As Tom Shanahan of the Evening Tribune described on Jan 18, 1986, “The Oceanside-El Camino football rivalry may not stir much passion, but emotions in the city’s basketball rivalry have overheated.”
“Boiled over,” added Shanahan of the antipathy felt by these too-close-for-comfort North County neighbors.
The Wildcats’ gymnasium was filled to its 1,100-seat capacity when El Camino, which arrived on the scene in 1975 (Oceanside opened in 1904) and coached by new-sheriff-in-town Ray Johnson won the nasty Avocado League encounter, 61-44.
Johnson and Oceanside coach Bill Christopher were in agreement that each was embarrassed, did not excuse his team’s behavior, and did not place blame on the other side.
FISTICUFFS
The game was marked by a bench-emptying brawl for the second straight season.
“I’ll take my team off the floor the next time that happens,” said Christopher. “I’m not coaching a boxing team.”
“For some reason,” Christopher added, “these guys think they have to prove who’s toughest and who’s macho when they play against each other.”
“If this is what’s going to happen, maybe we’d all have to do the same thing; play somewhere without anybody watching,” said Johnson.
Only 1:42 had elapsed in the first quarter when Oceanside forward Mike Owens and El Camino guard Randy Hale squared off.
Hale fouled Owens and Owens pushed Hale after the whistle.
Shoving is not uncommon but instead of trying to prevent an escalation other players immediately began squaring off.
Fans poured onto the floor.
REFEREE CALLS OUT AUDIENCE
Before play resumed, referee Carl Goff went to the public address system and told the crowd to settle down, or “I’ll clear every fan out of here,”
With 3:14 remaining in the second quarter, Pirates forward Junior Seau was ejected after a flagrant technical foul.
The 6-foot 3, 190-pound Seau undercut 5-9 Edmund Johnson, who crashed to floor after the El Camino player left his feet on a drive to the basket.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever ejected a kid,” said referee Rod Miller. “That was the most flagrant foul I’ve seen in ten years.”
El Camino led only 46-41 with 6:11 left in the game, which became foul plagued when Miller and Goff began calling the especially tight game.
Both squads never got into a sustained flow and El Camino went to the free-throw line 34 times, converting 24. Oceanside was 7×15.
WILDCATS WIN WITH RAY
Johnson, who came to El Camino and also coached the girls team, built the Wildcats into a state power and won 763 games before coaching collegiately from 2009-18.
Johnson returned in 2019-20 to coach again, at El Camino.
It reminds me of our rivalry with San Diego High in 1973. After we beat them at our gym I had a police escort out to my car after a policeman came to the locker room and said there was a rumor that someone was going to knife me after the game. When we beat them in football that same year at Balboa stadium we had to wear our helmets on the bus after the windows were broken by rock-throwing “fans”. And these were high school games. The more things change the more they stay the same…
On the money, Mark. Thanks for the remembrance.