwest made all the clutch plays in the last minute and a half of the game.

Southwest was led by Thompson with 19 points while Holper added 17 and Sandeford 14. Holmes led San Diego with 20.

Next up for Southwest will be RBV on Wednesday night at 5:30pm in the matchup everybody has been waiting for. Speaking of RBV...

#4 RBV 63, #12 El Camino 59

RBV might be playing the best ball in the county right now but El Camino sure wasn't far behind, giving the Longhorns all they could handle on their home floor. RBV outscored El Camino by seven points in the final quarter to come from behind and move into the semifinals for the fifth straight year.

Phillips led RBV with 16, while Fellars added 15 and Abrams chipped in 14 points in a very balanced attack. McGill led El Camino with 23 points, bringing to a close an outstanding senior season and leaving McGill as an all-CIF candidate. Good luck to Marcus if he chooses to play at the next level.

Next up for the Longhorns will be Southwest, and I'll say again this is going to be a matchup you won't want to miss.

#3 Bonita Vista 73, #6 Vista 59

This was the lone contest that wasn't very closely contested. There have been Bonita Vista doubters all season but I certainly haven't been one of them and am not surprised that the Metro Conference co-champs so easily handled the Palomar League co-champs.

Bonita Vista was led by Esquer's 21 points and Morris scored 19. These two guys have been impressive all year for BV and at least one is surely an all-CIF candidate. Bolton scored 19 points for Vista.

Next up for Bonita Vista will be Torrey Pines in the second game Wednesday night.

#7 Torrey Pines 51, #2 Helix 45

I'm going to briefly let down my guard and get a little personal here. This was the final game for Helix's three seniors: Brian Horton, Kenny Parker, and Fernando Cortez. I had the pleasure of coaching these three kids last year and have been around them much this year and the way these three stepped up to carry on the winning tradition at Helix has been astounding.

At the start of the year, Helix wasn't picked to do much of anything. All they did was win 22 games, win the Grossmont South League championship, and get a #2 Division I seed in the new Power Ratings system which have turned out quite accurate if you go according to results in the playoffs. Only twice has a lower seeded team knocked off a higher seeded team.

At any rate, my coaching career was a short one as I've opted for other things but these three guys I will never forget and will make my coaching career a memorable one.

Enough with the personal thoughts and on to the game...

Torrey Pines proved their worth, and proved that winning the Avocado League, one of the toughest leagues in the county, was no fluke. They play hard, they play together, and they are extremely well coached.

Helix shot less than 30% from the floor on one of those nights when there just seemed to be a lid on the basket. Still, somehow they managed to climb back into the game and close the gap to 40-38 with 3:00 remaining. But, Torrey Pines made most of their free throws down the stretch and managed to withstand the Helix run.

Torrey Pines was led by Hass, a very tough and physical inside player, with 12 points. Perry came off the bench to add 11, including a clutch backdoor layup when Torrey desperately needed it.

Helix was led by 1st team All-Leaguer Brian Horton's 18 points, bringing to a close a stellar season for the senior. Will Waggoner, the Grossmont South's Player of the Year, added 14 points closing out his junior year where he is a very strong candidate for all-CIF and is surely one of the most highly touted returning players next year.

As someone associated with Helix basketball I want to once again congratulate Torrey Pines on a well-earned victory and especially Coach Olive on an outstanding job with that group of kids. Good luck in the semis where they will take on Bonita Vista.

---

And here's what other details we could scrounge together from the Union-Tribune:

Division I Quarterfinals:

Southwest 81, San Diego 78--Southwest's near-perfect season continued Saturday night as Mike Holper hit two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to seal an 81-78 win over visiting San Diego in the CIF-San Diego Section Division I quarterfinals. With less than a minute remaining, Donald Harrison hit a jumper to put the Cavers (17-7) up 78-77. Then Southwest's Tim Thompson made one of two free throws on two seperate occasions with less than thirty seconds left in to put Southwest (30-1) up by one. San Diego's Sean Matson missed a driving shot with less than five seconds left that would have put his team up. Holper rebounded, was fouled and connected on his free throws to ice the game.  It was another balanced Southwest game from Holper (17 points), Thompson (19 points), Nate Sandeford (14 points), Jeff Espiritu (13 points) and Dennis Amparo (14 points).

Rancho Buena Vista 63, El Camino 59-- : Adrian Phillips, C.J. Fellars and Aaron Abrams scored 16, 15 and 14 points, respectively, as Rancho Buena Vista (22-7) advanced to the Division I semifinals for the fifth straight year by edging visiting El Camino, 63-59. Marcus McGill scored 23 points for the Wildcats (21-9). 

Bonita Vista 73, Vista 59--Victor Esquer scored 21 points to lead Bonita Vista past visiting Vista, 73-59. Roy Morris added 19 points for the Barons (27-4). Anthony Bolton and Phil Sutton scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, for the Panthers (19-9).

Torrey Pines 51, Helix 45-- Daryn O'Patry isn't a starter for the Torrey Pines basketball team, but that doesn't bother him. The rugged 6-foot-5 junior lets the others get tired, then comes in and muscles his way around the basket, pulling down rebounds, dishing out assists and occasionally scoring. His nine rebounds and an equal number of points were decisive as the Falcons upset second-seeded Helix last night 51-45 to advance to the CIF-San Diego Section Division I semifinals against Bonita Vista on Wednesday at a neutral site to be determined. "I feel fine about having the seniors start; they've done a great job," said O'Patry who was at his best in the fourth quarter when he hauled down five key rebounds. "My role is to bang the boards and help out any way I can. Tonight we didn't have the intensity we should have but that won't happen in the semifinals." O'Patry said the Falcons (19-10), despite being unseeded, came into the game confident they could walk out with a win. They saw nothing in the Highlanders (22-6) they hadn't already seen en route to winning the Avocado League. "We looked at film and thought we could dominate inside on the boards," said O'Patry, who helped give Torrey Pines a 35-23 rebounding edge. "The Avocado League prepared us for this kind of game. It's the hardest league in the county. Every game is close so you learn to deal with the pressure."  Although the Avocado League was indeed considered the toughest in the section, the 10 losses by the Falcons kept them from being seeded by the Power Ratings, being used for the first time this season. After grabbing the lead at 12-10, Torrey Pines never trailed, building the
advantage to 35-24 before Helix closed to 40-38 with 3:30 to play on William Waggoner's steal and layup. Torrey Pines coach John Olive promptly called timeout.  "We decided to run a back-door play to Blake Perry," said Olive. "That was the turning point in the game." Perry's reverse layup basket turned out to be the only field goal for the Falcons the entire final eight minutes. Helix was forced to foul and Torrey Pines converted 9-of-16 to keep the Scotties at bay. The key was the Torrey Pines bench, which outscored its Helix counterparts, 23-1. "We've gone eight players deep all season," said Olive. "We don't have a star, but any one of the eight can step up and have a big night. "Daryn is very stringy and at 6-5 he's our tallest player. He's had other games
like this, especially when the refs let them play inside like they did tonight. Helix was extremely aggressive, but I thought we defended well." Helix, even shorter than Torrey Pines, was unable to take advantage of 26 Falcons turnovers. Brian Horton led the way with 18 points, four more than Waggoner, who also chipped in nine rebounds. John Hass' 12 points and Perry's 11 led balanced Torrey Pines.

Here's the Division I Bracket:  The semifinals will be at a "Neutral Site" and the games will be played as a doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Division II:

Point Loma 52, Mar Vista 41--T.J. Jackson scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five assists, and Tim Lindfelt recorded 10 points and 12 rebounds to lead Point Loma (14-8) to a 52-41 win over visiting Mar Vista (10-19)

Serra 61, San Pasqual 48--James Profit poured in 24 points to lead Serra past San Pasqual, 61-48. Senior Kim Valenzuela added 10 points for the Conquistadors (18-7), and Kyle Moyneur scored 21 for the Eagles (13-14)

Orange Glen 63, Escondido 53--John Masnica had 19 points and nine rebounds as Orange Glen beat Escondido, 63-53. Joel Anderson recorded 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Isaiah Orange added 16 points for the Patriots (23-5). Senior Nate Daniels had 27 points for the Cougars (14-15)

Eastlake 77, Ramona 59--Senior guard Omar Manglicmot had 17 points, seven assists and four steals as Eastlake beat Ramona (11-17), 77-59. Senior
Andre Torres led the Titans (19-9) with 21 points.

Here's the Division II Bracket.  The next round is the Semifinal round, and the games will be played at a nuetral site, in a doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m..  

Division III:

Crawford 67, San Dieguito Academy 49--Willie Bailey had 19 points and six assists, and Al Johnson added 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead Crawford (16-7) to a 67-49 win over visiting San Dieguito Academy (10-14).

Here's the Bracket.  Another pretty easy walk through with a bye for the top two seeded teams St. Augustine and USDHS. The Semifinals are Wednesday night at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at a "Neutral Site". The game will be a doubleheader.

Division IV Quarterfinals:

La Jolla The Bishop's School 83, Imperial 47--Mike Hausmann scored 34 points as Bishop's (16-13) beat visiting Imperial, 83-47. Deal Glenn led Imperial (7-13) with 20 points

Lincoln 68, Coronado 40--Jeremee McGuire, John Davis and Jovan Felton had 10 points each to lead Lincoln (16-11) to a 68-40 win over visiting Coronado.

Here's the D-IV Bracket.  And if you think Chaminade or Nordhoff had an easy road (just how "easy" was playing Harvard-Westlake for the third time in one season?) look at the bracket that Horizon's got to get to the final.   No more criticism of Southern Section from us about D-III.  The semifinals in this one 

Division V First Round & Quarterfinals:

Francis Parker 62, Escondido Adventist 43--Josh Sanchez scored 19 points as ninth-seeded Francis Parker (15-11) felled top-seeded Escondido Adventist, 62-43. Danny Segura led Escondido Adventist (20-5) with 14 points

La Jolla Country Day 69, Calvin Christian 64--Rashawn Allen and Justin Middleton scored 20 and 16 points, respectively, as La Jolla Country Day (19-6) beat visiting Calvin Christian, 69-64. Chris Prins and Chad Young had 30 and 16 points, respectively, for Calvin (16-10)

Calipatria 77, Tri-City Christian 74--We were unable to get any of the details of this game.

Christian 66, Santa Fe Christian 61--Tim Brown had 15 points and 13 rebounds as Christian beat Santa Fe Christian, 66-61. Senior Nick Gonzales led the Patriots (21-5) with 16 points. Mark Carlson led the Eagles (14-14) with 20 points.

Here's the Division V Bracket.  The next round is the semifinals which will be held Wednesday at a  "Neutral Site" which is yet to be determined. The games will be at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. and it will be a double-header with both games at the same site (presumably).

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