The dateline said San Diego, not somewhere in the High Sierra or North Dakota.

Snow had forced postponement of two games.

In the dead of winter a couple high school basketball contests in San Diego County were called off because of the flaky white stuff.

Southern Prep League games sending Brown Military to Mountain Empire in Campo and Vista to Julian could not be played “because of bad traveling conditions,” according to The San Diego Union on Jan. 14, 1949.

“Five feet of snow in the higher elevations silenced rural telephone circuits so completely that the Police Department rushed a mobile radio transmitter to Julian to establish an emergency communications center,” the newspaper reported.

Down below the 4,000-foot elevation the coastline was hit with storm waves that caused damage to small craft and wreaked havoc on the beaches along U.S. 101.

San Diego rainfall totals were almost two inches above normal.

A view of the San Diego River from the Junipero Serra museum in Presidio Park showed water runoff to the ocean for the first time in three years.

BIG BROTHERS TAKE BACK SEAT

City schools Hoover and San Diego usually wielded the sharp end of the stick, but smaller schools, for the second year in a row, stepped up.

Coronado, from the mostly suburban Metropolitan League, and Vista from the rural Southern Prep represented the area in Southern California playoffs.

There was no minor division or small school postseason alignment, in which the Islanders and Panthers, with relatively paltry enrollment numbers, probably would have been included.

You make the postseason, be prepared to play anyone, size of school no matter. One bracket of 16 teams met on successive weeks, two days each, almost all games at Redondo Beach Redondo Union.

A Small Schools division for the postseason would not be in place until the 1949-50 season, according to CIF historian John Dahlem.

(Coronado likely would have enjoyed similar success in a group with more even student body numbers, as did the mid-1950s Islanders, who advanced to the finals two years in a row).

Thus, when Coronado thumped Inglewood, 46-28, in the first round, John De La Vega’s account for the Los Angeles Times began: “Little Coronado high school, unbeaten champions of the Metropolitan league in San Diego county, furnished the big surprise yesterday….”

The Islanders, coached by Keith Broaders, hammered the Bay League champions but were beaten, 39-29, by Ventura in the second round, closing out a 21-2 season.  Loyola earlier eliminated Vista (14-8), 48-24.

The exiting teams had faced the Southern Section’s premiere squads.

Loyola reached the round of 4 and defeated Coast League champion Compton, 34-33, and Ventura socked Alhambra, 58-41, for the championship.

UNNECESSARY LOSS?

Coronado’s record was listed as 21-1 in Bill Finley’s Evening Tribune High School Record Book 1945-69.

The obvious loss was to Ventura, but research showed that Broaders also scheduled a game in which he reportedly utilized only substitutes and the Islanders were upset by Brown Military, 29-27, in overtime.

Finley’s excellent publication reflected the difficulty finding complete, individual scoring statistics or total won-loss records from newspapers’ coverage in the those years until well into the late 1950s.

COAST NOT CLEAR

The three local teams, Grossmont, San Diego, and Hoover, won six of seven games at home on the opening weekend of Coast League play. The only setback was Grossmont’s 36-35 loss in overtime to Compton.

Three days later Grossmont beat San Diego, 41-40, on Herbie Fennel’s free throw with three seconds remaining before a full house at Grossmont.

The Cardinals and Foothillers soon dropped from sight, however, and San Diego assumed the lead, taking an 8-1 record into its final game against 6-2 Compton.

The Hilltoppers had edged the Tarbabes, 34-27, early in league play but Compton prevailed in the rematch, 31-29 and then defeated Muir, 50-48, to forge a tie for the title.

WHICH IS WHICH?

One San Diego report declared that Compton and San Diego would flip a coin to determine the champion, but another said the winner of the teams’ first-round meeting in the Beverly Hills Tournament would determine the league’s sole playoff representative.

The Hillers came up flat, losing, 55-33, and closed out a 15-7 season.  Grossmont signed off at 10-8, Hoover at 9-11, and St. Augustine at 11-6.

DECEMBER MEDIOCRITY

Eight of the 11 San Diego-area teams in the 23-team, two-division, second annual Kiwanis Tournament were defeated in the first round of the three-day event at San Diego, Hoover, and San Diego State.

Hoover played twice on the first day, defeating Long Beach Poly, 34-31, and then lost to Beverly Hills, 22-18.

San Diego, ousted by Long Beach Wilson, 36-33, came back to win the Unlimited Division consolation title, 43-27 over La Jolla.  Chula Vista defeated Oceanside, 23-20, for the Limited Division conso’ crown.

Sweetwater won the Limited Division championship, 40-24, over Brawley.  El Monte trimmed Beverly Hills, 60-40, for the Unlimited title.

San Diego’s Bob McClurg and Eddie Simpson made the all-tournament team.  Simpson scored 42 points in the 4 games.  Jim Loews of El Monte was leading scorer with 56.

MORE EXITS

While the Metropolitan and Southern Prep leagues got ready for league openers, the three Coast League locals went north to Compton College for the annual Western States Tournament.

San Diego topped Alhambra Mark Keppel, 45-37, and then went into the consolation bracket after a 43-37 loss to Los Angeles Mt. Carmel.  Hoover topped Long Beach Poly, 43-41, but lost to Compton, 48-36.

Grossmont fell to Mt. Carmel, 47-37, in the opening round.

The threesome was quickly sent  home from the losers’ bracket.  Long Beach St. Anthony nudged San Diego, 39-38; Long Beach Wilson nipped Hoover, 56-55, and Santa Barbara beat Grossmont, 50-44.

HIGH SCORERS

Alan Logan of Ramona had the highest reported one-game scoring total with 30 points in a 40-25 win over Brown Military.  Bob (Bama) Shell scored 28 in St. Augustine’s 47-39 victory over Chula Vista.

Shell scored 23 points and Lou Kuslo 17 as the Saints defeated Los Angeles Cathedral in a Southland Catholic League event.

Shell was denied an opportunity to score more when Long Beach St. Anthony backed out of its own hoop carnival so team members and students could trek to the Los Angeles Coliseum to watch their football team play Santa Barbara for the Southern Section title.

NOTHING, ZIP, NIL, NADA

The timeworn maxim that “they couldn’t hit a bull in the — with a barn door” resonated with those watching a Grossmont junior high tournament middleweight division game.

Coronado shut out Ramona’s Mt. Woodson Mountain Lions, 37-0.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Sixteen-year-old Casey Moffet of Shelby, N.C., drove to the basket, missed a layup, and crashed through a wooden wall in a game against Waco, N.C.

Moffet penetrated the ½-inch plywood “barrier” and fell 10 feet to the frozen clay surface outside the gym.  He sustained head, shoulder, and arm injuries.

SET SHOTS

Ivan Robinson scored the winning basket for the San Diego High alumni against the Hilltoppers’ varsity and played the next night for the Alumni against the San Diego Junior College Knights…Vista defeated San Dieguito, 40-30, to gain a tie for the SPL title and then won a playoff, 34-31 over San Dieguito to earn the league’s playoff berth…future Hall of Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian was a starting guard for the Pasadena Bullpups…after opening with a victorious Coast League weekend, San Diego stumbled against Point Loma, 30-14, and St. Augustine, 42-33…the Saints won the sixth annual Coronado C  & D tournament, 21-9 over Hoover in the Cees and 18-17 over Coronado in the Dees…

 

There was no Week 6 blog, with the attendant rankings from The San Diego Union, because we were celebrating my beautiful bride’s birthday on a seven-day cruise south, along the Mexican Riviera. I had a fat attack, unable to resist the relentless, daily, gastronomic temptations.

There are several interesting games this week, two in particular:  San Diego and Kearny, each 6-0, meet on Kearny’s almost-new, lighted field, with the winner taking a big step toward a Central League championship, although Crawford would have to be heard from, and El Centro Southwest (6-0) plays host to Brawley (4-2) for Imperial Valley bragging rights.

KOMETS-CAVERS

Kearny has pulled ahead, 19-16, in a series that dates to 1950, when San Diego defeated the undermanned Komets, 58-12, but lost star player Charlie Powell for the rest of the season and half of basketball when Powell took a knee to the kidneys in the third quarter, when the Cavers led, 58-0.

Three seasons later the confident, 7-0 Komets played San Diego for the City Prep League championship but were dismissed, 27-0.  Birt Slater was in his first season as an assistant coach to Duane Maley at San Diego.

Coincidentally the unveiling of a plaque this week that will recognize the Kearny gridiron as “Birt Slater Field” salutes the man who left San Diego, made Kearny a dominant program in the ‘sixties and ‘seventies, and changed things with the Cavers.

Kearny had lost its first nine games against San Diego and faced a good Cavers team in the final regular-season game in 1963. The Larry Shepard-led Slater team shocked the Cavers, 52-14, sending the Komets flying into the playoffs and to their first San Diego Section championship.

Slater didn’t like talking about it but that breakthrough for Kearny may have represented the most satisfying victory of the 134 he amassed from 1959-76.

Slater had been in line for the San Diego job as early as the winter of 1956-57, but his  appointment would be contingent on when Maley retired, but Maley didn’t step down until after the 1959 season.

Birt had  moved on.

EVEN?

The Cavers are off to their best start since Maley’s 1958 club won its first six games.  The level of competition isn’t the same and San Diego shouldn’t be confused with those great Cavers teams of the ‘forties and ‘fifties, but winning has gotten alumni buzzing and students finding a reason to go to games.

Comparative scores seem to indicate a tossup.  Coach Will Gray’s Komets beat Francis Parker, 40-3, and San Diego Southwest, 59-28.  San Diego, under former University City mentor Charles James, defeated Parker, 54-7, and Southwest, 28-7.

DESERT DUSTUP

Brawley and El Centro Southwest joined the San Diego Section in 2000 and Brawley, in keeping with its seniority, has ruled the Eagles’ roost.

The Wildcats are 17-1 against Southwest since 2000.  The average score of the 18 games is 38-8, including 72-8 and 63-0 indignities.  Brawley has won 10 Imperial Valley League titles since the millennium and finished no lower than second in all other seasons.

Coach John Self has picked up the mantel handed down by John Bishop, known as the Desert King during his many years in the Valley, and Bishop had followed the tradition of Bob Farrell, whose ‘fifties Brawley teams were formidable Southern Section small-school operatives.

Southwest’s one victory in the series, 32-27 in 2010, marked the only season the Eagles have won the league championship.

But the school near Interstate 8,  at South 23^rd Street and Ocatillo Drive, has won 24 of its last 30 games since 2015 under coach John Mitosinka, while Brawley is 18-10 over the same period.

CALIFORNIA TOP 50

Mission Hills is 16th, Madison 23rd, Helix 30th, and La Costa Canyon 43rd in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports statewide rankings.

San Marcos, 45th last week, dropped out after a quasi-surprising, 38-21 loss to Torrey Pines.  Ramona, 6-0 for the first time since 2013, attained “bubble” status.

The Union-Tribune Week 7 poll :

Rank	Team	2017	Points	Last Week
1.	Mission Hills (23)	6-0	275	1
2.	Helix (3)	5-1	240	3
3.	Madison (2)	6-0	239	2
4.	La Costa Canyon	6-0	191	5
5.	Ramona	6-0	153	6
6.	The Bishop’s	5-0	122	7
7.	Torrey Pines	4-2	92	NR
8.	San Marcos	5-1	90	4
9.	Lincoln	5-1	56	8
10.	Carlsbad	4-2	17	NR

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

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  El Camino (3-3, 15 points),  El Centro Southwest (6-0, 5),  Eastlake (4-2, 4), Valley Center (5-1, 4), St. Augustine (3-3, 2), Christian (5-1, 1), Grossmont (4-2, 1), Mira Mesa (5-1, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

 

Twelve former San Diego Section stars made the 32-team NFL rosters of 1,693 players at the start of the 2017 season.

Thirteen made the list in 2016 and 15 in 2015.

Helix was one of 40 schools with 3 players active.  St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, had 12, followed by Long Beach Poly with 7, two schools with 6, and six  with 5.

Florida led all schools with 212 players, followed by California (191), Texas (179), and Georgia 120.  Miami led by city with 25. Houston (17), and Fort Lauderdale (15) rank second and third.

The NFL incorrectly listed five players as having attended either San Marcos, Serra, or Cathedral from the San Diego Section.  Those players were from Santa Barbara San Marcos, Gardena Serra, and Los Angeles Cathderal.

Please contact me with corrections or additions.

Name	High School	College	Position	NFL Team
Jamal Agnew	Point Loma	U. San Diego	Cornerback	Detroit
Joe Cardona	Granite Hills	Navy	Long Snapper	New England
Cory Littleton	Mount Miguel	Washington	Linebacker	L.A. Rams
Stefan McClure	Vista	California	Safety	Washington
Erik Magnuson	La Costa Canyon	Michigan	Guard	San Francisco
Brian Schwenke	Oceanside	California	Center	Tennessee
Alex Smith	Helix	Utah	Quarterback	Kansas City
Kenny Stills	La Costa Canyon	Oklahoma	Wide Receiver	Miami
Jamar Taylor	Helix	Boise State	Cornerback	Cleveland
Levine Toilolo	Helix	Stanford	Tight End	Atlanta
Aaron Wallace	Rancho Bernardo	UCLA	Linebacker	Tennessee
Damien Williams	Mira Mesa	Oklahoma	Running Back	Miami

Opinions are like a certain area of the anatomy.  Most of us have one.

The opinion of Scouts.com, which maintains a running list of  who’s who in high school football and who is being recruited by whom, is that the following table is indicative of the probable 10 best players in the San Diego Section.

The table reflects Scout.com‘s individual ranking for California players and is updated daily.

Helix’s Isaac Taylor-Stuart is considered the No. 4 player in the state, behind only three, five-star wide  receivers, Amron-Ra St. Brown, Santa Ana Mater Dei; Devon Williams, Lancaster Antelope Valley, and Jalen Hall, Long Beach Poly.

Other rating services will differ.

Rank	Name	Pos.	School	Stars
4	Isaac Taylor-Stuart	DB	Helix	****
17	Jack Tuttle	QB	Mission Hills	****
41	Kyle Phillips	WR	San Marcos	***
45	Chris Brown	RB	El Camino	***
54	JR Justice	Athlete	St. Augustine	***
119	Donovan Laie	Tackle	Oceanside	***
120	Rocky Katoanga	OLB	El Camino	***
124	William Dunkle	Tackle	Eastlake	***
140	Chris Olave	WR	San Marcos	***
152	Rashad Scott	WR	Helix	***

A FEW AT 5-0

At the regular season’s halfway juncture there are six teams with 5-0 records and eight with 4-0 records.

Three City League teams are on a collision course.  Kearny and Crawford are 5-0 and San Diego is 4-0.

The Komets, overlooked by us last week, are off to their best start since 1978.  Crawford was 5-0 as recently as 2013. San Diego is traversing ground not covered since the 5-0 team of  2011.

San Diego is favored this week as it opens league play against visiting Clairemont (2-3). Crawford is idle and will prepare for tough University City (4-1) at Hoover the following week.  Kearny also is off and awaits Coronado (1-3)  at home next week.

Other 5-0 teams are Mission Hills, San Marcos, Ramona, and La Costa Canyon.

Clubs with 4-0 records:  Calvin Christian, Christian, El Centro Central, El Centro Southwest, Madison, Mira Mesa, The Bishop’s.

TWO-SPORT THREAT

La Costa Canyon’s Karson Lippert, football player or track man?

He’s taken the field by storm in each.

Last week the 165-pound junior rushed for 312 yards in 20 carries ad scored on runs 80, 82, and 90 yards as the suddenly lethal Mavericks ran past Carlsbad, 36-21.

Lippert caught everyone’s attention in June at the state meet in Clovis, finishing a surprising and scorching second in the 400 meters in :46.91, second fastest in area history.

La Costa Canyon is off to its best start since 2009 but faces the meat of its schedule the next three weeks against Avocado League toughies El Camino, Mission Hills, and San Marcos.

GRIZZLIES,WARHAWKS ON MOVE

Mission Hills and Madison continue to make incremental gains in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports rankings.

The Grizzlies, No. 1 in San Diego, rose from 18th to 17th on Cal-Hi‘s state list.  Madison moved from 26th to 25th, and Helix dropped from 30th to 31st.

San Marcos crashed the top 50 at 48th and La Costa Canyon got some “on-the-bubble” cred.

The Union-Tribune Week 5 poll :

Rank	Team	2017	Points	Last Week
1.	Mission Hills (23)	5-0	274	1
2.	Madison (4)	4-0	241	2
3.	Helix (2)	3-1	239	3
4.	San Marcos	5-0	193	4
5.	La Costa Canyon	5-0	137	8
6.	Ramona	5-0	134	7
7.	The Bishop’s	5-0	126	6
8.	Lincoln	4-1	57	10
9.	El Camino	3-2	52	5
10.	Eastlake	4-1	42	NR

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

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Carlsbad (3-2, 14 points), Torrey  Pines (3-2, 13), Christian (4-0, 13),  Valley Center (4-1, 2), Mira Mesa (4-0, 1), Point Loma (3-2, 1), St. Augustine (2-3, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

 

How significant is 4-0?

Depends on your perspective.

Nice, but, hey, we’re used to being there, would be the reaction from Mission Hills, Calexico Vincent Memorial, Christian, Crawford, El Centro Southwest, San Marcos, and Calvin Christian.

All of those teams have reached the above juncture at least once since 2013.

Madison, La Costa Canyon, and El Centro Central have reason to feel more than nice.

Madison?

No, the Warhawks, despite winning state championships in ’12 and ’16, haven’t been 4-0 since 2011. La Costa Canyon last was 4-0 in 2009 and El Centro Central in 2008.

Which leaves two others from this eclectic group of 14. They wouldn’t know 4-0 from a leather football.

None of the 2017 University City or Mira Mesa players were around when their schools were unbeaten and untied at this point.

For U. City it hasn’t  happened since 1992, when the Steve Vokojevich-coached Centurions finished with a 9-2 record, best in school history.

For Mira Mesa it was 1997, when the Marauders were 8-4 in Gary Blevins’ second season as head coach.

University City was 60-151-3 (.287) under seven different coaches from 1993 until 2014, when Charles James, now trying to rejuvenate San Diego High, was 7-5.  The Centurions are 19-9 since 2015 under Ryan Price.

BLEVINS FOLLOWED BRAD

Blevins, in his 22^nd season, is only the second head coach at Mira Mesa.

Brad Griffith ran the program from its start-up in 1977 until he retired after the 1994 season.

Try finding another of the 90-odd teams playing football in the San Diego Section with similar stability.

Over 196 games during Griffith’s 18 seasons, the Marauders  compiled a 112-76-2 (.577) record, won two league championships, appeared in one San Diego Section title game, and got to the playoff semifinals four times.

Blevins reached game 196 in his 16^th season in 2010 and was 120-73-3 (.620), had won or tied for 5 league titles and reached the semis five times and the championship game once.

Mira Mesa is only 28-39-1 since 2011 and their unbeaten start will be facing stiffer challenges, beginning this week against Steele Canyon, followed by Morse and Western League rivals Point Loma, Cathedral, St. Augustine, and Madison, opponents with a combined 11-8 record.

University City is not faced with such a daunting challenge as it prepares for City League play. Crawford, in Week 6, is the most formidable. Combined, Centurion opponents, also including Serra, Hoover, Patrick Henry, and La Jolla are 8-11.

The Union-Tribune Week 4 poll :

Rank	Team	2017	Points	Last Week
1.	Mission Hills (22)	3-0	274	1
2.	Madison (4)	4-0	249	2
3.	Helix (2)	2-1	242	3
4.	San Marcos	4-0	183	4
5.	El Camino	3-1	146	7
6.	Bishop’s	3-0	92	8
7.	Ramona	4-0	89	NR
8.	La Costa Canyon	4-0	71	NR
9.	Carlsbad	3-1	62	5
10.	Lincoln	3-1	53	10

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

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Eastlake (3-1, 36 points), Torrey  Pines (2-2, 30), Christian (4-0, 10),  St. Augustine (2-2, 5), Oceanside (2-2, 1), Cathedral (1-3, 1), Olympian (3-1, 1), Point Loma (2-2, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul , East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

San Diego was leaving the Southern Section at the end of the school year but was going out with an unprecedented show of force.

Hoover was ranked No. 1 and Helix No. 2 in seeding for the 32-team major playoffs.  Glendale, beaten by both Hoover and San Diego, was seeded fourth.

Hoover’s undefeated regular season and the high scoring Highlanders had earned the respect of Southern Section commissioner Ken Fagans, who’d won championships as coach of the Compton Tarbabes in the early ‘fifties.

But the Cardinals and their neighbors eight miles to the East in La Mesa  were beaten by the two teams that would play for the title, third-seeded Anaheim (search 1959-60: Cardinals Come Up Short at Finish Line) and unseeded Long Beach Poly.

Helix was eliminated, 50-48, at Poly in the quarterfinals, bringing an end to a record-setting, 26-4 season and to the career of coach Bob Divine, who had announced in January that he was stepping down to go into administration.

Divine’s timing was curious, coming in the middle of the season (“This basketball can make an old man of you, the way I coach,” he explained). His team’s sometimes uneven play also was curious.

HIGHLAND FLING

–Helix set a County record by averaging 67.9 points a game, breaking the mark of 64.6 set by St. Augustine in 1957-58.

–They trailed host San Diego at the half, 36-13, and won, 52-50.

–They lost at Hoover, 61-36, the next evening.

–They switched gears after losing the pre-Kiwanis Tournament game to Hoover and poked along on offense so effectively that the score was 33-30 late in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals prevailed again, 39-30.

–They topped Santa Barbara, 65-62, to win the 11^th annual Fillmore Tournament in Ventura County after Christmas. Jim (Bones) Bowers scored 25 points and was player of the tournament. Teammates Bob Mackey, Wally Hartwell, and Larry Cook joined Bowers on the all-tournament team.

–They defeated 15-11 Chula Vista, 49-26, at home but had a 14-game winning streak snapped at Chula Vista, 55-46, depriving the Scots of what would have been a 16-0 run through the Metropolitan League.

Bowers, who led the area in scoring with a 22.9 average and 670 points in 30 games,  set a school record with 44 points in a 98-54 win over first-year El Capitan.

Helix had other games of 99 and 94 points and set a County record when it shot 64 per cent from the field in a 114-65 romp over the Vaqueros as Bowers (34) and Clayton Raaka (24) set the pace.

FRUSTRATING ENDING

Helix defeated 13-8 Lincoln, 59-46, in the postseason first round and 16-11 Ontario Chaffey, 67-49, in the second round, played at Mount Miguel High.  The crowd outside the gymnasium was almost as large as the standing-room gathering of 1,200 inside.

Helix took an 18-13 lead over Poly in the quarterfinals, but the resourceful Jackrabbits, a notoriously poor shooting team but quick and tough on defense, pulled ahead, 23-21, at the half.

After taking a 29-28 lead in the third quarter, the Highlanders “lost control of the boards and were shabby with their ball handling”, according to the Union correspondent at the game.

Bowers, who had scored 10 points in the first quarter, finished with 19.  Poly defenders double-teamed Bowers and Raaka, who scored nine points, well below his average, and ignored the other three Helix starters.

The strategy worked.

Helix trailed, 49-48, with 30 seconds remaining, but the Jackrabbits’ Tom Sisk made one of two free throws to close out the win.

SCOUT STIFFED

Forces seem to have worked  against Helix.  Coach Bob Divine thought about complaining to Southern Section commissioner Ken Fagans after a Helix scout was denied entrance to Poly’s previous playoff game, a 70-54 victory at El Monte.

“I don’t want to be a cry baby about this,” Divine told writer Jerry Magee before the game against the Jackrabbits, “but we didn’t have room in our gym and we let all the scouts in.”

CAVALRY ARRIVES

After losing to Glendale Hoover, 51-40, on Friday San Diego recovered to defeat Glendale and CIF player-of-the-year Tom Dose the next night, 57-49.

Willie Bolton, Ernest (Moe) Watson, and Lou Scott, who had played in the Cavers’ 53-0, football championship victory against Monrovia the night before, made the trip north the next day and saw action that evening.

San Diego’s 11-10 record was its poorest since a 6-8 record in 1934-35, but the Cavers not only trimmed high playoff seed Glendale on the road but were ahead of CIF champion Long Beach Poly before losing in the final seconds, 40-39.

MELEE AVOIDED

San Diego overcame favored Lincoln with a 14-4 spurt in three minutes of the fourth quarter and defeated the Hornets, 64-59, in what Jerry Magee of The San Diego Union described as a “pell-mell” game in front of a shrieking crowd on the Hornets’ floor.

Alfred Willis, the younger brother of Cavers guard Albert Willis, came out of the stands and launched a punch at Lincoln’s Al Catlin, who had been aggressively guarding the older Willis.

Lincoln coach Warren Barritt rushed off the bench and literally back-pedaled Catlin to the end of the gym as referees Doug Harvey and Nolan Harvey sought to maintain order.

San Diego’s victory was achieved despite coach Dick Otterstad’s suspending leading scorer Ben Pargo, who was not at the game.

Football star H.D. Murphy and Watson each scored 17 points as the normally offensively erratic Cavers controlled the backboards and shot 44 per cent on 26×58 shooting.  Lincoln was 23×44 for 52 per cent.

SCORING LEADERS

NAME	TEAM	GAMES	POINTS	AVERAGE
Jim (Bones) Bowers	Helix	30	688	22.9 (1)
Clayton Raaka	Helix	29	450	15.5
Larry Hancock	El Cajon Valley	22	421	19.1(2)
Robbie Hewitt	Hilltop	29	390	13.4
Steve Thurlow	Escondido	26	384	14.8
Charlie Schneider	Hilltop	29	374	12.9
Bob Hoss	El Cajon Valley	23	366	15.9 (5)
Jacob Crawford	St. Augustine	19	358	18.8 (3)
Walt Ramsey	Hoover	28	358	12.8
John Bocko	Hoover	28	356	12.7
Bill Wylie	Hoover	27	352	13.0
Gary Meggelin	Chula Vista	26	342	13.2
Larry Moore	Point Loma	25	326	13.0
Jim Johnson	Kearny	19	311	16.4 (4)
T.W. Bell	Lincoln	21	310	14.8
Tuttle	Clairemont	23	298	13.0
Brian Ross	El Capitan	21	290	13.8

Bob Wueste of Carlsbad was reported to score 404 points but Avocado League scoring was published only for the circuit’s 10  games, in which Wueste scored 231 points.  Southern Prep and Avocado nonleague statistics often were unreported.

POINTERS TAKE ADVANTAGE

Western League teams were slotted into small schools playoff participation in all sports except football.  Eastern League teams would compete with large schools for all postseason sports.

The positioning was result of the City Prep League’s dividing into two circuits after the 1958-59 school year.

Point Loma, with a 5-8 record at one point in the season and 12-10 after clinching the Western League championship, was the postseason beneficiary.

The Pointers rolled to five consecutive victories to claim the Class AA crown, along the way defeating Beaumont, 32-24, Yucaipa, 55-23, Rosemead Bosco Tech, 54-37, Lompoc, 54-40, and, finally, San Marino, 52-36.

As Jerry Magee wrote, paraphrasing Britain’s World War II leader Winston Churchill, “Winston (Winnie) Yetta enjoyed his finest hour, scoring 22 points…”

Point Loma players hoisted Yetta and coach Hilbert Crosthwaite and paraded them around the floor at the Los Angeles State venue.

Yetta’s 10 field goals were reflective of the Pointers’ effectiveness.  They converted 21 of 44 attempts for 48 per cent.

After two disappointing losses for San Diego teams in the semifinals, Crosthwaite admitted to feeling some pressure.

“We had everything to lose,” said the coach.  “We couldn’t have walked out of here if we hadn’t won.”

 FREE AGAIN

Helix’ Clayton Raaka was able to shed a cast on his broken left hand and burst out in a 68-38 win over Escondido.  Raaka scored 15 points in the second quarter, had 20 at the half, and finished with 28.

ANOTHER BREAK

Lincoln’s Al Catlin was discovered to have played the entire season with a broken wrist on his right, shooting hand  that he sustained during the football season.  Catlin then was ruled out of the Hornets’ 59-46 playoff loss to Helix.

SURPRISING

Hilltop, a first-year school, emerged  to post a 20-9 record and win the post-Christmas Chino Tournament and was runner-up to Helix in the Metropolitan League.

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

San Dieguito, aided by some legislation, clinched the Avocado League championship with a 63-43 win over Carlsbad as John Fairchild, a 6-foot-7 sharpshooter up from the junior varsity, scored 15 points.

The Mustangs’ earlier, 64-54 loss to Oceanside had become a forfeit win after discovery of an ineligible Oceanside player and gave the Mustangs a one-game lead over Mar Vista.

MORE SMALL SCHOOLS PLAYOFFS

San Dieguito led until the final 56 seconds before bowing at Bing Crosby Hall in Del Mar to Orange, 46-45, in Class AA.

Orange was outscored, 24-18, in the fourth quarter but held on to defeat Kearny, 64-63, in a second-round game at Santa Ana.

Army-Navy’s Matt Burnett stole an inbound pass and scored with two seconds remaining to defeat Tustin, 42-40 in  Class A.  The Warriors then were eliminated, 60-38, by San Bernardino Aquinas.

Ramona was sidelined in Placentia by host Valencia, 62-39, the loss punctuated by a scoreless third quarter.

BOWERS HONORED, NO BONES ABOUT IT

Helix’ Jim (Bones) Bowers was an all-Southern Section, AAA first-team selection by the Helms Athletic Foundation.  Teammate Clayton Raaka and Hoover’s Bill Wylie were on the second team.

Kearny’s James Johnson and Point Loma’s Winston Yetta earned first-team honors in the AA division and Carlsbad’s Bob Wueste made second team.

JUMP SHOTS

The Kiwanis Tournament individual scoring record was broken twice on the first night…Carlsbad’s Bob Wueste scored 40 in a 61-53 win over La Jolla…St. Augustine’s Jacob Crawford knocked down 42 points an hour later in an 83-40 win over Sweetwater…finals in the Unlimited and Limited divisions were held at one venue for the first time …Hoover was host and topped Crawford, 54-34, for the Unlimited and Mar Vista edged Oceanside, 51-49, for the Limited…for the first time there were no visiting northern teams in the tournament, only El Centro Central from the Imperial Valley… Helix’ 114-point game bettered the  record set by St. Augustine in a 105-34 win over La Jolla in 1957-58…St. Augustine’s Jacob Crawford missed the team bus to Hoover, arrived late, and scored three points in the first half…the Saints, trailing, 35-12, at halftime made a game of it, outscoring Hoover in the second half, 39-38, and Crawford finished with 25 points in the 73-51 loss…Julian, scoreless until one minute remaining in the half, bowed to San Miguel School, 38-22…Fallbrook scored the first 22 points in a 51-18 win over University…Chula Vista received two technical fouls for not advancing the ball in the offensive court in its 49-26 loss to Helix…the Spartans trailed, 5-0, after one quarter and 16-1 at the half…the Spartans went into a freeze in their next game against Hilltop and got into a 15-2 hole…Hilltop won, 58-48…Mission Bay won a double-overtime, 57-55 game against La Jolla when a Vikings player was cited for goal-tending in the second, sudden-death period…Chula Vista moved out of the city’s Recreation Center into its own gym in midseason…Hilltop had a gymnasium when it opened its doors in September…Kearny coach Jim Poole, a 1950 Point Loma grad, was a national badminton champion and worked 20 years as an NFL game official…The Crawford-San Diego, Eastern League contest served as the preliminary to the San Diego Junior College-East Los Angeles Metropolitan Conference contest…the game at San Diego High featured ex-Cavers Arthur (Hambone) Williams and Edward Lee Johnson for the Knights….