The Hoover Cardinals earned their seventh trip in 10 years to the San Diego Section finals last night, overcoming the deep and long San Marcos Knights, 68-63.

Hoover (28-5) takes on La Costa Canyon (27-4) Saturday in Viejas Arena for the San Diego Section II championship.  The Cardinals defeated the Mavericks 56-55 earlier in the season.

After leading 3-0 at the outset Hoover did not take the lead again until the fourth quarter.

A turnout of about 1,200 rocked the East San Diegans’ 77-year-old gymnasium, with encouragement from coach Ollie Goulston, who exhorted the mostly Hoover crowd to turn up the already piercing volume.

The Cardinals lagged throughout, trailing 13-8, 20-11, and 30-21 at the end of two quarters.  Their shots began to fall in the second half, although Hoover still trailed, 43-35 late in the third quarter.

Damonte Holiday, who at one point in the fourth quarter had to be helped off the floor, apparently felled by cramps, fired a 27-point fourth quarter which put away the visitors.

Goulston’s youngsters, including four underclassmen in the starting lineup, were a measure of balance.  Miles Nolen-Webb led with 17 points, followed by Holliday (16), Tyrone Johnson (14) and Dominique Whitfield (11).

Freshman Johnny McWilliams, Jr. led San Marcos (26-6) with 16. The Knights play Lincoln Thursday night in the Southern California playoffs “play-in” game.

Attendance for afternoon games involving city teams was noted weekly in newspaper stories, for the first time in years.  Prep writers had gotten out of the habit.

An edict that forced city schools to play home games in the afternoon resulted in some actual figures, as in counting the house, one by one.

A total of 326 were on hand for Hoover’s game with San Diego.  There were 192 spectators at Lincoln and Las Vegas Chaparral, plus another 117 players, coaches, game officials, security people, and ticket takers.

Highly regarded Patrick Henry and host University drew only 1,200 at Madison High, probably 3,500 less than if the game had been at night.

POSTGAME PROBLEMS

Violence at night games in 1973 prompted city bosses to announce before the season that their schools would not play any home games after dark.

One school official stretched credibility to an absurd level when he noted there also was a “desire to aid in the energy crisis by reducing night lighting.”

The U.S. energy crisis started in 1973 when  Mideast oil-producers were mad at the U.S. and others for aiding Israel in a dustup with Israel’s sworn enemies in the region. The result was long lines and waits at  gas pumps and a shortage of fuel throughout the country.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) lifted the ban on exports in March, 1974, six months before the football season.

City bosses essentially ran from the problem of night-games rowdyism and violence, rather than taking steps to better secure venues.

VISTA AND FOG ROLL IN

When a night playoff game that involved a city school was played there were 18,162 on hand but few people saw the game, Vista’s 32-0 victory over Patrick Henry for the San Diego Section championship.

Fog descended on San Diego Stadium and the crowd saw mostly ghost-like figures or sometimes only heard the action.

LARGEST CROWD EVER?

Reporters were saying the estimated 22,000 persons who attended the University-St. Augustine charity game represented the largest turnout ever for a high school game in San Diego.

Discounting larger, estimated crowds at the annual city football carnivals in the 1940s and early 1950s, the Saints-Uni game still did not bring the highest number.

The record is the estimated 27,000 at the 1947 San Diego-Hoover contest in sold out Balboa Stadium.  The game featured one of Hoover’s  all-time best teams, led by end Bill McColl, tackle Volney Peters, and halfback Bob Miller, and San Diego’s Southern California playoff finals squad.

St. Augustine, University, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace, and Rosary High benefited from the 41,000 tickets sold for the Saints and Uni.  Bob Hope entertained and it was announced, later amended, that the schools realized about $15,000 apiece.

In actuality, each school realized a profit of about $6,000.

Through a mix-up, Bob Hope’s $25,000 fee was donated to Hope’s favorite charity and not to the schools.

CAVERS’ THROWBACK

San Diego floundered after the era of coach Duane Maley, the Cavers posting a 56-61-2 record since the first year of the San Diego Section in 1960.

They would be eliminated from the postseason this season by legislative fiat, despite a 6-3 record and a three-way tie for first in the Western League.

But running back Michael Hayes evoked memories.

A typical performance came in the season opener at Mesa College against Hoover.  The USC-bound running back scored on a 46-yard punt return and 55-yard pass play as the Cavers topped the Cardinals 27-0  in the teams’ 42^nd meeting.

Hayes  also  had a 55-yard punt return nullified by penalty, ran 39 yards for another penalty-killing touchdown, and ran sideline to sideline on a 47-yard punt return.

Hayes’  returned  a kickoff  96 yards for a touchdown, caught a 39-yard scoring pass, ran 31 yards for a touchdown and kicked an extra point, all in  the second quarter of a 25-7 victory over Crawford.

Hayes, who was the County’s leading rusher in 1973,  had 342 all-purpose yards in another game.

“He’ll do a little of everything for us,” said San Diego coach Shan Deniston.  “He’d drive the bus if we asked him.”

CAVERS DISSED

Despite tying for the league title, Clairemont, Kearny, and San Diego each posting a 4-1 league record, the Cavers were shown the door after originally being let in.

San Diego had beaten Kearny but lost to Clairemont, and Kearny had a win over Clairemont.

The Chieftains, under first-year coach Art Anderson, who had built strong track teams at the school and had played in the NFL, were 8-1 in the regular season and Kearny 7-2.  .

But San Dieguito, 5-4 in the regular season and third in the Coast League and with a poorer overall record than the Cavers, days later was in and San Diego was tossed.

According to Henry Wesch of The San Diego Union, the CIF board of managers overruled an original decision by the CIF coordinating council the day after the regular season.

FAINT PRAISE

Patrick Henry’s Russ Leslie saw his top-ranked team (7-0) almost upset by unheralded, 4-3 Crawford, 22-14.

“I  could tell our team was flat on the bus coming over here and in the pregame warm-ups,” said Leslie, who finally got around to congratulating coach Bill Hall’s Colts.  “But that’s not to take anything away from Crawford.  They played a fine game; they’re a fine team.”

Nor was Leslie  a happy camper after the Patriots had defeated Grossmont,  24-20:  “Our passing was ‘way off and their runners made our defense look like a sieve.  We played good enough to win.  That’s all.”

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

As Henry Wesch of The Union wrote, a conflict was inevitable between Larry Schimpf and his son, Kerry. The elder Schimpf’s Monte Vista squad was playing Granite Hills, for which Kerry was a starting defensive back and wide receiver.

“There are some funny things being said around the house,” said Larry.  “The one who’s really in the middle is my wife.  She doesn’t know who to root for.”

Score one for Larry.  Monte Vista defeated Granite Hills, 21-0, but Kerry caught  4 passes and shadowed Monte Vista receiver Mitch Bonilla.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, LIKE FORMER AIDE

Crawford was quarterbacked by Dave Engle, whose father, Roy, was the longtime Hoover coach and for whom Russ Leslie served as an assistant before Leslie started the Patrick Henry program in 1968.

The younger Engle and his brother Roger cavorted during games on  the same Hoover sideline when Roy and Russ were guiding the Cardinals.

KOMETS QB CHOOSES LETTERS

Kearny quarterback Don Norcross called the plays and wrote up the game accounts.  Norcross declared he hadn’t made up his mind on college but wanted  “a writing career with a newspaper.”

The Komets’ quarterback, whose two-year varsity record as starter was 20-3-2,  became a writer for  UT-San Diego.

BIGGEST IN HISTORY?

An 8-7 victory  by 1-6 Carlsbad over 7-0 Oceanside was described as the biggest upset in North County history by some observers.

Oceanside coach Herb Meyer was not given to hyperbole:  “We had people counting our chickens and looking toward Vista.  If it happens to adults, I’m sure it happens to young people.”

Vista struck for 16 points in the fourth quarter and drove 66 yards for a touchdown in the final three-and-a-half minutes to defeat Oceanside, 22-14, before 8,000 persons at Vista.

Antony PaoPao, who gained 120 yards in 26

carries, had put the Pirates in front 14-6 on the final play of the third quarter.

Panthers quarterback Rob Preston figured in all 22 points, scoring two touchdowns, passing for another and running for two, two-point conversions.

Paopao edged San Diego’s Michael Hayes for the regular-season rushing title with 1,306 yards and an 8.3-yard average to Hayes’ 1,200 yards and 5.8 average.

PaoPao said he did not have personal goals, but he took some things personally:

”I  have a personal grudge against San Dieguito and a personal grudge against Carlsbad, because they beat us last year.  And I’ve got a personal grudge against Vista, because I’ve got some cousins who play there.”

In what was a personal battle, PaoPao’s 246 yards in 35 carries—another 100 were called back by penalties– resulted in three touchdowns in a 27-18 win over San Marcos and the Knights’ County scoring leader, Allan Clark.

Clark, a future NFL running back, kept San Marcos in the hunt with three touchdowns.

TEACHERS, OFFICIALS:  PAY US

The 106 members of the San Diego County Football Officials’ Association voted to boycott the season’s first week of games after talks stalled with the San Diego Section board of managers.

Within 24 hours a compromise was reached.

The managers agreed to  a $1 increase for all officials for all games worked.  The board also promised continued discussion related to “mutual concerns”.

A week earlier a crisis was averted when City Schools teachers reached agreement on several issues  with the superintendent and board of education.  The teachers were scheduled for a strike vote.

Football coaches were caught in an administrative crossfire, their contracts, simply put, stating that if they didn’t teach during the day they couldn’t coach after school.

COACHES ALSO UNHAPPY

“I was in a position to walk out with the other teachers if they vote to strike,” said Crawford’s Bill Hall.  “Then I got word from my principal that if I didn’t teach during the day I wouldn’t be able to coach either.”

“Most coaches would continue to coach no matter what the vote is, because you can’t build up to a season and then walk out,” said Kearny’s Birt Slater.  “Let’s face it, they’re trying to put pressure directly on us.   I’m really tired of all the threats and pressure tactics.”

CLAIREMONT TRAGEDY 

Oceanside’s Herb Meyer took exception to a nationally televised program that was critical of high school football and the number of injuries inherent to the game.

“If they really want some revealing statistics why don’t they check into the number of injuries associated with kids riding motorcycles,” Meyer said to writer Steve Brand.  “I’d rather see my kids on the field than dodging cars on a motorcycle.”

Five days later standout Clairemont defensive end-wide receiver Mike Ketteringham was riding on  the back of a friend’s motorcycle when it collided with an automobile.

Ketteringham died 24 hours later.  Clairemont went through with a game against Madison, winning, 8-4.  “They wanted to go ahead and play the game for him,” said Chiefs’  coach Art Anderson.

NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE!

Kirk Feldman intercepted three passes in the second half as Patrick Henry broke from a 13-13 deadlock at halftime and  cruised to a 34-13 victory over St. Augustine in an Eastern League showdown..

The modest son of longtime NFL coach Rudy Feldman explained that the Patriots were able to cover County leading receiver Tim Smith, who had 33 catches going into the game.

“We played a zone except for Smith and I just happened to be there,” Feldman told writer Steve Brand.

THREE MORE SCHOOLS

Torrey Pines, Valhalla, and Mt. Carmel opened their doors for the first time, bringing the total to 55 of football-playing schools in the San Diego Section.

Mt. Carmel, coached by Bill Levy, and Valhalla, with Russ Boehmke as head coach, played essentially junior varsity schedules.  The Sun Devils defeated the Julian varsity 13-7 and Valhalla lost to the La Jolla varsity 20-15.

In what would be considered a varsity matchup, the Norsemen defeated Mt. Carmel 14-12 in the schools’ first game.

Torrey Pines, coached by former San Diego State linebacker Cliff  Kinney, immediately got into the mix in the Coast League and posted a 3-6 record.

Mt. Carmel  would go into the Coast League in 1975 and Valhalla was ticketed for the Grossmont League.

Torrey Pines students attended classes at San Dieguito while the Falcons’ campus in Del Mar was under construction.

A young Torrey Pines footballer was John Kentera, later to be known as “Coach” on San Diego radio and television.  Kentera was involved in the Falcons’ first-ever touchdown, kicking the point after.

San Dieguito students lorded it over Falcons students after the Mustangs defeated Torrey, 41-20, in the schools’ first meeting.

Torrey Pines came from 21 points behind to shock unbeaten Mission Bay, 26-21.

TAKE IT ON THE ROAD

St. Augustine quarterback Mike Kennedy and wide receiver Tim Smith were a such success in San Diego that they took their show to Nebraska and played for coach Tom Osborne’s Cornhuskers.

Kennedy was the San Diego Section leader with 1,835 yards and 21 touchdowns and Smith was the leader with 53 catches and 10 receiving touchdowns.

Smith was a third-round draft choice of the Houston Oilers in 1980 and played seven seasons in the NFL.  He caught 83 passes in 1983.

HEADY COMPANY

Jan Chapman took over a Bonita Vista program that languished with a 16-36-1 combined record after the school opened in 1967.

Following a 1-6-2 start in 1973, Chapman, former University of San  Diego quarterback who spent decades as chief press box statistician at Chargers games, elevated the Barons into the upper strata of the Metropolitan League, i.e., to turf annually reserved for Castle Park and Sweetwater.

The Barons rolled all the way to 7-0 before losing 21-6 to Castle Park, which advanced to 8-0 and clinched the league title.  Bonita recovered to defeat the 6-2 Sweetwater Red Devils, 28-7, then finished with a 24-0 loss to Crawford in the first round of the playoffs.

ONE OF HIS FAVORITE YEARS

Longtime prep observer and expert Greg (Stats) Durrant offered several reasons in 2012 why the season of 1974 was special: “Only one playoff division, no 0-10 teams in the playoffs, and large crowds at games.  Also, no first-round byes!”

QUICK KICKS

Walter Barnett, who played on Grossmont’s 1927 championship team, retired at the end of the school year…Barnett taught 12 years at Grossmont and then was principal for the last 17…at halftime of the Army-Navy game,  Julian coach Bill Nolan told his 18 players, “Lie down and go to sleep; you’re doing a great job”…the Eagles won, 21-13, and won a rematch later for the 1-A championship, 18-0…El Cajon Valley, behind quarterback and future No. 1 NFL draft choice (Pittsburgh Steelers out of Arizona State)  Mark Malone, and running back LeRoy McGee (Michigan State) posted an 8-1-1 record, best in school history, and won its first Grossmont League championship since 1965…Malone ran 79 and 91 yards for touchdowns and McGee scored from 91 yards as the Braves beat neighbor Granite Hills, 31-17…Will Crawford of La Jolla kicked field goals of 38, 33, and 28 yards and La Jolla defeated Riverside Rubidoux, 9-6…Kearny’s playoff score with Sweetwater did not disappoint the Komets…they advanced as result of the CIF’s tiebreaker rule with 12 first downs to 10, achieved by a 62-yard drive in the final 7:41 of the fourth quarter…Kearny had won 15 in a row and had an unbeaten streak of 16 games when it couldn’t score in the second half of a 14-6 loss to Morse… said Morse coach John Shacklett:  “We simply played good football against a good team”…”We fumbled on their seven and 12-yard lines,” said Komets coach Birt  Slater, summing up the Linda Vista view of the game… St. Augustine’s Mike Kennedy passed for 385 yards and 6 touchdowns and Tim Smith caught 9 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the Saints’ 48-20 victory over Lincoln…Oceanside was minus the injured Anthony PaoPao and dropped a 37-7 decision to Patrick Henry in the playoff quarterfinals…Clairemont,  under first-year coach Art Anderson, the Chiefs’ former track mentor, improved from 1-8 in 1973 to 8-1 and battled Kearny before losing 14-12 in the Eastern League title game…Ramona was facing zip, zero, nada…for the season…for wins and points scored…the Bulldogs lost their ninth game but did get into the end zone in a 63-6 loss at home to San Dieguito….

St. Augustine students residing in “The Pit,” were off their game last night.

When the score reached 79-20, the vocal cheering section in a  corner of the Saints’ tiny gymnasium began serenading visiting Mar Vista players with “This game is over!  This game is over!”

The game actually was over barely a minute after it began, the Saints stunning the Mariners with eight consecutive points.

Coach Mike Haupt’s team pressed the visitors throughout, and unleashed a suffocating, man-to-man defense in winning the San Diego Section Division III first-round playoff,  87-22.

The Saints (22-4) led 29-8 after one quarter and 53-16 at halftime.

The home team entertained a turnout that included San Diego State associate head coach Brian Dutcher with an explosion of dunks, breakaways, and three-point bombs that appeared to be launched from nearby 32nd Street.

Haupt emptied his bench fairly early in the third quarter when the Saints were leading 64-18.

Though never in it, Mar Vista (13-16) hustled and played hard all the way.

Next up for the Saints is a quarterfinals game against Mount Miguel Saturday, February 22, at St. Augustine.  Mount Miguel defeated Del Norte 74-53 last night.

Cathedral Catholic, top-seeded in III and favored to meet the Saints in the finals, walloped San Diego High Tech 93-30 in its first-round “test”.

HUNDRED POINTS OR BUST

In another why-was-this-game-even-considered Division V mismatch, Horizon’s girls defeated Foothill Christian, 101-4.

The blowout reinforced the idea that too many unqualified teams are invited to the playoffs, serving as sacrificial lambs in the name of more brackets and more revenue.

San Diego High was in the playoffs and San Dieguito was out.

Oops, San Dieguito was  in and San Diego was out.

The seeds of a legislative tempest had germinated in the spring when the San Diego Section Coordinating Council requested that the County Football Coaches’ Association prepare an analysis of the 1973 playoffs.

Point Loma’s Bennie Edens, Kearny’s Birt Slater, and Oceanside’s Herb Meyer, the Association’s current President, created a white paper.

The document concluded that the postseason was a financial and artistic success, but the coaches noted a pesky loophole.

There had been no provision in the 1973 playoff structure for the handling of a three-way tie for first place in leagues that were allotted only two playoff berths.

The coaches suggested that tri-champions in a league with two playoff berths be given priority over second- and third-place teams from leagues with three playoff berths, with rotational  alternatives in succeeding seasons.

SOUNDS SIMPLE, BUT…

The issue never got out of committee, as they say in politics.  “Although the recommendation was considered, it was never passed,” said El Capitan principal Bill Davis, representing the Grossmont League on the San Diego Section coordinating council.

Crawford principal Dick Jackson disagreed:  “…there was a general  feeling among the council members considering the recommendation that it was a good one and should be passed.”

Jackson believed the recommendation by the coaches was adopted in principle, but no written record of the endorsement went  to the CIF board of managers.

Apparently the CIF playoff seeding committee did not get the memo.  The seeds and pairings reflected the coaches’ recommendation.  Thus,  San Diego (6-3), which tied for the Western League championship, was in, and San Dieguito (5-4), third in the Avocado League, was out.

“We always get a raw deal,” screamed San Dieguito coach Grant Gaunce to Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

Not to worry, coach.

Gaunce was assuaged a couple days later when the CIF Board of Managers reversed the decision by the playoff committee, which set off other reactions.

About 75 San Diego High students attended a San Diego Board of Education meeting later in the week to complain about their team’s treatment.  A student who spoke on behalf of the group said it had gathered 850 signatures in the first 20 minutes after hearing of the decision.

A parent of one of the players said it was “cruel” to raise the kids hopes on Saturday, then arbitrarily pull the rug out from underneath them.

Board members indicated they were sympathetic to San Diego High’s situation but that a decision was not within their authority.

San Diego coach Shan Deniston was stunned.  “I must go to the wrong church,” he said.

San Dieguito was ushered out by Vista in the first round, 24-0.

Will it be once every 57 years?

That’s how long it took El Cajon Valley High to win its first league basketball championship, a feat not accomplished since the school opened in the 1955-56 school year.

The Braves (19-8) have yet to enter the UT-San Diego basketball poll Top 10 but  their exploits have created a stir along Main Street in the city sometimes known as the Big Box.

A 69-61 victory over Mount Miguel, in which Andre Nikkita scored 41 points (30 in the second half) gave El Cajon Valley a 7-1 league record and championship of the Grossmont Valley circuit.

The Braves open the San Diego Section II playoffs at home against Serra (16-10) Wednesday night, Feb. 21.

Nikkita, the County’s leading scorer with 764 points, is averaging 28.3 points in 27 games. He needs nine points to break the school record of 772, set by Kemmy Burgess, who averaged 29.7 in 26 games in 1997-98.

Scribe Bill Dickens has been following East County teams since the 1960s.

“They had some good teams in the Bill Walton era (1969-70 at Helix), but who could tell?” said Dickens, citing the achievements were such of the Highlanders, 61-2 in two seasons,  that all else was overshadowed.

SEEDINGS SET

If playoff seedings, determined after last Friday’s final regular-season games, stay true through the first three rounds, these Nos. 1 and 2 seeds will meet in the finals of each division:

I, Mission Hills-El Camino.

II, La Costa Canyon-Hoover.

III, Cathedral Catholic-St. Augustine.

IV, Army-Navy-Mater Dei Catholic.

V, Horizon-Foothills Christian.

UT-San Diego weekly poll:

First-place votes in parenthesis.

Place	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Cathedral Catholic (9)	24-3	125	1
2	Army-Navy (2)	23-4	115	2
3	La Costa Canyon (2)	22-4	105	3
4	St. Augustine	21-4	93	4
5	Hoover	25-5	72	T5
6	Mission Hills	23-4	52	7
7	San Marcos	24-4	49	T5
8	El Camino	23-5	44	8
9	San Ysidro	22-7	23	9
10	Morse	22-7	10	10

It was a question never answered, because it seldom was asked.

Which was the better team? The 25-1 San Dieguito Mustangs, who won the Class A championship, or the tradition-rich, 24-3 Hoover Cardinals, who won the AA title in the 1960-61,  first season of the CIF San Diego Section .

Some 50 years later a reader of this website suggested I write a story about that San Dieguito team.

My initial reaction was, why didn’t  I press the issue in 1961 and get Hoover coach Charlie Hampton to address the subject after the San Dieguito coach declared his Mustangs team the best?

Or confront CIF commissioner Don Clarkson and have him explain why the Mustangs wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the AA (large schools) playoffs, despite their almost-unbeaten record against bigger schools.

I was a cub reporter on the Evening Tribune, out of Lincoln High, and I thought all things started and ended with the Eastern League, of which Hoover was a member.

My colleague, Roger Conlee, covered County schools and leaned heavily to the Grossmont and Metropolitan leagues.  The Avocado League was held in slightly more regard than the tiny Southern League.

This was a terrific San Dieguito team, led by  6-foot, 7-inch senior John Fairchild, who would be a standout at Brigham Young University and play for the Los Angeles Lakers and other professional teams over a six-year period.

Conlee and I believed otherwise, I guess.  There were weeks when the Mustangs were not even in the Tribune’s Top 10, compiled by the two of us. Late in the season San Dieguito’s 16-1 record wasn’t good enough.  Sweetwater (5-8) and Point Loma (7-8) were considered more worthy.

North County squads, other than Escondido, didn’t get much currency in those days.  Bias definitely favored the city.  The population swing and subsequent North County power emergence still was years away.

Roger Conlee finally took a trip late in the season up U.S. 101 to Bing Crosby Hall, a cavernous barn on the Del Mar Fairgrounds which served as the Mustangs’ home court.

Conlee saw San Dieguito dispatch Vista, 49-40, before about 2,000 partisans.  The victory was  the 17^th in a row  in a streak that began after a 54-47 loss to Helix in the season’s opening game.

Mustangs coach Dick McCracken, who posted a 40-6 record in his two seasons, spoke out after the game.

“I’m sure proud of this team,” McCracken told Conlee.  “I only hope we can get into the large school playoffs (Avocado League squads were consigned to the small schools alignment, reserved for schools with less than 1,500 enrollment).

Then McCracken elaborated:

“The only point I’d like to make is that we beat the two teams (Hilltop and Kearny) that beat Hoover. I think we can beat Hoover, too.  We have better shooters.  The only thing which might beat us would be the coaching.  I’m no Charlie Hampton.”

(Hampton was the legendary Hoover coach who compiled a .774 won-loss percentage in 11 seasons and posted a 223-65 record).

Coronado coach Don Valliere weighed in on the subject after a 67-49 loss to Fairchild and company.

“San Dieguito without question has the best basketball team in the County,” said Valliere.   “They may not play defense as well as Hoover, but all in all they’re better.”

The final Tribune Top 10, published before the playoffs:
1—Hoover, 21-3.
2—Hilltop, 19-5.
3—Lincoln, 16-7.
4—Point Loma, 13-9.
5—San Dieguito, 22-1.
6—Crawford, 14-8.
7—Clairemont, 12-10.
8—Grossmont, 12-8.
9—Chula Vista, 10-10.
10—Escondido, 13-10.
10—Ramona, 21-1.

San Dieguito rolled through the Class A playoffs, beating El Cajon Valley, 73-57, Kearny, 66-53, and Sweetwater, 54-46.  Hoover won the AA title, defeating Chula Vista, 63-36, Hilltop, 56-49, and Point Loma, 66-53.

There would be no matchup of city and county powerhouses.  Section commissioner Clarkson  hadn’t considered allowing the Mustangs into the AA playoffs.

So the season ended.

With apologies to Aretha Franklin, the Mustangs also deserved a little R-e-s-p-e-c-t!