Unbeaten and 29-0 Torrey Pines continued its march toward a place where no San Diego Section boys team has gone, winning a championship in the largest division in Southern California (the 1935-36 San Diego High team won the Southern Section title but had a loss in a 15-1 season; the 1944-45 Hoover team won the recognized Beverly Hills tournament when there were no Southern Section playoffs but had a loss in a 16-1 season).

There will be no state championship game this season but to run the table coach John Olive Falcons must win two games this week in the Southern California tournament. Torrey Pines is the No. 1 seed in the Open Division and has a first-round (quarterfinals) bye.

All eight San Diego Section Open Division playoff squads are eligible.

With its 63-60 victory over Cathedral in the San Diego Section Open Division final, on Nick Herrmann’s long three-pointer at the buzzer, the Falcons became only the fifth area team to complete a regular season and the San Diego Section playoffs undefeated.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

The Falcons joined Mount Miguel, 32-0 in 1967-68, Helix, 33-0 in 1969-70,  Kearny, 32-0 in 1973-74, and St. Augustine 28-0 in 2004-05.  Two other teams,  Hoover, 24-0 in 1959-60; and La Jolla, 26-0 in 1963-64, were unbeaten in the regular season but lost in the playoffs, Hoover in the Southern Section semifinals to Anaheim, 39-34, and La Jolla in the San Diego Section championship, 76-56 to Helix.

Only St. Augustine went beyond the San Diego Section championship, but lost in the state final to Santa Cruz, 67-56, and finished 31-1. Mount Miguel, Helix, and Kearny were in the era before state playoffs began in 1982-83.

SAGE CREEK OVERCOMES SEED

Sage Creek, in business since 2013 in east Carlsbad, won its first championship in one of the “major” sports and it was accomplished the hard way.

The Bobcats, 10-11 in the regular season and a No. 7 seed in Division III, won out in the postseason, defeating 10 seed Mt. Carmel, 72-56, and then topping No 2 El Centro Central, 77-55, No. 6 San Dieguito, 58-46, and No. 4 Hoover, 55-54.

Of the 77 boys post-season games in five divisions, the underdog or less favorable seed won 16 times, 20.8 percent.

Playoff scores, with “upsets” or “surprises” noted in bold:

OPEN DIVISION

QUARTERFINALS

• 8 Carlsbad (13-9) 48, @1 Torrey Pines 70
• 5 St. Augustine 71, @4 Santa Fe Christian (17-4) 65
• 6 El Camino (24-5) 45, @3 San Marcos 58
• 7 Mission Hills (16-8) 37, @2 Cathedral 52

SEMIFINALS

• 5 St. Augustine (14-6) 59, @1 Torrey Pines 84
• 3 San Marcos (25-1) 48, @2 Cathedral 58

CHAMPIONSHIP
AT MONTGOMERY

• 2 Cathedral (17-3) 60, 1 Torrey Pines (29-0)

D-I

FIRST ROUND

• 16 Rancho Buena Vista (7-13) 32, @1 Mater Dei 98
• 9 San Diego 74, @ 8 Vista (11-14) 62
• 12 Christian (5-11) 45, @5 Francis Parker 77
• 13 Helix (12-11) 55, @4 Bonita Vista 68
• 14 Montgomery (7-9), 51, @3 Mission Bay 66
• 11 Foothills Christian (8-17) 63, @6 San Ysidro 100
• 10 Poway (8-14) 54, @7 La Costa Canyon (57)
• 15 Otay Ranch (1-12) 46, @2 La Jolla Country Day 88

QUARTERFINALS

• 9 San Diego (15-14) 61, @1 Mater Dei 74
• 5 Francis Parker (10-8) 59, @4 Bonita Vista 64
• 6 San Ysidro (20-7) 76, @3 Mission Bay 78
• 7 La Costa Canyon 58, @2 La Jolla Country Day (13-10) 38

SEMIFINALS

• 4 Bonita Vista (14-7) 55. @1 Mater Dei 81
• 7 La Costa Canyon 76, @3 Mission Bay (17-10) 65

CHAMPIONSHIP
AT MONTGOMERY

• 1 Mater Dei (15-4) 51, 7 La Costa Canyon (11-10) 49

D-II

• 16 University City (7-9) 51, @1 Orange Glen 53
• 9 Mount Miguel 46, @8 Patrick Henry (7-12) 45
• 12 The Bishop’s (8-13) 58, @5 La Jolla 68
• 13 Lincoln (10-10) 44, @4 Del Norte 52
• 14 Eastlake (13-9) 53, @3 Canyon Crest 66
• 11 Rancho Bernardo 47, @6 Oceanside (10-9) 46
• 10 Grossmont (13-11) 31, @7 Westview 59
• 15 Army-Navy (2-13) 64, @2 Coronado 72

QUARTERFINALS

• 8 Mount Miguel (13-8) 45, @1 Orange Glen 66
• 5 La Jolla (15-5) 58, @4 Del Norte 69
• 11 Rancho Bernardo (8-14) 42, @3 Canyon Crest 68
• 7 Westview (13-13) 46, @2 Coronado 61

SEMIFINALS

• 4 Del Norte (13-8) 64, @1 Orange Glen 74, 2 OT.
• 3 Canyon Crest 58 (15-9), @2 Coronado 74

CHAMPIONSHIP
AT ST. AUGUSTINE

• 2 Coronado (21-5) 51, 1 Orange Glen (23-6) 50

D-III

FIRST ROUND

• 16 Morse (4-17) 64, @1 Valhalla 66
• 9 Ramona (16-10) 41, @8 Mira Mesa 43
• 12 Calexico 70, @5 Granite Hills (13-6) 43
• 13 West Hills (15-11) 39, @5 Hoover 78
• 14 Monte Vista (11-15) 52, @3 Madison 70
• 11 Steele Canyon (11-11) 51, @6 San Dieguito 62
• 10 Mt. Carmel (11-16) 56, @7 Sage Creek 72
• 15 San Diego Southwest (7-10) 64, @2 El Centro Central

QUARTERFINALS

• • 8 Mira Mesa (16-12) 50, @1 Valhalla 55
  • 12 Calexico (4-1) 52, @4 Hoover 81
  • 2 El Centro Central (10-3) 55, @7 Sage Creek 77
  • 6 San Dieguito 2, 3 Madison (19-8) 0

SEMIFINALS

• 4 Hoover 58, @1 Valhalla (18-5) 55
• 7 Sage Creek 58, @6 San Dieguito (13-8) 46

CHAMPIONSHIP
AT ST. AUGUSTINE

• 7 Sage Creek (14-11) 55, 4 Hoover (15-9) 54

D-IV

• 16 Classical (4-15) 20, @1 Maranatha 65
• 9 Kearny 62, @8 Santana (7-11) 50
• 12 Hilltop (8-11) 39, @5 San Diego High Tech 59
• 13 San Pasqual 64, @4 Victory Christian (15-6) 60
• 14 El Cajon Valley (1-18) 45, @3 Holtville 69
• 11 El Centro Southwest (4-6) 51, @6 Escondido Charter 56
• 10 Fallbrook (8-19) 63, @7 Guajome Park 69
• 15 Imperial (4-5) 28, @2 Calvin Christian 68

QUARTERFINALS

• 9 Kearny (6-12) 39, @1 Maranatha 52
• 13 San Pasqual (5-21) 39, @5 San Diego High Tech 56
• 6 Escondido Charter (12-11) 53, @3 Holtville 57
• 7 Guajome Park 29 @2 Calvin Christian 51

SEMIFINALS

• 5 San Diego High Tech (15-11) 50, @1 Maranatha 59
• 3 Holtville (10-3) 32, @2 Calvin Christian 62

CHAMPIONSHIP
AT ST. AUGUSTINE

• Maranatha (22-5), 34, Calvin Christian (19-3) 28

D-V

• 9 The Cambridge (7-9) 0, @8 Calexico Vincent Memorial 2
• 12 Coastal Academy (5-8) 37, @5 Bonsall 67
• 11 North County High Tech (6-10) 25, @6 Blythe Palo Verde Valley 68
• 10 Escondido Adventist (6-6) 29, @7 Chula Vista High Tech 44

QUARTERFINALS

• 8 Calexico Vincent Memorial 63, @1 Liberty Charter (16-7) 55.
• 5 Bonsall (16-6) 55, @4 St. Joseph 70.
• 6 Blythe Palo Verde 82, 3 Bayfront Charter (12-3) 58, @El Centro Southwest.
• 7 Chula Vista High Tech (7-8) 41, @2 Crawford 45.

SEMIFINALS

• 4 St. Joseph (12-8) 39, @8 Calexico Vincent Memorial 49
• 6 Blythe Palo Verde Valley (7-4), 58, @2 Crawford 75

CHAMPIONSHIP
AT SERRA

• 2 Crawford (12-7) 62, 8 Calexico Vincent Memorial (4-11) 58

We owe an apology to the starting five, Charlie Buchanan, John Walters, Bill Canning, John Schroeder, and Rick Eveleth, and coach Bill Reaves.

They were the major players for another team that posted an undefeated regular season, the 1963-64 La Jolla Vikings, who were 26-0.

We omitted the Vikings in our post last week.

Rick Eveleth, 6 foot, 3 inches, was  La Jolla’s tallest player and  would later return as its coach and win 398 games in an honored career.  Buchanan was San Diego Section player of the year and  part of a quick, swarming bunch of defenders.

They were 28-0 when the Vikings  lost to Helix, 76-56, in the San Diego Section finals after a tough semifinal, 78-70 decision over Lincoln.

Torrey Pines, 26-0, and San Marcos, 24-0, joined the Vikings and four other teams, 1959-60 Hoover, 1967-68 Mount Miguel, 1969-70 Helix, and 1973-74 Kearny who did not lose.

Mount Miguel, Helix, and Kearny  did what Torrey Pines and San Marcos hoped to do, finish the season undefeated.

The Falcons and Knights begin their quests Friday in first-round games of the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs.  No matter what happens in the local eliminations all eight teams in the bracket will advance to the Southern California playoffs.

Final regular-season The San Diego Union-Tribune poll (some records have been updated or corrected):

Others receiving votes: Orange Glen (20-5, 17 points), San Ysidro (19-5, 8), San Diego (15-13, 7),  Mission Bay (15-9, 4), Valhalla (16-4, 3), Bonita Vista (11-6, 2), Madison (18-7, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks only Top 25.

Torrey Pines and San Marcos are on the cusp of becoming the fifth and sixth teams in San Diego County history to complete undefeated regular seasons. (Editor’s note:  Challenges and additions to this stat welcomed.)

Hoover was 24-0 in the 1959-60 regular season and got to the Southern California semifinals before bowing to Anaheim, 39-34.  Mount Miguel was 28-0 and went on to the San Diego Section championship and 32-0 in 1967-68.  Helix was 29-0 and finished 33-0 in 1969-70, and Kearny was 28-0 and went to 32-0 in 1973-74.

The Falcons (24-0) finish this week with a Avocado (actually, Coastal) League, home-and-home series with La Costa Canyon (8-7). San Marcos (22-0) has a couple tough Palomar League jousts with 16-5 Mission Hills, its neighborhood rival.

Next week’s San Diego Section Open Division playoffs will have a bracket of eight teams.  No matter how those eliminations play out, all eight squads will advance to the eight-team Southern California playoffs.

This week’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll:

Others receiving votes: Coronado (15-5, 5 points), Mater Dei (9-4, 3), Orange Glen (19-5, 3), San Ysidro (16-5, 2), Madison (16-7, 1), Valhalla (14-4, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis..  Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com.
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks a Top 25.

Torrey Pines this week ranks second in one California poll, third in another, and a unanimous  No. 1 in San Diego.

John Olive , who became head coach at Torrey Pines before the 1997-98 season and whose teams have averaged 23 victories a season, commands a Falcons squad that has reached this juncture of the season with a 22-0 record.

Olive has an overall won-loss standing of 551-182 (.752), but his teams and no other in San Diego have been ranked as high as they are (3, behind Chatsworth Sierra Canyon and Santa Ana Mater Dei) by the respected Cal-Hi Sports. The Falcons are second in the computer-generated Max Preps standings.

A basketball lifer, the jovial Olive, played at Bishop Eustace High in South New Jersey and at Villanova before joining the San Diego Clippers of the NBA for two seasons as a 6-foot, 7-inch small forward..

Olive played one season with the Alberta Dusters of the Continental Basketball Association and then went into coaching.  He was an assistant at Villanova and for five seasons was head coach at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles.

Olive also coordinates the  Torrey Pines Holiday tournament  which annually attracts some of the top teams in the nation, is involved with USA basketball as a coach and executive, and runs a basketball camp in Encinitas.

The Falcons now are five wins away from a perfect regular season, a feat matched only  by the 1959-60 Hoover Cardinals, 1967-68 Mount Miguel Matadors, 1969-70 Helix Highlanders, and 1973-74 Kearny Komets.

Torrey Pines won  three last week, 82-53 over Temecula Rancho Christian, and 83-64 and 62-55 over Carlsbad.

The Falcons have Friday-Saturday games against Avocado League rival Vista this week and close with two the following week versus La Costa Canyon.  A nonleague game against Anaheim Fairmont apparently has been pulled from the schedule.

This week’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll:

Others receiving votes: Mission Bay (12-6, 4 points), Bonita Vista (8-4, 4), San Ysidro (14-5, 2), West Hills (14-4, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis..  Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoopos.com.
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks a Top 25.

Coach John Olive may have passed the word around the Torrey Pines campus on Del Mar Heights Road:  Do not even think about an undefeated season.

The coach would plead, “It’s too early.” Or, “We’re just thinking about our next game.”

But three impressive victories last week have put the Falcons at 19-0, with a No. 2 state ranking by Max Preps and No. 9 by Cal-Hi-Sports.  Deep and well-rounded, the Falcons beat Coronado, 86-68, Mater Dei, 80-52, and Bonita Vista, 85-63

To run the table in the regular season (we’ll address playoffs later) the Falcons would have to win their last eight games, a schedule which includes home-and-home, Avocado League jousts against traditional rivals Carlsbad, Vista, and La Costa Canyon.

The Falcons also have  home games against Temecula Rancho Christian and potentially troublesome Anaheim Fairmont Prep.

Olive has scheduled as tough as possible (one win over strong Corona Centennial, 65-62) but may have been helped by, of all things, the pandemic.

The scourge forced a drastic restriction in travel. No tournaments or mid-season road games against powerful, outside-the-section opponents.

Torrey Pines takes on the Temecula club tomorrow night (Wednesday, May 12) and tips Friday and Saturday against Carlsbad, the No. 7 team in the San Diego Section.

The last San Diego County team to end the season undefeated was the 1973-74, 32-0 Kearny Komets, led by Mark Hoaglin, Rick Taylor, Alan Rhodes, and Donald Page. That squad, as good as it was, played a  local schedule, no intersectionals.

Undefeated regular seasons also have been achieved by Hoover (24-0, 1959-60), La Jolla (26-0, 1963-64), Mount Miguel (28-0, 1967-68), and Helix (29-0, 1969-70).   Only Mount Miguel and Helix completed unbeaten runs through the playoffs..

UPDATE:  Torrey Pines made it 20 victories in a row, 82-53 over Temecula Rancho Christian.

This week’s The San Diego Union-Tribune poll:

Others receiving votes: Coronado (12-4, 13 points), Mission Bay (10-5, 7) Bonita Vista (6-4, 4), Helix (9-7, 1).

First-place votes in parenthesis..  Points awarded on scale of 10 down to 1.

Poll voters:13 sportswriters, sportscasters from around San Diego County.

• John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoopos.com.
• Terry Monahan, Steve Brand, Union-Tribune correspondents.
• John Kentera, Braden Suprenant, 97.3 FM The Fan.
• Bodie DeSilva, scorebooklive.com.
• Ramon Scott, EastCountySports.com.
• Adam Paul, ECPreps.com
• Steve Dolan Mountain Country 107.9 FM.
• Christian Pedersen, San Diego Sports Association.
• Rick Smith, partletonsports.com
• Brad Enright, L.A. Court Report.

How others see San Diego Section’s top 10 in their California ratings*.

*Cal-Hi Sports‘ ranks a Top 25.

The innumerable number of games and points and lack of sustained record keeping, or reporting, in earlier years make basketball a most challenging  sport when it comes to posting stats of the “most”.

The table below, which begins decades after the game came to San Diego, lists an evolution of  individual high scoring for one game.  Corrections and additions  welcomed.