sd wild division 1

SoCal High School & Prep Report

Paul Smith: San Diego Division I
Wild Card Playoff Results --(February 24, 1998)

Monday marked the beginning of playoffs in San Diego. In Division I there were 18 teams originally selected to the pool. Because 18 is not a number that yeilds an easy tournament bracket, the Division picked two of the teams as, in effect, "wild card" teams, and two of these teams played the last two seeded teams inthe Divisional bracket. Here's Paul's report on what happened at the first two games played in Division I in San Diego Monday night:

Valhalla and Mount Miguel Advance

#15 Valhalla from the Grossmont South League soundly defeated #18 San Marcos out of the Palomar League 65-44 last night in a CIF Division 1 wild-card game. Brandon Fowler led the way for Valhalla with 25 points and 18 rebounds. Johnny Childe chipped in 16 including 4 3-pointers.

I was, of course, in attendance for this game since we (#2 Helix) will be playing the winner tonight. I was highly impressed with the lethal mix of FowlerÕs inside play with that of Childe and de Renourd on the perimeter. We defeated Valhalla twice this season, but both games were grind-it-out types of games and I look for Valhalla to come into our gymnasium tonight with nothing to lose and everything to win. This is an extremely difficult first-round game for us.

In the other Division 1 wild-card game, #17 Mount Miguel defeated #16 West Hills 71-61. Marquise Bragg led Mt. Miguel with 20 points and three others (Hartung, Prince, Barnes) added 12 in a balanced attack. With the win, Mt. Miguel earns a trip to #1 Rancho Buena Vista tonight.