The girls were playing for a state playoff berth for the first time…

…before the start of their regular seasons.

That’s because the regular season still was in the spring in the San Diego Section, while the rest of California (and most other places where there is a court and a ball) plays basketball in the winter.

Patrick Henry represented San Diego in 3-A.

The Patriots got there by splitting a doubleheader.

They benched their starters and lost to Torrey Pines in a morning game at Coronado’s preseason tournament.

Playing their starters, Henry then topped Fallbrook, 54-46, in the evening at Serra High.

Point Loma received the 2-A invitation by defeating Ramona, 53-23, and Francis Parker got the nod in 1-A.

SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA REGIONAL

FIRST ROUND

3-A

Patrick Henry 45, Reedley 42 (24-1). 

“I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Patriots coach John Ferguson after his team knocked off the unbeaten Central Section power at Long Beach State.

2-A

Point Loma 59, Artesia 44.

The Pointers were seasoned by a winter league schedule of 14 games.

1-A

McFarland (25-1) 59, Francis Parker 31 (4-1). 

“We managed to hang in there until we ran out of gas,” said Lancers coach John Cook.

More than 200 students and fans stocked up on petrol and made a field trip out of the 270-mile jaunt to the small community north of Bakersfield and home of the Central Section representative.

SEMIFINALS

3-A

Ventura Buena 80, Patrick Henry 34 (7-2).

Buena coach Joe Vaughn reportedly said to his starters, after a 23-8 first quarter, “Show no mercy.”

The Henry girls now got ready for their regular season.

CHAMPIONSHIP

2-A

Thousand Oaks La Reina (27-4) 51, Point Loma 42 (6-1).

Point Loma coach Lee Trepanier decided to have his team to play an earlier game in the Morse Tournament and then embark on the two-hour drive for the game at Long Beach State.

The Pointers led, 20-14, in the second quarter but trailed, 41-30, after three quarters.

 

 

 

 

Torrey Pines’ 6-foot, 11-inch Chris Dudley was among the San Diego Section’s leading scorers with 438 points and a 16.8 average.

A fine season  and a productive four years at Torrey  but not a blueprint for the future.

The future stretched…and stretched.

Dudley went on to play four years at Yale University and then embarked on a National Basketball Association career that stretched 19 seasons, from 1983-84 to 2002-03, with five different teams.

Dudley ranks in an NBA Top 25 for longevity.

Through 2022-23 only 23 players had played more seasons.

Dudley epitomized the professional journeyman, valuable and available in any situation.

A future candidate for Oregon’s highest office, Chris played in 886 NBA games, averaged 3.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocked shots, and not long after retirement lost a close race in the gubernatorial election.

Dudley was a fourth-round choice and 75^th player in the 1983 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also played for the New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, and finished his career in a second stint with the Portland Trail Blazers.

The game still was played from December until early March, but San Diego Section basketballers seemingly were playing more and scoring more.

Ninety points, once considered elite, had become almost routine. 100 points no longer was surprising.

There were more highs than lows but some stunning legislative moves captured the headlines, as usual caused by a “dreaded administrative glitch”: 1982-83: Morse is Out of Playoffs And Then Back In

12/3/82

–Santa Fe Christian stepped up in class and the experience was not uplifting.  Carlsbad defeated the Navigators, 112-18.   The Lancers outscored their outmanned opponents, 29-1, in the fourth quarter.

Santa Fe Christian eventually changed its mascot to Eagles.

12/4/82

–Randy Pass had 6 of his game 14 points as Grossmont outscored San Dieguito, 10-5, in the fourth overtime of a 59-54 victory.

–The teams were deadlocked at 41 at the end of regulation play.

12/9/82

Russ Swier scored 30 of Ramona’s total in a 64-46 loss to Madison.

12/10/82

–Vista’s Jimmy Douglas scored 45 points, retrieved 20 missed shots, and third-ranked Vista topped visiting and fourth-ranked Sweetwater, 77-72.

–El Capitan dropped a 58-46 decision to Monte Vista and the Vaqueros could point the finger at the free throw line, where they missed 16 of 18 attempts.

12/13/82

Steve Brand of The San Diego Union noted the wide gulf between attendance in the championship games at the Hilltop and Mt. Helix tournaments.

“Helix attracted an almost full house (for Morse and Helix).  The Hilltop final, featuring two unbeaten teams (Mira Mesa and Point Loma), drew only a handful of fans.”

Brand pointed out that Mt. Helix had the host school, plus Morse and Lincoln and that the Hilltop championship was played during and after an epic Chargers-49ers football game; during a Virginia-Georgetown contest featuring all-Americas Ralph Sampson and Patrick Ewing, and just before tip of a San Diego-State Oregon game.

The 10-team tournament also started Nov. 30 but finished with a scheduled Dec. 11 ending, a full week after semifinal play and almost two weeks after the opening tip.

12/17/82

Morse ganged up on Sweetwater, 60-32, in the second half and cruised to a 92-51 victory.  Lawrence West, nicknamed “Camel” by his teammates because “he’s a hard worker”, scored 22 points.

CENTURY CLUB

TEAM	OPPONENT	SCORE
Carlsbad	Santa Fe Christian	112-18
Sweetwater	Coquitlam Centennial, B.C., Canada	109-91
Morse	St. Augustine	107-61
Lincoln	Granite Hills	107-40
Sweetwater	Richmond, B.C., Canada	105-74
El Camino	Coronado	105-36
El Camino	Escondido	102-57
Point Loma	Mission Bay	101-71
Borrego Springs	The Bishop’s	100-36

TOURNAMENTS

HILLTOP INVITATIONAL

Point Loma 76, Mira Mesa 73. 

Kevin Celestine of the Pointers and Tag Glithero of the Marauders offset each other with 25 points apiece.

–Point Loma ran away from Mar Vista, 89-70 after a 28-5 first quarter to set up for Mira Mesa, 63-60 winner over Torrey Pines

MT. HELIX INVITATIONAL

Morse, 63, Helix 56.

The Tigers, leading, 46-33, after three quarters, rode out a mild Helix charge.

–Six players scored in double figures as Morse beat Kearny, 85-51.  Madison transfer Ray Epton was one of the five with 14.  Lawrence West had 17 and Shawn Bell 15, plus 15 rebounds.

–Lincoln’s Anthony Todd scored 35 points in an 81-58 win over Mission Bay.

–Morse stopped Lincoln, 67-60, as Lawrence West, after a first half collar, scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds in last 16 minutes.

Eight teams participated.

PARKER

Francis Parker 38, Army-Navy 30.

–The host Lancers won their eight-team event.

RAMONA

San Marcos 60, Canyon Country Canyon, 55, OT.

The Knights emerged in the eight-team event by converting 24×42 free throws, the losers 7×21.

–Russ Swier scored 26 points, almost all in the first half, as Ramona took a 49-17 lead in an 83-43 win over Army-Navy.

LT. JIM MITCHELL MEMORIAL

Las Vegas Western 94, Glendale Hoover 92, 2 OT.

–The Kiwanis Tournament no longer invited out-of-area teams but the San Dieguito-based event, honoring a former Mustangs athlete who was killed in Viet Nam, tabbed the two finalists, Glendale Hoover as No. 1 seed and Las Vegas Western No. 2, among the 16 teams.

–Chris Dudley’s 25 points set the pace as Torrey Pines whipped San Pasqual, 69-65, for third place.

–Western eliminated San Pasqual, 98-63, and Hoover topped Torrey Pines, 75-64, in the semifinals.

–Western also out ran Mira Mesa, 103-96, as three players scored at least 24 points.  Tag Glithero led the Marauders with 30.

–Torrey Pines, pushed by Chris Dudley’s 22 points, upset 10^th-ranked El Camino, 72-65, dealing the Oceanside club its first loss, but the Wildcats, in their fourth season under coach Ray Johnson, rebounded to go to 5-1 with a 102-57 win over Escondido.

KIWANIS

The 36^th annual’s entry list of 27 teams, including fifteen Unlimited and 12 Limited division squads, was the lowest since the 1953-54 season, when there were 24 squads.

–A move to 32 teams in 1955-56 was followed by the creation of the Classified Division for a peak of 44 squads in 1967-68.

Helix 57, Lincoln 50, Unlimited Division.

Lincoln’s Anthony Todd collected his fourth foul with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter and didn’t score again, finishing with 12 points.  Helix clinched with a 22-12 last quarter.

–Yoyo Mitchell’s basket with 4 seconds to go finally got San Diego past Chula Vista, 77-75, in four overtimes.

La Jolla 63, Crawford 54, Limited Division.

La Jolla pulled away with a 19-8 third quarter. Crawford was assessed 28 fouls and 5 players fouled out.

–Sophomores Demetre Lafitte and Dave Burgess combined for 48 points and 17 rebounds as University upset Sweetwater, 75-60.

POINT LOMA

–Starting center Mark Fisher was stranded by weather in Denver and leading scorer Kevin Celestine had a hip pointer.

–The Pointers managed with John Giles, picking up for Fisher and scoring 24 points, and Celestine rallying with 16 in a first-round, 79-56 win over San Marcos.

–The champion Pointers moved to 7-1 the same day in the round-robin event by playing another game, and defeating Mar Vista, 63-49. Celestine added 14 points.

BARON-OPTIMIST

Vista 48, Orange Glen 41.

El Camino 73, Marian 62 (small schools)

The Patriots’ slow-down game pestered Vista until Jimmy Douglas broke through in the third quarter and finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds.

–A 30-10 third quarter, after it trailed, 29-20, at halftime propelled El Camino past Crawford, 74-50.  The Wildcats’ Freddy Spears scored 30 points.

–The ensuing win over Marian gave the Wildcats a 4-0 record in the tournament and they ended December with a San Diego Section-leading average of 85.1 points.

SANTANA

University 55, Patrick Henry 49.

Jim Binford and player-of-tournament David Reyes each scored 15 points for the Dons.

RICHMOND CHALLENGE @VANCOUVER, CANADA

Sweetwater won the round-robin tournament with a 2-1 record on the basis of the most points scored (295).

–Sweetwater 105, British Columbia Richmond 74.

–British Columbia Abbotsford, 81, Sweetwater 73.

–Sweetwater 109, British Columbia, Coquitlam Centennial 91.

CHINO

LaVerne Damien, 69, Escondido 47.

The Cougars were eliminated in consolation play.

1/4/83

Monte Vista overcame a 15-point Helix lead to defeat the Helix, 51-50, on Brad Morgan’s 15-foot basket at the buzzer.

–Reggie Wallace scored 40 points as Sweetwater beat Southwest, 80-51.

1/5/83

Mike Haupt scored 26 points as Mira Mesa set a school record in a 99-73 win over Christian.

1/12/83

Anthony Todd scored 27 points and Arthur Hamilton 17 as Lincoln outlasted Morse, 76-73, in two overtimes.

1/18/83

Out of the past came Poway and Orange Glen, which played to an old-fashioned 20-19 score, edge to Poway.

1/28/83

Reggie Owens scored 22 points and Oceanside gained a first-place Avocado League tie with El Camino, 58-53 in overtime, extending the Pirates’ home-court winning streak to 33 games, dating to the 1980-81 campaign.

–The Pirates trailed by eight points with six minutes remaining and by five with 1:02 left in regulation.

ALMOST TALLEST

Six-foot, 4-inch Russ Swier believed he was the third tallest person in Ramona, population 12,500.

Swier stood behind his 6-5 coach Larry Bringham, who played at U.S. International University “and a dentist here in town named Jim Hill,” according to Bud Maloney of the Evening Tribune.

The 6-8 Hill played at Fordham University in New York.

Swier led the San Diego Section with a 27.0 average this season.

ALL-TIME SINGLE-SEASON LEADERS IN SCORING AVERAGE

NAME	TEAM	SEASON	POINTS/AVERAGE
Mitchell Lilly	Madison	1976-77	893/31.9
Bill Walton	Helix	1969-70	960/29.1
Paul Halupa	Bonita Vista	1968-69	718/28.7
Tom Shaules	St. Augustine	1957-58	736/28.3
Michael Pitts	Sweetwater	1978-79	872/28.1
Halupa		1969-70	689/27.5
Ralph Drollinger	Grossmont	1971-72	868//27.1
Russ Swier	Ramona	1982-83	595/27.0
Hans Wichary	University	1979-80	447/26.3

2/4/83

Lincoln dropped a double-overtime, 76-68 decision to Hoover, despite Anthony Todd’s 35 points.

–Todd had to pick up the slack after the Hornets forfeited 12 victories because of ineligibilities.

–Hoover’s Ricky Pernell scored 36 points, following games of 38, 31, and 29.

2/8/83

Anthony Todd joined an elite group when he scored 50 points, with 24 field goals and two free throws in a 96-78 win over St. Augustine.  The 6-foot, 8-inch Todd was aided by Alton Beavers’ 16 points and 13 rebounds.

–Todd became the 11^th player in County history reach 50.

–Search 1979-80: “Three Division Alignment…” for a listing of the 10 others.

2/10/83

Anthony Todd, just two days later, socked Crawford with 46 points in an 89-48 win.  The Colts led, 15-12, after one quarter.

 2/16/83

—Sweetwater sweated before clinching a fifth straight league title, the first four in the Metropolitan before realigning in the new South Bay loop, 66-62, over Hilltop.

The Lancers converted 12 of 14 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter and slowly chopped a 54-46 Red Devils lead to 4 points, but their last score came with one second left.

2/20/83

—La Jolla won a playoff against University, 58-37, to clear the final hurdle to the 2-A playoffs.  The Vikings and Uni had tied as Western League champions, each with 10-2 records.

—Point Loma closed with a 91-59 win over San Diego and also finished 10-2. A postgame vote by league officials accorded the Pointers the No. 1 playoff position.  They also would be the top seed in 2-A.

PLAYOFFS

3-A

First Round

Morse 76, Madison 64 (17-7).

Granted a reprieve from a City Schools boss, No. 1 seed Morse took a nine-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Tigers originally were scheduled to play Hilltop, the only team in the playoffs with a losing record.

3-A Quarterfinals

Sweetwater 56, Monte Vista 52 (19-5).

Sweetwater won its 16^th in a row, improving to 20-5, which marked their sixth straight 20-win season, but not before experiencing sauna-like perspiration, especially with the memory of their No. 1 seedand first-round, 86-83 loss to Fallbrook the previous season.

“I must have lost ten pounds,” declared Red Devils coach Gary Zarecky.

Vista 77, Mira Mesa 73 (16-8).

The favored Panthers got more than they expected from the rising Marauders, sparked by junior Mike Haupt, who scored 32 points, a total matched by Vista’s Jimmy Douglas.

Vista did not know which team it would play until Mira Mesa suddenly was given playoff entree when Morse was ruled out because of forfeitures.

Morse 75, Hilltop 38 (11-14).

All 12 Tigers got into the scoring column.

Helix 72, Torrey Pines 56 (20-6).

2-A

La Jolla 67, Hoover 54 (15-9).

Central League champion Hoover ran afoul of Rick Eveleth’s tough and resourceful Vikings.

La Jolla held Hoover’s high-scoring Ricky Pernell to 19 points while three Norsemen made double figures.

Point Loma 56, Southwest 47 (15-8).

El Camino 91, Chula Vista 63 (14-10).

Lincoln 60, Oceanside 52 (14-8).

3-A Semifinals

Helix 66, Vista 54 (20-5).

Six-foot, 4-inch Tyrone Muldrow didn’t let Jimmy Douglas’ at least 4-inch height edge get in the way as Muldrow scored 20 points and pulled down 17 rebounds.

With an assist from Scott Webb, Muldrow’s basket stopped a Vista rally, which had narrowed the score to 55-51 and sparked a Highlanders run of 13 points in a row.

Douglas had 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Panthers.

Morse 64, Sweetwater 56 (21-5).

Parade Magazine third-team all-America Lawrence West led the Tigers with 22 points. All of his 10 baskets came from point-blank range.  “What we tried to do was get the ball inside and get them in foul trouble early,” said West.

Sweetwater star Reggie Wallace picked up his third foul halfway through the first quarter and sat for the remainder of the half, at which Morse led, 35-26.

2-A Semifinals

La Jolla 76, Lincoln 54 (8-16).

El Camino 76, Point Loma 72, OT (20-5).

The Pointers scored the last six points to etch a tie at 68 and send the game into overtime.

“When we walked off the court at the end of regulation time we were really hanging our heads, but we gathered our composure and came back,” said Wildcats coach Ray Johnson.

A basket by 22-point contributor Freddy Spears with 12 seconds remaining in the extra session clinched the El Camino victory.

1-A Semifinals

Army-Navy 57, Julian 49.

Francis Parker 83, Victory Christian 43.

SCORING LEADERS

Anthony Todd	Lincoln	24	646	26.9 (2)
Russ Swier	Ramona	22	595	27.0 (1)
Jimmy Douglas	Vista	25	539	21.6 (4)
Kevin Celestine	Point Loma	25	525	21.0 (6)
Reggie Wallace	Sweetwater	26	521	20.0 (7)
Ricky Pernell	Hoover	23	484	21.04 (5)
Albert Gonzalez	Army-Navy	19	463	24.4 (3)
Freddy Spears	El Camino	26	445	17.3
Tyrone Muldrow	Helix	27	445	16.5
David Reyes	University	23	442	19.2 (8)
Chris Dudley	Torrey Pines	26	438	16.8
Fred Farnsworth	Marian	22	430	19.5 (9)
Ed Raymond	Santana	25	417	16.7
Kevin Willard	Chula Vista	22	402	18.3 (10)
Tag Glithero	Mira Mesa	24	397	16.5
Jim Binford	University	23	386	16.8
Mike Haupt	Mira Mesa	23	386	16.8
John Peisner	El Capitan	23	384	16.7
Lawrence Tolbert	Crawford	23	381	16.6
Dwane Hurd	Carlsbad	19	360	18.9

3-A Championship.

Morse 51 (4-20), Helix 50 (24-3).

Helix led, 49-47, before 4,677 persons at the Sports Arena, until the Tigers’ Carl Fisher scored two baskets in the final 1:09 to pull out the victory,

2-A

La Jolla 79 (21-4), El Camino 67 (23-3).

“Our basic game plan was to work for the best shot and bang the offensive boards and it worked almost perfectly in the first half,” said Vikings coach Rick Eveleth.

La Jolla led, 39-24, at intermission.

“They took it to us underneath,” said El Camino coach Ray Johnson.

1-A

Francis Parker 40 (19-3), Army-Navy 39 (17-5).

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL PLAYOFFS

First Round

Division I

Los Angeles Crenshaw 86, Morse 45 (4-21), @Long Beach Arena.

Many in the crowd of 1,751 stood and gave the Tigers a standing ovation when the Tigers’ Ray Epton scored a field goal with 3:34 left in the half.

The Tigers had launched 14 unsuccessful attempts from the field before Epton’s basket.

Morse also did not score in the first quarter, drawing an 0-17 collar as the Cougars, behind 6-foot, 7-inch John Williams, who scored 22 points.

The Cougars took a breath in a 19-17 Morse second quarter before racing to a 52-26 advantage in the second half.

“I told our players before the game the key would be for us to cut down on our turnovers,” said Morse coach Ron Davis.  “When we had 12 turnovers in the first quarter that was the end of the game.”

Technically, Morse finished with a 4-21 record, with a total of 20 forfeitures.  They were 21-4 on the court.

Crenshaw topped Oakland Bishop O’Dowd, 62-55, in overtime for the state championship.

Division II

Oxnard Santa Clara 57, La Jolla 56 (21-5).

A 17-3 La Jolla lead evaporated into a 54-49 deficit and then the Vikings battled back but couldn’t finish, turning the ball over three times in the final 1:36.

Atherton Menlo defeated Santa Clara, 53-51, for the state title.

Division III

Santa Monica Crossroads 81, Francis Parker 64 (19-4).

Parker, considered the longest of longshots, outplayed the Roadrunners for almost three quarters. Mark Seiber scored 22 for Parker and Jay Filderman added 20 points, 14 on free throws.

Crossroads reached the state finals before losing to Cloverdale, 71-64.

There would be state basketball playoffs this season and Morse liked its chances to represent the San Diego Section.

Ray Epton, whose 25.0 average at Madison in 1981-82 was highest in the San Diego Section, had transferred to the school on Skyline Drive, where Epton joined 6-foot, 7-inch preseason all-America Lawrence West, 6-6 Shawn Bell, and  5-11 Carl Fisher, plus a tall, deep supporting cast.

But an anonymous tip doomed the Tigers, costing them 20 forfeits and knocking Morse out of the San Diego Section playoffs.

Epton’s family, in changing residences, moved to a home that, as it turned out, was beyond Morse’s enrollment boundary.

Tigers athletic director John Shacklett said an investigation established that Epton lived on the Mount Miguel side of a street that separates the Morse and Mount Miguel districts.

Morse officials either did not check the address or were unaware of the boundary.

Eastern League representatives, acting on the late-coming information, voted 3-2 to oust the Tigers.

Someone had ratted out the Tigers to the CIF San Diego Section not long after playoff seedings were published, creating a storm of emotion.

But…

After some shouting, pointed fingers, and foot stomping, the Tigers were let back in the door.

The issue went all the way to the office of City Schools big shots.

EX-BASKETBALL COACH

Dick Jackson, a former basketball player at San Diego High and coach when Crawford began its program in 1957-58, made the decision.

“Taking in all the facts and looking at our options we came to the conclusion that was the fairest way to handle this,” Jackson told Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

“I’m not entirely comfortable about this because I’m not entirely comfortable about the whole thing,” said Jackson.  “However, I think it is the best decision considering all aspects.”

Jackson pointed out that the playoff time line was critical.  Four games already had been played, four more were scheduled that night, and the Epton family had sought a court injunction.

Madison, the team Epton had left, became the Tigers’ first-round opponent. “It’s not fair,” said Warhawks coach John Hannon.  “We forfeited an entire football season a few years ago and no one came to our defense.”

ANOTHER DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

Lincoln was 12-2 and gearing for the stretch run when it was discovered that Hornets Arthur Hamilton and Charisse Jones had unexpectedly exhausted their eligibility.

Lincoln then forfeited 12 victories, including a 76-73, double-overtime victory over Morse….

Westbound traffic will pick up on Escondido’s Valley Parkway Friday night.

A neighborhood bragging rights game is scheduled when revitalized Orange Glen motors West from the eastern edge of town on the old thoroughfare to visit big brother Escondido High.

They’re only 4.5 miles apart, but the visiting Patriots and host Cougars haven’t met since 2015.

Fortunes have ebbed and flowed for both teams in a rivalry that once annually drew crowds of up to 10,000.

Orange Glen is in the midst of a renewal, following the lead of coach Gary Patterson and his son, Cael, who scored 35 touchdowns a season ago and helped the Patriots win four straight playoffs games before they bowed to San Francisco Lincoln, 24-13 in the state VI-AA finals.

Orange Glen’s 10-5 standing marked its first winning season since Rob Gilster coached it to a 9-3 record in 1997 and then moved on to open Valley Center.

Escondido has not been above .500 since 2009 and opened last week with a 45-42 loss to Hilltop, while the Patriots were on the island of Kauai and defeating Waimea, 41-16.

The Cougars lead the series, 28-18, and own a 15-game winning streak, dating to 1998.  Orange Glen had won the 13 previous crosstown matchups, from 1985-97 and  the teams’ first meeting, 14-7, in 1967, but Escondido held a 13-5 advantage through 1984.

CALIFORNIA’S BEST

Cal-Hi Sports‘ weekly state top 50 lists Cathedral No. 6, which is where the San Diego Section No. 1 club was in the newsletter’s first ranking last week.

St. Augustine is 19th, up from 21st.  Torrey Pines, off a 36-10 win over Orange County toughie Los Alamitos, jumped a whopping 16 spots, from 41st to 25th.  Helix is 31st and Lincoln joined the group at 48th.

Mission Hills, 31st last week, dropped out and Carlsbad is on the bubble, which consists of teams near the top 50.

Cathedral, 42-9 over La Costa Canyon last week,  gets it first big test in the Honor Bowl extravaganza Saturday.  Three different matchups on the same day: Sherman Oaks Notre Dame versus Phoenix Desert Vista at noon, followed by Capistrano JSerra and St. Joseph’s Regional of Montvale, New Jersey, at 3:30 p.m., and the host Dons and Arizona’s Scottsdale Saguaro at 7.

QUICK KICKS

Kearny’s 65-16 rout of Calexico required a visit to the Komets’ list of all-time scores…the victory ranks third to a 66-0 win over Patrick Henry last season and a 70-0 win over Crawford in 1969…Army-Navy prepared to meet Clairemont for the first time since 1993, but the Chieftains were forced to bail when only 14 players were available… Valhalla snapped an 0-18 slump with a 35-21 win over University City and El Cajon Valley won its first after 16 losses in a row, 13-7 over Francis Parker…the San Pasqual Academy Dragons have a new coach, Tyrone Shelley, who played basketball for Steve Fisher at San Diego State and holds the San Diego Section single-game record with 76 points in 2005 for Crawford against a team from Canada….

San Diego Union-Tribune Week 1 poll:

Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

First-place votes in parenthesis.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.	Cathedral (22)	1-0	303	1
2.	St. Augustine (8)	1-0	281	2
3.	Helix (1)	1-0	247	3
4.	Torrey Pines	1-0	206	4
5.	Lincoln	1-0	182	5
6.	Carlsbad	1-0	160	7
7.	Steele Canyon	1-0	106	10
8.	Mission Hills	0-1	106	6
9.	Madison	1-0	41	NR
10.	Otay Ranch	1-0	32	NR

Others receiving votes: La Costa Canyon (0-1, 29 points), Granite Hills (1-0, 12), Oceanside (0-1, 8), Eastlake (0-1, 6), San Marcos (0-1, 4), San Diego (1-0, 4), Grossmont (1-0, 4), El Camino (1-0, 1), Olympian (1-0, 1), Vista (1-0, 1).

Voting panel, 31 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos:

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Union-Tribune correspondents
• Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone,Ted Mendenhall, KUSI Chl. 51
• Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
• Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
• Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090
• Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
• Troy Hirsch, Kaylyn McMakin, Tabitha Lipkin, Fox 5, San Diego
• Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
• Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section
• Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
• Bob Petinak, Freelance
• John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
• Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.
• Christian Pederson, SoCal Prep Insider
• Eric Williams, WBK Sports/San Dego Friday Night Lights Magazine
• Thomas Gutierrez, Cal-Hi Sports

 

Football, which used to open with 90-degree practices under blazing Labor Day suns, is back with a now usual berginning in August’s semifinal week.

The dates have changed, but not the weather.

Cathedral is the San Diego Union-Tribune voting panel’s No. 1-ranked team in the first weekly poll.

Dons coach Sean Doyle, who should become the 11^th coach in County history to win 200 career games, embarks on his 24^th season in a career that began in 1996 at University, which moved its campus on Linda Vista to Carmel Valley and became Cathedral Catholic in 2004.

Doyle has posted a 196-91 (.683) record and trails only Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto (227) and Valley Center’s Rob Gilster (224) among active coaches.

HERB MEYER ON TOP

With 23 seasons, Doyle is in a tie with Gary Blevins, who retired after the 2017 season, at 16^th in longevity.  The leaders are Herb Meyer (45 seasons), Bennie Edens (43), Hamamoto (33), John Shacklett (32), and Gilster (30).

Cathedral (13-2) sustained an unlikely loss to La Costa Canyon, 19-7, in its opening game last season and then ran the table until a 21-14 defeat to Folsom in the state Division I championship.

The Dons will face off again this week against the well-regarded and neighboring Mavericks, No. 6 in the preseason poll.

Then, as is their early-season custom, Cathedral takes on a couple bluebloods.

The Dons will face state No. 3 and U.S. No 9 Corona Centennial in Week 2 and Scottsdsale Saguaro, No. 1 in Arizona and 22nd in the country, in Week 3. Max Preps, responsible for these ratings, places Cathedral at 13^th in California and 45^th nationally.

Cathedral has a solid 58.0 Cal Preps.com rating but Centennial’s is 76.6 and Saguaro’s 64.4.

At least the Dons’ first three tests will be at home.

QUICK KICKS—Helix, which opened No. 1 in San Diego in 2018 and then felt the Week 1 hammer of San Bernardino Cajon, 43-3, switches sites and opens as host to the Cowboys…the Highlanders are Max Preps’ 32^nd rated team in California and Cajon is 56^th…the Scots follow with tough West Herriman, Utah…after that?  Cathedral visits  and then comes Westlake Village Oaks Christian…sandwiched between is a game at Mesa College with St. Augustine…Carlsbad also has a strong intersectional schedule, opening with Newhall Hart, Long Beach Millikan, and Lawndale, which was 14-2 a year ago and is Cal Hi Sports’ preseason state No. 26…Torrey Pines, 41^st by Cal-Hi Sports, opens with Los Alamitos, 9-2-1 last season and ranked 46^th…others accorded props in the newsletter’s top 50:  Cathedral, No. 6; St. Augustine, No. 21; Mission Hills, No. 31, Helix No. 33, and Poway, out of the top 50 but with “On The Bubble” status…Max Preps ranks the Cathedral-Corona Centennial game as No. 6 in its Top 10 matchups of the season….

Points on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

First-place votes in parenthesis.

RANK	TEAM	2018	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.	Cathedral (20)	13-2	298	1
2.	St. Augustine (10)	10-3	282	3
3.	Helix (1)	8-5	238	5
4.	Torrey Pines	10-1	179	2
5.	Lincoln	11-5	154	NR
6.	Mission Hills	5-7	153	NR
7.	Carlsbad	6-4	116	6
8.	La Costa Canyon	6-4	108	NR
9.	Oceanside	6-6	51	NR
10.	Steele Canyon	9-3	41	NR

Others receiving votes: San Marcos (8-2), 26 points, Eastlake (10-2), 22, Madison (6-5), 12, San Diego (12-2) 3, Otay Ranch (6-5), 1.

Voting panel, 31 sportswriters, sportscasters, various County football honchos:

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• Jim Lindgren, Rick Hoff, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Union-Tribune correspondents
• Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone,Ted Mendenhall, KUSI Chl. 51
• Adam Paul, ECpreps.com
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
• Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com
• Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090
• Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions
• Troy Hirsch, Kaylyn McMakin, Tabitha Lipkin, Fox 5, San Diego
• Rick Smith, PartletonSports.com
• Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, Ron Marquez, CIF San Diego Section
• Joe Heinz, Coordinator, Athletics, Sweetwater School District
• Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net
• Bob Petinak, Freelance
• John Kentera, Brandon Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
• Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9 FM
• Mike Dolan, John Carroll, San Diego Section Tournament Directors.
• Christian Pederson, SoCal Prep Insider
• Eric Williams, WBK Sports/San Dego Friday Night Lights Magazine
• Thomas Gutierrez, Cal-Hi Sports