1966-67: Oscar Left Amid Cheers and Championships

The Oscar Foster era was ending and so was the greatest three-year run in San Diego High’s storied basketball history.

The 6-foot, 7-inch forward never was first in scoring among San Diego Section players but set a career scoring record; led the Cavers to two championships in three seasons, established a school record with 41 points in one game, and was on the front end of the score in almost 27 games each season.

The Cavers were 77-17 with Foster in the lineup and their 29-2 record and .935 winning percentage this season was bettered only by the .938 of the 1935-36 team, which was 15-1.

Foster also was a leader off the court, carrying a 3.3 scholastic grade-point average and serving as president of the campus Boys’ Federation, Key Club, and Letterman’s Club.  He also was ranked among the top 40 players in the country, as noted by Scholastic Magazine.

Foster scored 660 points and averaged 20.7 points this season.  His three-season totals were 1,784, an average of 18.97 for 94 games, and he bettered the record, by 250 points, that Von Jacobsen of Crawford had set the season before.

TITLE SQUEAKER

Jumpin’ Johnny Otis’ two free throws with 15 seconds left pushed San Diego’s lead to 54-51 and the Cavers held on to defeat Mount Miguel (25-6) for the San Diego Section 2-A championship, 54-53.

A 28-15 fourth quarter gave the Hillers a 66-53 win over Hilltop in their first playoff.  Foster scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half as an overflow throng of 1,400 roared its approval at San Diego.

Otis scored 24 and Foster 17 in a 75-66 win over Madison (21-6) in the semifinals.

Foster teams were 8-1 in his three post-seasons .

The Cavers’ only two losses this year were to Long Beach Poly, 67-62, in the San Bernardino Kiwanis tournament and to St. Augustine, 55-53,  in a 14-1 Eastern League season.

TOURNAMENTS

The usual Kiwanis Tournament of 16 Unlimited Division and 16 Limited squads returned for a 20^th year.

Thirty-five of the Section’s 43 schools took part in a busy post-Kiwanis and post-Christmas schedule of at least seven events:

FALLBROOK

The earliest of the season saw Orange Glen defeat Laguna Beach, 58-54, for first place.

KIWANIS

What a difference a year makes, especially for Hoover and Crawford, blueblood finalists a year before who were knocked out in the opening round. Rising Mount Miguel beat the Cardinals 59-43, and Oceanside took out Crawford, 62-41.

Junior Roy Gayhart led Helix with 13 points and the Highlanders stunned Mount Miguel, 55-53, in overtime on Bob Kellison’s basket, earning the Highlanders a trip to Unlimited Division finals against San Diego, which outlasted the Scots, 50-44.

Hilltop ran past Coronado, 57-46, for the Limited crown.  The Lancers scored 291 points and averaged 73 points, a record, bettering the 289 by Hilltop in 1965.

Mount Miguel topped second-seeded Madison, 94-76, the teams setting a record for most combined points.

Blaine Bundy of El Capitan raised the single-game scoring record to 46 points in a 70-60 win over San Dieguito.  St. Augustine’s Jacob Crawford had 42 in 1959.

Bundy had games of 20, 33, 46, and 21, tying the 1962 total of 120 by Granite Hills’ Bob Lundgren. The Vaqueros won two games before losing to Santana, 48-43, in the Limited consolation finals.

UNIVERSITY

The 16-team format was the same as for the inaugural event a year before.  All games would be played in the University of San Diego gymnasium, tipoffs ranging from 8 a.m. to 8:15 p.m.

St. Augustine thrived by living dangerously.

Victor Crawford’s follow shot with four seconds left gave the Saints a 54-52, overtime victory against Mount Miguel in the championship game. Gil Evans’ basket with six seconds remaining tied the score at 52 and Evans was fouled.  He missed the free throw attempt but Crawford rebounded.

St. Augustine topped Madison in a quarterfinals game, 61-60, when Evans knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds left. The Saints scored seven points in the final 1:36 after Madison led throughout by 4 to 8 points.

St. Augustine outscored four opponents by a total of 11 points.  They also beat Kearny, 47-42, and Hilltop, 59-56.

Hilltop’s Woody Hamilton scored 34 points in a 71-64 win over Mission Bay to break the individual record of 31 by Clairemont’s Bob Martin in 1965.

EL CENTRO ELKS

Eight of the 16 entries were from San Diego County, including Orange Glen, a 46-43 conqueror of El Centro Central for the title.

Morse’s Monroe Nash was the tournament most-valuable player and his 97 points in four games and high of 31 (El Cajon Valley’s Ray Sutton had 29 in 1965), helped the Tigers claim third place, 61-40 over Marian.

La Jolla won the consolation championship over El Cajon Valley, 55-44.

MUSTANG OPTIMIST

–Four teams, Coronado, San Dieguito, Vista and San Marcos, competed in a round-robin format as the Encinitas optimists downsized their event in competition with the other tournaments involving San Diego teams.

Coronado (24-6) took the measure of host San Dieguito (8-18), 62-46, in the championship.  Vista claimed third, 72-43 over San Marcos.

FILLMORE

Rick Edwards and Roy Gayhart each scored 11 points as the Highlanders topped Santa Monica, 48-32, for third place.

The La Mesans won their opener, 59-51 over Glendale Hoover but lost in the second round, 60-52, to Santa Susanna Simi Valley.

SAN BERNARDINO

San Diego nudged Fontana, 56-52, after Oscar Foster’s basket with five seconds etched a tie at 49 and forced an overtime.

The Cavers’ 11-game winning streak ended in a 67-62 loss to Long Beach Poly, but they claimed fifth place after beating El Monte, 57-56, on Johnny Otis’ basket with five seconds left and San Bernardino, 60-54.

CHINO

Mar Vista outlasted Temple City, 74-72, for third place.  The Mariners were beaten, 62-54, by Pomona in the semifinals of the 26^th annual event, outscored, 24-4, at the free throw line.  The South Bay club had beaten Claremont, 77-54 and Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos, 52-47.

Defending champion Chula Vista won its opener over Upland, 54-50, before bowing out to Temple City, 65-58.  Escondido had been ushered into the consolation bracket by Montclair, 63-51.  The Cougars bounced back to defeat Pomona Garey, 62-61, before losing in the conso’ semifinals to Pomona Ganesha, 83-68.

COVINA

Crawford was eliminated by Covina, 73-58, in the first round.

PLAYOFFS

The Avocado League had moved from Class 1-A to 2-A, so CIF Bosses increased the playoffs from 8 to 12 teams but maintained the 4-day, one-week schedule. Five of the 12, including Orange Glen, Coronado, Oceanside, Morse, and Madison, were making their first appearances in the large school division.

Marian (19-6), behind Steve Bajo, raced past La Jolla Country Day (12-4), 92-60, in the 1-A final and had four games in the regular season in which it scored at least 100 points.

The Crusaders also set the record for most points in one game in a 124-50 romp over San Marcos and defeated Army-Navy, 120-49.

FIRST ROUND

Victor Crawford and Gil Evans scored 38 of St. Augustine’s 39 points as the Saints eliminated Kearny (15-10) and 24-point scoring Russ (Whimpy) Northcutt, 75-60.  Evans made 18 of 19 free throw attempts and the Saints were 27×31 from the line.

Hilltop edged Helix (17-11), 67-61. Clairemont (18-11), outscored, 18-4, in the third quarter, rallied with a 25-10 fourth quarter to oust Oceanside (18-8), 56-51. Orange Glen (25-3) eased past 18-11 Morse, 56-51.

QUARTERFINALS

St. Augustine’s life of living dangerously came to an end in the quarterfinals in a 55-53 loss to Coronado.  Victor Crawford’s running 10-footer missed with 4 seconds left and with Coronado in front, 54-53.  The Saints’ Gil Evans then committed an intentional foul and was ejected.  When the Islanders’ Mike Nienberg missed the second of the ensuing two free throws, the Saints rebounded and had a chance.

Madison’s 80-53 win over Orange Glen set a single-game scoring record..  Steve Rostoker (23) and Ron Dahms (22) led the Warhawks.

Mount Miguel sent Clairemont home, 77-56.

SEMIFINALS

Coach Dick Ridgway’s Mount Miguel Matadors probably were only slight favorites, but they outclassed Coronado, 67-48, behind 24 points from Ken Greenman, one of four starters who would be back in 1968-69,  before 3,700 persons at Cal Western’s Golden Gym.

Madison further diminished Coronado, which had claimed its first league championship since 1955-56, 73-55, for third place as Steve Rostoker scored 22 and Lyneer Nelson 20.

WHY THEY PLAY 

Point Loma (5-21) carried a 1-10 Western League record into the game, but showed toughness and resolve against La Jolla.

The Pointers outlasted the Vikings, 85-83, in overtime after Pete Irwin’s fast-break layin tied the score at 78 in regulation and Phil Northcraft’s two free throws in the final three seconds of the extra session got the peninsula club past La Jolla (14-12).

ROAD WARRIORS

San Diego ran by Morse, 65-56, in the resumption of Eastern League play in January.  The game was the 11^th in a row on the road for the Cavemen and their 10^th victory.  They had not played at home since a 70-40 rout of Clairemont in early December.

THANKS, NEEDEE

Legendary former Coronado coach Hal Niedermeyer came to my rescue when I was refused admittance to Carrothers Gym, where the Islanders would edge Hilltop, 72-71, in a critical Metropolitan League game.

I had shown my press credentials to a retired Admiral type who seem to enjoy telling me that I would have go elsewhere, explaining that the gym was packed beyond capacity.

Niedermeyer pulled me aside and said, “Follow me.”  We went through several back doors and I eventually was able to gain entrance and cover one of the most exciting games of the era.

SCORERS

El Capitan was 5-21 and you could imagine what the Vaqueros would have finished if not for Blaine Bundy, the 6-foot, 7-inch forward who was the CIF’s leading scorer and whose 25.2 average was fourth highest in area history behind Tom Shaules’ 26.3 in 1957-58, Shaules’ 25.5 in 1956-57, and Elburt Miller’s 25.4 in 1962-63.

Marian led in team scoring with a 72.2 average, followed by Madison, 70.7, Mount Miguel, 68.3, Hilltop, 66.7, and San Diego, 63.8.  La Jolla Country Day, despite giving up 92 points in its final game, had the best scoring defense, 43.8.

La Jolla’s Steve Haskett set a school record with 576 points, topping the 447 by Dave Grund in 1962-63.  Haskett scored 32 points in one game, three less than the 35 by Chet Guthrie in 1960-61.

Lincoln’s Leonard Jackson had 36 points in a 62-58 win over Hoover, bettering the 34 by Steve Ojetti in 1960-61. Russ (Whimpy) Northcutt’s 34 in a 68-54 win over Mission Bay set a Kearny record. Steve Rostoker scored 36 for a Madison record in a 72-71, opening-game win over Oceanside.

LEADERS

JUMP SHOTS

Things looked promising at Crawford after the Colts beat a strong Hilltop team, 75-65, in the season opener…the Colts entered the game with one letterman and graduates of a losing junior varsity…the veteran, Fred Bellinger, scored 18 points but Crawford gained no traction, finishing with a 6-18 record, poorest in the era of coach Jim Sams and the worst since 2-19 and 4-18 seasons after the school opened in 1957-58…Jumpin’ Johnny Otis 23 scored points in his San Diego High varsity debut, a 73-45 win over San Dieguito (8-18)…Oscar Foster had 28 in the same contest and followed with  26 in a 67-61 win over Hilltop, whose home crowd was assessed two technical fouls, leading to five free throw points by Foster in the final minute… Foster had 26 points, 26 rebounds, and 6 assists in a 63-54 win over St. Augustine…brothers Carl and Willie Buchanon combined for 35 in a 92-50 rout of Poway…Russ Northcutt picked up the moniker “Whimpy” in junior high because of his preference for a popular hamburger of that name…Bob Speidel stepped down as Helix coach after 7 seasons, two championships, and a 122-64 record…Dick Eiler was leaving for administration after posting a 83-86 record in seven seasons at Clairermont.