1977-78 Basketball, Looking Back: Disputed Call Ends Nash’s Great Career
Originally published June 9, 2019.
Gordon Nash retired, taking with him a legacy of great teams and great players, and a sour finish.
Nash’s coaching record of 259 wins against 69 losses for a won-loss of .790 was forged over 11 seasons in which Helix won two San Diego Section championships, appeared in five title games, was runner-up three times, and third once.
The Scots were in the finals again this year, but a referee’s decision in a 58-57 loss to Torrey Pines provoked a belch of acid reflux from one of the most successful mentors in San Diego Section history.
“The glass slipper fit for Torrey Pines but for years to come Helix High basketball fans will swear the officials supplied the shoe horn,” wrote Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.
It appeared for a moment that Helix had sent Nash out victorious with a last-second basket by sophomore Larry Brooks.
The Scots celebrated, as did many in the Sports Arena crowd of 8,199.
But referee Jack Miyamoto emphatically signaled no shot had been taken (because) time had run out before Brooks put the ball in the air.
“There was no question, the game was over,” Miyamato told reporters. “There was appreciable time between the horn and the gun, but the ball wasn’t even up yet”.
“The horn at the Sports Arena was not very loud,” said Brand. “There also was an official at the scorer’s table with a starter’s pistol, which sounded almost simultaneously and which was the official time.”
“We should have won; there is no question about it,” said Nash. “The ball obviously was in the air. All they had to do was listen to the gun.”
Nash said that he spoke with four coaches who “told me the ball was in the air before the game ended.”
“It was never in doubt; time had run out,” not surprisingly stated Torrey Pines coach Clete Adelman.
Remembered Brand: “I think Miyamoto got it right.”
NASH AND WALTON
Nash, who succeeded Bob Speidel in 1967-68, was 21-10 in his first season and reached the CIF finals, but it was in the next two years with 6-foot, 11-inch Bill Walton scoring, rebounding, and defending that Helix became a program of almost national import.
The Highlanders were 29-2 in 1968-69 and 33-0 in 1969-70, including a record, 49-game winning streak and a home winning streak of 40 games.
Other than a 10-15 slump in 1974-75, Helix’ decade-plus record never was poorer than 19-11 and Nash’s last two teams, although beaten in the finals, were 55-4.
“I’m not dissatisfied with coaching,” Nash, 45, told Nick Canepa of the Evening Tribune. “It’s just that when you reach a certain stage in life people have certain things they want to do. We’ve had a lot of success. I just think the time is right…to step down and let someone else have that opportunity.”
Nash, the fourth head coach in Helix’ 27 seasons, didn’t elaborate but remained a biology teacher at Helix. Nash also credited his two predecessors, Bob Divine (1953-60), who campaigned for years for an on-site gymnasium and who “got the La Mesa Recreation Department to set up good basketball recreation leagues,” and Bob Speidel (1960-67), who coached the 1963-64 championship team.
WINNING (minimum 75 games)
| NAME | SCHOOL | YEARS | WON-LOST | PERCENTAGE |
| John Kovac | Coronado | 1953-54-1955-56 | 63-13 | .829 |
| Gordon Nash | Helix | 1967-68-1977-78 | 259-69 | .790 |
| Charlie Hampton | Hoover | 1952-53-1962-63 | 222-65 | .774 |
| Larry Armbrust | Chula Vista | 1963-64-1967-68 | 103-31 | .768 |
| Rickey Wilson | Hoover | 1940-41-1945-46 | 80-25 | .762 |
| Merrill Douglas | San Diego | 1940-41-1942-43-1946-47-1955-56 | 236-76 | .756 |
TORREY TURNS TERRIFIC
“Massive underdog Torrey Pines completed a magic sweep through the CIF basketball playoffs many felt the team didn’t even deserve to be in,” wrote Steve Brand.
A fourth-year program that had growing pains of 3-17 and 6-18 before rising to 16-10 in its third season, the Falcons, strengthened with the arrival of Don Capener, a 6-foot, 4-inch transfer from San Rafael who scored almost 21 points game, averaged more than 70 points, and had a 21-3 regular-season record.
The Falcons were not getting much respect, coming from the historically weak North County and rolling on the puny Avocado East, whose Fallbrook (14-10), San Dieguito (14-12). El Camino (10-17), Oceanside (13-12), Vista (7-16), and Carlsbad (10-16) were a combined 68-83 in the regular season.
Torrey was 10-2 in the league, including losses of 34-32 to Oceanside and 66-61 to Fallbrook, and had to fight before getting past El Camino, 62-61.
Given little credence was the Del Mar quintet’s 15-1 record in non-league contests. The Falcons were 10th in the final, regular-season Evening Tribune poll. They would face and defeat three teams above them in the one-week, one-bracket tournament of 16 teams, No 1 Helix, No. 4 Morse, and No. 7 Sweetwater.
PLAYOFFS
FIRST ROUND
Sweetwater 68, Bonita Vista (19-10) 61.
Torrey Pines 77, Orange Glen (13-11) 55.
Escondido 66, Fallbrook (14-11) 53.
Helix 53, Santana (16-10) 44.
Kearny 59, Lincoln (21-4) 56.
Morse 59, St. Augustine (17-12) 56.
Monte Vista 59, Mount Miguel (22-6) 51.
Marian 61, Montgomery (17-11) 53.
QUARTERFINALS
Helix 57, Kearny (19-9) 47.
Torrey Pines 69, Sweetwater (21-8) 67.
Marian 56, Escondido (14-14) 50.
Morse 53, Monte Vista (22-7) 47.
SEMIFINALS
Helix 40, Marian (25-4) 37.
Torrey Pines 65, Morse (25-4) 57.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Torrey Pines (25-3) 58, Helix (28-2) 57.
THIRD PLACE
Morse (26-4) 64, Marian (25-5) 60.
CLASS 1A
Christian (18-8) 42, Francis Parker (17-7), 41.
KIWANIS TOURNAMENT
In its 31st year, the annual carnival continued to feel its age. Forty teams, down from 47 a year ago, opened play at four area sites. Visitors included El Centro Central, Brawley, and Calexico.
Twelve different tournaments provided indirect or direct competition for the venerable mainstay, while redoubtables University and Bonita Vista also felt the pinch.
—Mt. Helix: Host Helix topped Sweetwater, 61-59, for the second annual title as the Highlanders’ 6-9 1/2 Mark Snow and Sweetwater’s 6-10 Michael Pitts each scored 28 points.
—Hilltop-Chula Vista: Mount Miguel beat Hilltop, 67-60.
—Francis Parker: Christian defeated Julian, 50-44.
—Apple Mountain: Host Julian played Eagle Mountain for championship.
—Jimmy Mitchell Mustang Optimist: Don Capener’s 26 points moved Torrey Pines past host San Dieguito, 75-50.
—University: Fourteen teams, lower than usual 16, including defending champion Huntington Beach, played at one site, the University of San Diego gym. Downey defeated Lincoln, 58-56, and Huntington Beach claimed third place, 77-76 over Kearny in two overtimes.
—Baron-Optimist, 11 teams, down from usual 16: Morse defeated host Bonita Vista, 90-53.
—Eagles Classic at Granite Hills: Four teams. Second-year Mira Mesa, featuring brothers Chris and Steve Haupt, edged Castle Park, 57-55.
—Chino: San Diego squads had participated since the first tournament in 1939-40. Escondido and Coronado quickly went into and then out of the consolation bracket. Mt. Carmel made the consolation semifinals before bowing Cerritos, 84-71.
—Grossmont-Santana: Bellflower defeated Grossmont, 66-50.
—Tracy: Mount Miguel earned fifth place, 87-73, over Livermore.
—Rancho Las Vegas: Vista was 0-2, losing to Las Vegas Western, 72-64, and Palos Verdes Miraleste, 71-53.
—Kiwanis: Helix defeated Monte Vista, 65-49 for the Unlimited Division title as Mark Snow scored 28 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Mira Mesa topped La Jolla, 55-37, in the Limited Division, and Marian won the eight-team Classified, 60-57, over Lincoln.
TECHNICAL ISSUE
—Santana led Burbank, 41-40, with three seconds to go in the Santana-Grossmont Tournament.
—The visitors heaved a length-of-the-court pass and drew a questionable foul. Santana coach Bart Hare protested, mildly, according to writer Steve Brand.
—Because Santana had not committed enough personal fouls to warrant a one-and-one free throw situation, Burbank got the ball out at halfcourt.
—The Bulldogs’ inbound pass from halfcourt hit the backboard and a Santana player hugged the rebound.
—So far, so good. No problem? Santana wins? Wait a minute.
—A whistle blew in the moment between the ball hitting the backboard and being retrieved by the Sultans player.
—One official, according to Hare’s account, said the throw was an illegal attempt and awarded the ball to Santana.
—The other official huddled with his partner and said the ball was not intentionally thrown at the backboard, so there was no infraction.
—Burbank was awarded the ball again.
—Hare went Code Red.
—The Santana coach was hit with a technical foul, then another, then another, then another, and finally with a fifth, for not leaving the bench area after the second. If this was baseball, Hare would have earned a platinum sombrero or the “Olympic Rings”.
—Burbank then drained a 20-foot shot at the buzzer to win, 42-41.
BART EXPLAINS BLOWUP
“There are only five reversible calls in basketball and that isn’t one of them,” Hare declared to Steve Brand the next day. “It wasn’t a judgement call. The rules say whatever the call, even if it’s wrong, must be upheld.
“We should have had the ball out of bounds.”
The coach had a postscript:
“What really hurts is they’ve cracked down on the coaches this year but they haven’t upgraded the officiating. The guy who called that one was a ten-year veteran.”
SHARPER HARPER
Santana’s Tod Harper became the sixth player in County history to score at least 50 points in one game with 53 in the Sultans’ 90-62 win over Granite Hills.
Harper broke the Grossmont League scoring record of 47, set by Granite Hills’ Tim Doerr in 1968-69. Harper also scored 41 in another game, which was the school record, set in 1962-63 by Bob Lundgren.
Madison’s Mitchell Lilly and St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules (table below) are the only players to score 50 or more twice.
HALF CENTURY
| NAME | TEAM | YEAR | POINTS | OPPONENT | SCORE |
| Mitchell Lilly | Madison | 1976-77 | 61 | San Diego | 117-80 |
| Tom Shaules | St. Augustine | 1957-58 | 60 | Crawford | 102-38 |
| Rob Petrie | Julian | 1968-69 | 60 | Mountain Empire | 115-76 |
| Shaules | 1957-58 | 53 | La Jolla | 105-34 | |
| Todd Harper | Santana | 1977-78 | 53 | Granite Hills | 90-62 |
| Dave Moore | San Marcos | 1973-74 | 51 | Imperial | 78-42 |
| Bill Walton | Helix | 1969-70 | 50 | Pasadena | 110-68 |
| Lilly | 1976-77 | 50 | Torrey Pines | 86-75 |
SUNDEVILS’ PECCADILLOES
All 12 Mt. Carmel varsity players were suspended for two weeks by principal David Stine for breaking “athletic department rules”.
The players were cited after their participation in the post-Christmas Chino Tournament. No report on any action involving coach John Marincovich.
“The commitment to the varsity program will be fulfilled by other members of the program, junior varsity and freshman players,” said Stine, who said no CIF violation was involved.
“We wanted a significant punishment but one that was fair to the players as well,” said the boss.
Mt. Carmel, 9-4 and league favorite entering Avocado East play, was competitive but lost four consecutive games during the varsity hiatus, 48-44 to Orange Glen, 47-41 to San Marcos, 65-59 to El Camino, and 49-47 to Poway.
The losses left the Sundevils 0-4 in the league and 9-8 overall. Then came a remarkable turnaround, nine wins in a row to close the season 18-8, third in the Avo East behind Escondido and Orange Glen, but out of the playoffs.
DOUBLE TAKE
Marian’s Phil Bryant turned in one whistle for another.
Bryant coached the Crusaders’ football team to a 7-3 record and second place in the Metropolitan League and then, because of a staff situation, moved over and coached basketball.
Led by 6-foot, 9-inch, 240-pound Mighty Joe Evans, the Crusaders reached the section semifinals and finished with a 25-5 record.
Marian was 17-1 in Metropolitan play and clinched the league title with a 55-48, final-night win over Sweetwater.
TAKE A CHAIR
Four of Morse’s starting five could do that when coach Ron Davis employed his “rocking chair offense.”
While the starters stood on the sideline, teammate Keith Magee would dribble forward and backward (forward so as not to be penalized with a five-second call).
Magee went into the rocking chair with 1:55 remaining and Morse tied with Kearny, 47-47.
Then, with three seconds left, Magee drove toward the basket and attempted a field goal, but the Komets’ Darryl Stokes blocked the shot. The ball rebounded directly to Morse’s Jeff Turk, who hurriedly fired and made a buzzer-beating basket for a 49-47 win.
SCORING LEADERS
| NAME | TEAM | GAMES | POINTS | AVERAGE |
| Don Saemenes | Castle Park | 26 | 652 | 25.5 (1) |
| Joe Evans | Marian | 30 | 632 | 21.1 (4) |
| Todd Harper | Santana | 25 | 616 | 23.7 (2) |
| Jim Freeman | Bonita Vista | 29 | 592 | 20.4 (6) |
| Michael Pitts | Sweetwater | 29 | 580 | 20.0 (9) |
| Don Capener | Torrey Pines | 28 | 579 | 20.7 (5) |
| Curtis McQueen | Mount Miguel | 27 | 568 | 21.5 (3) |
| Mark Snow | Helix | 30 | 568 | 18.9 |
| Richard Walker | Point Loma | 26 | 523 | 20.1 (8) |
| Rusty Whitmarsh | Monte Vista | 29 | 513 | 17.7 |
| Clyde Smith | Mar Vista | 25 | 483 | 19.3 |
| Robert Moore | San Diego | 23 | 464 | 20.2 (7) |
| Tommy Williams | Serra | 26 | 460 | 17.7 |
| Steve Haupt | Mira Mesa | 26 | 451 | 17.3 |
| Greg Engler | San Dieguito | 26 | 447 | 17.2 |
| Bob Dean | La Jolla | 23 | 441 | 19.2 |
| Reggie Younger | Mira Mesa | 26 | 431 | 16.6 |
| Dave Sullivan | El Capitan | 24 | 415 | 17.3 |
| Vernon Van Buren | Clairemont | 27 | 411 | 15.2 |
| Mike Doucet | Mt. Carmel | 21 | 410 | 19.5 (10) |
| John Baumgardner | Kearny | 28 | 408 | 14.6 |
| Cuchinella | San Pasqual | 25 | 396 | 15.8 |
| Todd Flores | University | 23 | 393 | 17.1 |
| Marcus Allen | Lincoln | 22 | 392 | 17.8 |
| Catalano | Fallbrook | 25 | 370 | 14.8 |
| Dokie Williams | El Camino | 27 | 369 | 13.7 |
| Mandry | Escondido | 28 | 368 | 13.1 |
JUMP SHOTS—Lincoln’s football all-America, Marcus Allen, made third team all-CIF with a 17.8 average and reportedly had scored 63 points in a Summer League game…University’s Todd Flores sat on the bench for the first three minutes against Serra and then scored a school-record 40 points in an 89-69 win…Crawford stalled almost all of the last 4:30, setting up a shot, then missed, but blanked St. Augustine in overtime to win, 41-37…it took Oceanside 4 overtimes, but the Pirates shut out San Marcos, 8-0, in the final three-minute session to win, 56-48…Sweetwater’s Michael Pitts was reported to have 38 rebounds and 18 points in a 73-66 win over Bonita Vista, after Pitts scored 30 points and had 29 rebounds in an 83-44 rout of Southwest….Sweetwater was led by the 6-10 Pitts and 5-6 James Davis…Kearny’s 43-41 win over Morse, the Tigers’ first Eastern League loss after a 9-0 start, was the Komets’ 99th win in their last 100 home games…the last loss at home was in 1975 to Crawford, 57-50, which snapped a 50-game streak…after a 49-47 win over Santana, Helix coach Gordon Nash was succinct: “I didn’t see anything good out there. Nothing.”…St. Augustine won a Western League playoff for entry to the postseason with a 54-46 victory over La Jolla…Todd Harper scored 41 points, but Mount Miguel, with Jerome Weatherspoon scoring half of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, came from behind for a 79-77 victory over Santana…Helix’ first loss in the 28-2 season was 50-48 in overtime to Monte Vista….single game team season highs: Mount Miguel, 102-72, versus Valhalla with Curtis McQueen leading with 42 points; Julian 98, Mountain Empire 63; Morse 96, Madison 66; Torrey Pines 96, El Camino 61….