san diego semifinal results and final schedule

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SoCalHoops High School News

San Diego Playoff Results From
Wednesday & Finals Schedule--(March 5, 1999)

News has been slowly leaking out of San Diego about Wednesday's semifinal games in all the divisions, and since some of the favorites lost (including Torrey Pines and RBV) the news from some of our regulars has been even slower in coming out. No Paul Smith, no Torrey Pines Sports Info Director, and none of the other regulars have posted about San Diego. So we had to go hunting ourselves. Hopefully some of the regular contributors will be at the finals on Saturday at Cox Arena, because we won't (we'll be covering all the Southern Section action up here at the Pond).

In any event, based on the results from Wednesday, here's what's up for Saturday, March 6, 1999:

Division I Final: Southwest v. Bonita Vista, Cox Arena 8:00 p.m.

Division II Final: Orange Glen v. Serra, Cox Arena 6:00 p.m.

Division III Final: St. Augustine v. USDHS, Cox Arena 4:00 p.m.

Division IV Final: Bishop's v. Horizon, Cox Arena 2:00 p.m.

Division V Final: Christian v. La Jolla Country Day, Cox Arena 12:00 p.m.

And here are the results from Wednesday, from the Union-Tribune:

Division I

Southwest 87, Rancho Buena 73
Bonita Vista 51, Torrey Pines 47

Southwest defeated Rancho Buena Vista in the opener 87-73 and Bonita Vista beat Torrey Pines in the nightcap 51-47. "I can't tell you what it means for us to beat a North County school like that," Southwest coach Steve Selland said after his game. After the second game, Bonita Vista senior point guard Roy Morris said: "The South Bay is on the way up." Palomar League schools have dominated the Division I playoffs since 1991, when Sweetwater beat Mt. Carmel for the title. It's the last time a South Bay school advanced to a final in Division I, which is for the county schools with the largest enrollments.

Most years the Divsion I final is a rematch of Palomar League schools. This time it's a rematch of Metro schools because Southwest and Bonita Vista shared the Metro title with 13-1 records. They split their league meetings, with each team winning on the other's home court. Now they'll meet on a neutral court when the Division I final is played at 8 p.m. Saturday at San Diego State's Cox Arena. Southwest, the No. 1 seed, is 31-1; Bonita Vista, the No. 3 seed, is 29-4. Rancho Buena Vista, the Palomar League co-champion that was seeded No. 3, finished at 22-8. The Longhorns were led by Aaron Abrams' 23 points. Torrey Pines, an unseeded team that won the Avocado League, finished at 19-11. The Falcons were led by Brad Nelson's 14 points. Both winning coaches gave their team halftime talks that sparked third-quarter rallies that were the turning points of the games. For Southwest, a 40-37 halftime lead was stretched to 60-50 after three quarters. "Even though we were (the No. 1 seed), our kids were still somewhat in awe of Rancho Buena Vista," Selland said. "I told them they just had to go out and be aggressive. I said, 'Let's show them what we can do.' " Mike Holper, a 6-foot-6 senior forward who sometimes plays point guard, had six points in the period and finished with 25. Nate Sandeford, a 6-4 senior, had two baskets and two free throws and finished with 24. Bonita Vista found itself trailing at halftime 25-22. Torrey Pines had successfully forced the Barons into a halfcourt game. "I told them we have to do what we do best," said BV coach John Saintgnon. "We have to go back to playing pressure defense. That's what got us here. We had to get some pressure to get our running game going." The Barons scored six quick points to open the third quarter and outscored the Falcons in the period 19-8 to take a 42-33 lead. Both leading scorer Victor Esquer (19 points) and Morris (9 points) had steals and went coast-to-coast to convert them into layup baskets. Lamar Robson added 11 points for the Barons with his inside play.

Division II

Serra 56, Point Loma 50
Orange Glen 87, Eastlake 66

In the Orange Glen v. Eastlake game, Joel Anderson scored 26 points to lead the Patriots (23-5) to the win at Grossmont College. Despite trailing by as much as 22 points, Eastlake (19-10) was able to cut the lead to five midway through the final quarter. Andre Torres had 10 of his 22 points in the fourth to lead the Titans.

In the Serra v. Point Loma game, James Profit scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half to break open a seesaw game and lead the Conquistadors (19-7) to the win. Tim Lindfelt had 20 to lead the Pointers (16-9).

Division III

St. Augustine 83, Mission Bay 63
USDHS 85, Crawford 65

In the St. Augustine v. Mission Bay game, Andre Porter and Jamaal Williams combined for 50 points as the top-seeded Saints (20-7) beat their Western League rival at San Dieguito Academy to earn a fourth straight trip to the finals. Porter had 27 points and seven assists. John Clark's 14 points led the
Bucs (10-17).

In the USDHS v. Crawford game, tour players scored in double figures as second-seeded USDHS won. The Dons (18-8) held Crawford (16-8) to two points over the first 5-1/2 minutes of the third quarter as they extended a 10-point halftime lead to 24. Kam Walton scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half for USDHS, which has won five consecutive CIF titles. Nase Daniels and Elliot Edwards scored 13 apiece for the Colts.

Division IV

Horizon 86, Eastlake 54
Bishop's 73, Holtville 55

In the Bishop's v. Holtville game, the Knights (16-12) get their third shot at Horizon in the title game after riding Mike Hausmann's 34 points to victory. Jesus Flores (18 points) kept the Vikings close until midway through the second quarter.

In the Horizon v. Eastlake game, Ryan Fellows' 22 points and Ron Coleman's 15 rebounds helped the Panthers to an 86-54 victory over Lincoln in the Division IV semifinals at Eastlake High in Chula Vista last night. With the win, their 22nd against just two losses, the Panthers move into Saturday's CIF-San Diego Section championships at Cox Arena against Bishop's. "We were really fired up," said Fellows, a 6-foot-2 senior who had four of Horizon's nine three-point field goals. "It's time to step up. We felt comfortable despite the long time between games. When you're No. 1, everyone is out to get you, so there's no room for a letdown." Although they had nothing to lose, the Hornets (16-12) simply could not match the intensity and outside shooting of the senior-dominated Panthers, who are the state's top-ranked Division IV team. Jeremy McGuire accounted for 21 points and 10 rebounds, but the 6-foot-9 senior was the lone Lincoln player to score in double figures. Meanwhile, four Horizon players achieved that standard. Behind Fellows were Wayne Bernard (16 and four treys), Trevor Jensen (13) and Detrick Watts (13 points, 10 assists). The 6-8 Coleman, playing against his ex-teammates, was dominant inside, especially in the second quarter when he hauled down seven rebounds. Horizon sprinted to a 25-9 advantage in the first quarter, pushed the lead to 70-31 in the fourth and then cruised.

Division V

Christian 90, Calipatria 61
La Jolla Country Day 56, Francis Parker 40

In the Christian v. Calipatria game, Christian's 25-2 run at the end of the first half turned a close contest into a blowout at OLP. Tim Brown led Christian (22-5) with 24 points and Nick Gonzales added 17. Tommy Yancy's 22 points led the Hornets (16-6).

In the LCD v. Francis Parker Game, Rashawn Allen scored 22 points to lead the Torres (19-6) over the Lancers (15-12). The game was played with just one referee. Josh Sanchez scored 16 for Parker.