The best teams could be very disappointing, which is why a group of pickup-playing hoopsters almost stole the show.

Eight Grossmont High students, with blistered feet, sore arms and legs, and with a burning desire to  get home and sleep, claimed a record for the longest game, ever.

Basketball historians would argue the point, but not in San Diego County, where there is no recorded proof of anything matching the 15-hour effort of a pair of four-man teams.

The group started playing at 6 a.m. and staggered to a 9 p.m. conclusion with only a two-minute break each hour and 15 minutes for lunch.

A team led by Larry Schweer, the only player with varsity experience, defeated the squad led by game organizer Rich Marian, 1,962 to 1,652.

Schweer, joined by Rich Smith, Larry Strong, and John Sherman, led all scorers with 615 points.  Marian’s team included Steve Lee, Jeff Shaw, and Bob Fleming.

Barry Carr of the Grossmont faculty and several Grossmont coeds kept score.

CAVERS PREVAIL

San Diego High emerged as the AA division champion and the fourth Eastern League team in the San Diego Section’s five years, and favored Crawford vanished in the first round.

The Cavemen, as they still were often called, claimed their first section title since the 1935-36 team marched through the Southern California playoffs.

San Diego’s 24 victories were sullied by eight defeats, some not close.

There was a 60-43 loss to Burbank Burroughs, which featured future UCLA and L.A. Lakers star Lynn Schackelford during the Cavers’ and Hoover’s annual December jousts with schools from the Los Angeles-area Foothill League.

Hoover ousted the Cavers, 55-41, in the San Diego Kiwanis Tournament.

San Diego won a couple games in the San Bernardino Kiwanis event but they were sandwiched between emphatic knockouts of 77-55 to Compton Centennial and 65-48 to Victorville Victor Valley.

They lost twice to Eastern League champion Crawford, 66-54, and 64-62.

And there was a late-season, 47-44 stinker to Morse, which would finish 1-9 in the East and 4-16 overall.

THEY CATCH FIRE

San Diego tied Hoover (14-9) with a 7-3, second-place record and was forced into a league playoff which they survived, beating the Cardinals, 47-40.

The Cavers hit their stride in the postseason behind 6-foot, 6-inch super sophomore Oscar Foster, 6-7 Richard Mills, 6-2 Jerry Eucce, 6-2 Brent Strom, and 5-11 Clarence Calvin.

San Diego dumped Monte Vista (20-8), 59-44, Castle Park (23-7), 56-37, and Chula Vista (21-5), 62-40.

Spartans coach Larry Armbrust was taken aback by the Cavers’ length and size.

“I didn’t realize how big they were until our boys got out there beside them,” said Armbrust, who became the first to play and coach in a section championship game, having starred for the ‘51-‘52 Chula Vista team that won a Southern Section small schools title.

“Every time I looked up to shoot there was a hand in my face,” said Charlie Porter, probably that of Foster or Mills, who led San Diego with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Mills scored 65 points in the three playoffs, three points less than the record set by Grossmont’s Dick Baker in 1962.

San Diego coach Bill Standly surprised the Spartans when the Cavers came out in a zone defense.  “We just went over it this morning and again before the game,” said Standly.  “We’d never used it.”

IT’S BASKETBALL NOW

Strom, who would form with Foster the nucleus of the 1965-66 squad, was  a future San Diego Section baseball player of the year, all-America at USC, and longtime major league pitcher and pitching coach.

But the stylish lefthander declared, “I won’t be able to think about baseball.  I can’t keep my mind of basketball.  This was the biggest thrill of my life.”

COLTS: WHA’ HAPPENED?

Crawford rolled to a 9-1 Eastern League championship (only loss, 54-52, to Hoover) by two games and took a 22-3 record into the playoffs as the preferred team.

The Colts were sent packing in the first round, 70-56, by 14-9 La Jolla, apparently so shocked by its victory that the Vikings forgot where they were, blown out, 74-59, in the semifinals by Chula Vista and 65-49 by Castle Park in the third place game.

The Colts’ only other local setback (they also lost to North Torrance, 59-54, in quarterfinals of the Covina Tournament) was an early-season, 63-56 decision to El Capitan that wasn’t was stunning as first appeared.  Long dormant El Cap finished 19-9, made the playoffs, and featured junior Gary Schneider, who averaged 20.2 points a game.

Crawford’s record for the last three seasons was 71-15.  Coach Jim Sams and his school had taken the mantel from Hoover as the city’s most successful team but it had been eliminated in the playoffs the last two years.

Von Jacobsen, a 6-4 junior and 6-3 senior Bob Boone kept Crawford in front most of the time and they waged a battle for the league scoring championship.

Jacobsen scored 198 points and Boone 197 in the 10-game league race.  Jacobsen was ninth in the County with 445 points and a 17.8 average in 25 games.  Boone scored 440 points in 26 games for a 16.9 average.

—Boone scored 33 points and Jacobsen 31 as Crawford outscored Mission Bay, 108-89, nullifying the 27 by the Bucs’ 6-foot, 10-inch Mike Kinkki and 24 by Larry Weddle.

—-Crawford and Mission Bay tied the record for most points by two teams. Monte Vista and Granite Hills combined for 197 points in the Monarchs’ 120-77 win over the Eagles in 1963-64.

KINKKI PULLS AWAY

Mission Bay’s Mike Kinkki averaged 24.3 points in his last 10 games and won the scoring title with 601 points and 21.5 average, narrowly edging Sweetwater’s Jim Finnerty, who averaged 21.3.

Kinkki began his run with a school-record 34 points in an 83-66 victory over Madison after averaging 19.9 points in the first 18 games.

A total of 34 players scored at least 300 points.  The  numbers in parenthesis in the table indicates the leaders in scoring average:

Kinkki	Mission Bay	28	601	21.5 (1)
Schneider	El Capitan	28	566	20.2 (4)
Finnerty	Sweetwater	26	554	21.3 (2)
Carson	Escondido	26	536	20.6 (3)
Roberson	Monte Vista	28	544	19.4 (5)
Jackson	Castle Park	28	500	17.9 (7)
Stress	University	25	461	18.4 (6)
Foster	San Diego	31	457	14.7
Jacobsen	Crawford	25	445	17.8 (8)
Boone	Crawford	26	440	16.9
Stone	Point Loma	28	436	15.6
Weddle	Mission Bay	27	432	16.0
Howe	Grossmont	25	428	17.1
Mills	San Diego	30	428	14.3
Gilmore	Mar Vista	26	422	16.2
Walters	La Jolla	26	412	15.8
Dobransky	St. Augustine	22	380	17.3 (10)
Christopher	Oceanside	25	370	14.8
Strom	San Diego	29	361	12.4
Bailey	Helix	25	354	14.2
Padgett	Monte Vista	25	350	14.0
Floyd	Coronado	21	338	16.1
Martin	Clairemont	20	330	16.5
Burton	Chula Vista	26	322	12.4
Pietila	Sweetwater	26	322	12.4
McCoy	La Jolla	25	318	12.7
Heckendorn	Vista	22	313	14.2
Duke	Carlsbad	20	312	15.6
Spencer	Madison	26	310	11.9
Thayer	Carlsbad	20	309	15.5
Wilson	Orange Glen	23	307	13.3
Klostermann	El Capitan	278	306	12.7
Fleming	San Dieguito	232	305	13.2
Conte	San Miguel	17	301	17.7 (9)

POINTS CONTINUE TO RISE

Sixty points in one game still was regarded as excellent offense as recently as 10 years before, but there were six teams this season that averaged that much.

Mission Bay was the leader at 64.8, followed by Crawford (63.9), Chula Vista (63.8), Ramona (63.2), Carlsbad (62.2), and St. Augustine (61.1).

Class AA champion San Diego was not in the top 10 in offense or defense, averaging 56.2 on offense and was 11^th in defense, averaging 48.7.

LEAGUE SCORING

The Eastern League scoring race between Crawford’s Von Jacobsen and Bob Boone was not unique.

Coronado’s Stan Stress outpointed Oceanside’s Bill Christopher, 171-170, in 10 Avocado League games.

The gag shot (below) of referee Mel Ellison “threatening” to put Grossmont coach Locke Olson in a seat belt was to illustrate a new rule.

The CIF legislated that coaches could receive a technical foul for leaving the bench to argue an official’s call.

Olson, one of the more voluble of his brethren, was a good candidate for The San Diego Union photo.

Olson had to sit back and watch as the Foothillers were trounced by Crawford, 64-37.

MILKE’S QUICK SUCCESS

George (Bud) Milke, who never had a starter taller than 6-4 in 10 mostly successful (148-118) seasons at Mar Vista, surprised Metropolitan League rivals by taking first-year Castle Park to the playoffs.

The Trojans tied Mar Vista (16-9) for second place, each with an 8-4 league record, and earned the postseason bid with a 39-37 victory over the Mariners.

Bud retired from the high school ranks but coached nine more years at Southwestern College in Chula Vista.

JUMP SHOTS

San Dieguito (19-9) claimed the Class A title, 61-53 over Carlsbad (17-4), which lost for the second season in a row…Helix’ 18-game winning streak extending back to 1963-64 was snapped by La Jolla, 65-52…Helix had ended La Jolla’s 30-game run in the 1963-64 finals…La Jolla had won 35 of 36 before bowing to San Diego, 43-42, on Jerry Eucce’s layup with :18 left…the Vikings suffered their first Western League loss in 13 games since February, 1963, when Mission Bay, behind Mike Kinkki’s 22 points and 23 rebounds won, 60-55…small schools game of the year?  Try Julian’s 66-60, overtime victory against San Miguel after a 56-56 deadlock in regulation…Carl Conte’s 33 points for the Knights (5-12) couldn’t overcome the 24 by Rich Linton and 22 by Kevin Teter for the Eagles (8-5)…The Southern League’s La Jolla Country Day (1-11) and San Diego Military (13-4) had a nonleague encounter…the Military Falcons won, 57-28, behind Rubin Valenzuela’s 29 points…19 area teams competed in six post-Christmas tournaments…Mission Bay emerged as the only champion, 58-51 over Playa del Rey St. Bernard in the San Dieguito Mustang Optimist event….

There would be raised eyebrows and at least one exclamation of “Really?” and another of “No Way!” should a copy of Charles Byrne’s Jan. 4, 1940, article in The San Diego Union have been placed in a time capsule and opened 20 years later.

Basketball was evolving and moving indoors, although the game still was a primitive sport in most corners of San  Diego’s tiny hoop universe.

“Metropolitan League basketball, which used to be played almost entirely on outdoor courts of asphalt, decomposed granite, or plain dirt surfacing, with only a few students on the sidelines, is growing up,” wrote Byrne.

Most of the league’s seven teams were getting out of the sun and rain, said Byrne.

Grossmont, Coronado, and Escondido had opened new facilities and Oceanside would play games at the Oceanside Community Center basketball pavilion, according to the writer.

Point Loma and Sweetwater still had only outdoor courts but would be able to schedule some home games at San Diego High and San Diego State, Byrne said.

It would be about 10 years before La Jolla and Point Loma had their own gymnasiums, but Sweetwater would play some home games on its outdoor layout into the 1950s.

CARDINALS IN FOREFRONT

The city’s Hoover High also had a new home, a 1,200-seat, balcony-included edifice, capacity of which promised to be taxed whenever the Cardinals played San Diego High.

Hoover’s game with Alhambra “won’t be the first game in the new gymnasium but it will be the first since installation of especially constructed folding bleachers capable of seating more than 1,200 along the sidelines (and upper level),” gushed Byrne.

“The new bleachers combined with a big court and spacious ceiling—for ventilation purposes—gives Hoover as good a layout as any….”

Hoover, with a 2-6 record, upset Alhambra, 27-24.

Byrne also praised the new Grossmont facility, with “modern, ‘telescoping’ bleachers that seat 500, with room for more on collapsible chairs.”

Telescoping?  Meaning seats that are pushed or rolled back when not in use? Yes.

RAINED OUT

Basketball under the sun, not.

Persistent precipitation interrupted play at Point Loma, prompting delay of the Pointers’ Class B game against La Jolla.

The solution was simple:  Move the action to Municipal Gym.

The B teams finished their game at the Balboa Park facility and then the varsities took the floor.  Point Loma defeated La Jolla, 53-29.

COUNTY RECORDS?

Bob Ingle of Coronado scored 35 points in a 57-16 win over La Jolla, giving the Islanders’ the highest scoring output for the season and a reported County, single-game record for Ingle.

Ingle converted 15 of 29 shots from the floor, many on easy, “cherry-picked” baskets when Ingle and teammate Art Blaisdell retreated to the Coronado end of the court when La Jolla had the ball.

Teammates easily found Ingle and Blaisdell with uncontested passes even while patrolling the visiting Vikings with a three-man defense.

Bud Farmer, a 5-foot, 7-inch junior forward for Julian, led all scorers with 294 points in 20 games for a 14.5 average and had a 13.8 average for 12 Southern League games.

Farmer’s total for the season was believed to be an all-time County record.

WHO’S GOT IT?

No one.

During a scramble under the basket a loose ball bounced on the floor so forcefully that it took flight, soaring above the hoop, and then descended through the net.

Two points for Hoover.

Game officials did not know who last touched the ball and was responsible for the score. After some discussion the refs awarded the basket to Rupert Crosthwaite, captain and floor general of the Hoover squad.

The two points helped but were not enough.  The Cardinals were on the short end of a 33-26 score to San Diego.

SPORTSMANSHIP?

Some in the Oceanside cheering section took boos and jeering to dangerous extremes.

Writer Charles Byrne said referees at a recent Pirates home game stopped play and cleared the floor of paper wads that were launched by rubber bands from the stands.

The wads were meant to pester opposing players.

Game officials had enough and warned Pirates coach Dick Rutherford that a technical foul would be assessed for every wad found on the court during remainder of the game.

According to Byrne, not naming his source, “The paper wads stopped, but the visiting players began to be stung by BB shot and after the game one player’s back and legs were covered with welts.”

The latter is hard to believe, but Oceanside’s free-wheeling program was a constant headache during this era for CIF honcho Seth Van Patten, with eligibility issues and other complaints often landing on his desk, according to historian John Dahlem.

CORONADO “BACKS IN” TO CHAMPIONSHIP

Coronado, with a 20-3 record and enjoying one of its finest seasons under Coach Hal Niedermeyer, was primed to play  for the Southern Section’s Southern Group (small schools) championship after eliminating Ramona, 34-12, in a first-round game.

The Islanders were scheduled to play Imperial Valley League champion Calexico, but the schools couldn’t agree on where or when to meet.

As often out of necessity, commissioner Seth Van Patten allowed the schools to make arrangements.

Calexico wanted Coronado to come to the valley on March 8, but the Islanders said that was impossible because of the opening of Metro League track competition.

Almost all Coronado athletes and those at virtually all others played three sports, including track or baseball in the spring.

Coronado invited the Bulldogs to visit on March 9, but Calexico declined.

The Islanders felt they were the premier squad among the Southern Section’s less-enrollment members.

Coronado had defeated the Southern League champion, Ramona, in a playoff and held a victory over El Centro Central, which tied Calexico for the Imperial Valley League  championship.

Most significant was a ballyhooed win over Hemet, the Riverside League titlist, which defeated Needles for the small school’s Eastern group championship.

All’s well that ends well. Van Patten must have agreed with the Islanders, for they were  declared Southern Group champions, their victory over Ramona considered the deciding game.

BIG ONE ON PENINSULA

The Coronado gym was almost filled to its 500-person capacity when ex-San Diego High and San Diego State star Kendall (Bobo) Arnett brought the Hemet Bulldogs south for a late-season contest that was billed incorrectly as a playoff but had a postseason atmosphere.

How things happen:  Niedermeyer was called to the telephone for a long distance call at halftime of a Coronado B game.  The coach and Arnett, on the other end of the line,  agreed to terms in a brief conversation and the game was on.

Hemet had won 16 in a row, including victories over big brothers Riverside Poly, San Bernardino, and Corona, and took an 8-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Coronado suddenly found the range, going on a 23-0 explosion that covered the second and third quarters and propelled the Islanders to a stunning, 39-21 triumph.

TRAGEDY 

Bob Carrothers, who scored 13 points in the rout of Hemet, also was a national junior tennis champion in singles and doubles, Coronado’s student body president, and was headed to USC after graduation.

Months later in October, Carrothers was killed in an auto accident southbound on U.S. 101 in the Rose Canyon area of northern San Diego.

The car in which Carrothers was riding blew a tire, sending the vehicle across a center divider and down a steep embankment.  The car struck a railroad signal post and then turned over several times before coming to rest upright.

Carrothers, sharing the rumble seat with a USC classmate while two other Trojan students were in the front seat, was thrown from the car and died without regaining consciousness, according to the Coronado Eagle and Journal.

Hours after hearing of Carrothers’ death, his aunt and uncle immediately began driving to San Diego from Pocatello, Idaho.

The car driven by Harry Collins went off the highway about 25 miles south of Pocatello.  Mr. Collins was critically injured and his wife was killed.

Coronado High would name its basketball facility “Carrothers Gym”.

SCHUTTE EXITS

Bill Schutte replaced Ed Ruffa as coach at San Diego High and directed a 14-4 season, the Hilltoppers’ best since the 15-1, Southern California championship campaign of 1935-36.

The Hillers had won the 32-team, Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach in December and came within a basket of taking the inaugural Chino Tournament after Christmas in a 26-24 loss to Long Beach Poly.

San Diego split two Coast League games with Poly but the Jackrabbits earned the postseason berth with a 27-12, elimination game win at Poly.

Location of the Poly-San Diego contest was determined by coin flip.

Schutte, an all-Southern California lineman for the Hillers in 1928, surprised many when Schutte announced he was leaving the Hilltoppers as soon as the basketball season ended.

Schutte accepted a position on the staff of Kansas State coach Hobbs Adams, who was the Hillers’ head coach from 1929-34 but did not coach Schutte, who had graduated from San Diego High.

The departing coach returned to San Diego after World War II and was head coach at San Diego State from 1948-55.

MID-YEAR GRADUATION

It never seemed to fail.  San Diego lost a leading player to graduation in February, at a crucial point in the season.

Bob Carson, who led the Hillers with 178 points in 16 games, scored 17 as a turnaway, home crowd of 1,200 persons witnessed the Hilltoppers’ 42-27 win over Poly.

Carson was gone when the team met again later and the result was a 15-point loss for San Diego after the 15-point win.

SET SHOTS

Coronado was a 35-25 loser in the finals to Tustin in the Huntington Beach event for schools with less than 1,000 enrollment…its only other losses were 21-17 to the Coronado Merchants and a late-season, 29-27 upset by Escondido that snapped a 17-game league winning streak…San Diego coach Bill Schutte abandoned his man-to-man defense for a zone to counter Long Beach Poly’s “Figure 8” offense in the Cavers’ Coast League victory…as soon as Bob Carson graduated, the ex-Caver enrolled at Fullerton Junior College and joined the Hornets’ basketball team…Ramona won a third straight Southern League title with a 34-28 win over San Dieguito…George Marshall, a starting guard for Hemet, was unavailable for the game with Coronado because he was one of the stars in a school play…the preliminary game to Coronado-Hemet saw the Coronado Merchants defeat a Marine Aviation team, 34-32…Ollie Mathis of Point Loma led Metro League scorers with 121 points in 12 games…Coronado’s Bob Carrothers was the only repeater on the all-league squad that was determined in a vote by five Metro League coaches, officials who refereed league games, and sports writers…Grossmont won 5 of 6 games during an Imperial Valley-Yuma, Arizona, tour before Christmas…Escondido barnstormed to three victories at the same time in Riverside County…

La Jolla, winner of 30 in a row, including 28 consecutive this season, was on the cusp of getting to a place no other team had gone.

A 29-0 season was unprecedented.

The only San Diego County team to come that close was the 1959-60 Hoover squad that won its first 26 (most reports say the Cardinals won 27 in a row; search 1959-60 “Cardinals Come Up Short…”).

No major school varsity had traversed a full season without a loss, dating to the days of dirt courts and chain baskets.

And it wouldn’t happen this year.

The Vikings returned three starters from the 1962-63 club that won all 17 nonleague games but then ran aground on the rocky shoals of the Western League.

Not always composed, the seaside club staggered to a 5-5 loop record, finishing at 22-5 and out of the playoffs.

Rick Eveleth, Charlie Buchanan, and Bill Canning, three solid starters, plus John Walters and future pro tour golfer John Schroeder, were on hand for another run this season.

The Vikings won the Kiwanis Tournament Limited Division and Mustang Optimist event in December, and then swept the Western League with a 10-0 run and set a single-game scoring record in a 94-66 triumph over Mission Bay.

Averaging more than 65 points a game, La Jolla swarmed opponents and rebounded, although Eveleth, at 6 feet, 3 inches, was its tallest player.

CLASS AA PLAYOFFS 

The Vikings proved the correct antidote to Monte Vista’s runners and gunners, winning the first-round game, 60-49, days after the Monarchs (20-7) had set a County record in a 120-77 victory over Granite Hills.

The Vikings had rallied from a 49-31 deficit in the third quarter to nose out the Spring Valley team, 62-58, in the fourth game of the season and repeated with a 68-50 victory  (“I think their press hurt them; their tongues were hanging out in the second half,” noted  La Jolla coach Bill Reeves) in the Kiwanis finale.

La Jolla’s first test since a mid-season, 44-41 escape from Kearny (15-13) came against dangerous Lincoln (17-8) in the semifinals.  The Hornets strived mightily, but the Vikings stayed in front throughout and won, 78-70.

HIGHLANDERS IN WAY

With 6-foot, 7inch Al Skalecky, 6-3 Jim Sunderman, and 6-2 Ron Slocum patrolling inside, Helix (27-3) had lost to only one team in San Diego and removed that blotch in a succeeding meeting with Chula Vista.

Trailing 18-17, after the first quarter, Helix staggered La Jolla with a 15-2 run, led, 33-24 at the half, 50-39, after three and closed out a 76-56 victory that marked the first time a school outside the city limits had won the title.

Skalecky had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Sunderman 14 and 17.  The 5-foot 10-inch Buchanan, who would be named CIF player of the year, led the Vikings with 8 rebounds.

Helix with a 46-22 edge on the backboards, had little trouble with the Vikings’ press, and shot 50.8 per cent from the field to 38.6 per cent.

The Highlanders had raced through the Grossmont League with a 12-0 record including a pair of wins against 10-2 Monte Vista, 77-72, and 65-59, the latter for the league clincher.

FUTURE AZTECS

Skalecky would team with La Jolla’s Rick Eveleth, Castle Park’s Ralph (Rip) Barrett, and Crawford’s Dave Miller on San Diego State’s 1966-67 team that played in the national collegiate College Division championship tournament in Evansville, Ind.

ALMOST STRANGER THAN FICTION

–Mar Vista scored the only points by either team in the fourth quarter to edge Sweetwater, 36-34.  Mike Clark’s two free throws with 50 seconds remaining was the difference.

–Down 26 points with 14 minutes to play, Helix caught St. Augustine and then stole a pass and scored to defeat the Saints, 55-54, for the Kiwanis Tournament Unlimted Division title.

–Lincoln shot 57 per cent in a 77-66 win at Crawford and then shot 32 per cent in a 49-43 loss at home to the Colts, who claimed the Eastern League championship.

–Six Castle Park and Mar Vista players, three on each side, fouled out in the last five minutes.

–Rick Eveleth, 6-feet-3 inches, of La Jolla scored 26 points and held Mission Bay’s 6-8  Mike Kinkki to 4 points.

–Clairemont held on for a 74-70 victory over Granite Hills, despite giving up 35 points in the fourth quarter, after leading, 57-35.

–Hoover’s 2-4 start was its poorest since the 11-12, 1952-53  team.

SURPRISING COLTS

With a starting lineup comprised mostly of graduates of a junior varsity team that was 8-8 in ’62-63, Crawford coach Jim Sams found out quickly what potential opponents had on their minds.

“You get an idea of what the other clubs think of you when they try to schedule a game,” said Sams after the Colts won their first six.  “They’ll call and ask how many letterman you have and you say, ‘None’, and they want you on their schedule.”

Crawford’s 25-5 record was better than the 24-6-1 of the championship 1962-63 squad.  6-4 sophomore Von Jacobsen joined 6-7 senior Dennis Grey, 6-3 junior Bob Boone 5-11 senior Ronnie Layton, and 6-3 senior Dave Miller, who saw action the previous year, in the starting lineup.

CANTANKEROUS

Taciturn Paul Pruett, who didn’t like the setup while at San Dieguito, sounded off about Kiwanis Tournament venues.

“The people running this thing know how big a home court advantage is but nothing is ever done about it,” said the Hilltop mentor.

“They shove the County teams into any old gym and let the city teams play their first two or three games at home.”

Pruett said he would continue to enter the Kiwanis because there aren’t any other pre-Christmas events of significance, “but if they start another one somewhere, we’ll be in it.”

Hilltop didn’t have to go to Hoover or San Diego for its second-round game with Grossmont, but the Lancers were bounced, 58-44, at Sweetwater.

INTRANSIGENT

Castle Park was awarded a forfeit victory over Morse in the San Dieguito Mustang Optimist, post-Christmas tournament.

Tigers coach Tom Williams refused to leave the court after referee Jimmy Spurling assessed a second technical foul against Williams, who was unhappy with the way the game was being called.

Morse outnumbered Castle Park in personal fouls, 15-7, when the game ended with the Trojans ahead, 40-23, in the third quarter.

IRATE

“This was the worst performance by a team of mine in fourteen years of coaching; the kids have got no pride in defense and don’t care if the other guy scores,” said  Bill Standly of San Diego (13-15) following a 69-46 loss to La Jolla.

BALANCE

La Jolla oozed  it.  Charlie Buchanan, the CIF player of the year, scored 436 points, Bill Canning 390, Rick Eveleth 374, and John Walters 318. Skalecky led Helix with 440, followed by Jim Sunderman, 421, and Ron Slocum, 319.

Guards Lynn Lowder (217) and Bob Grundstrom didn’t score as much (“I’ll bet some of the opposing coaches don’t know their names,” said Helix coach Bob Speidel), but they were essential in breaking down La Jolla’s defense.

Grundstrom’s looper with one second left pushed the Highlanders past 15-13 Kearny, 57-55, in the opening round of the playoffs.

POLITICS ELIMINATED

The CIF board of managers announced that leagues could break ties for playoff spots with an elimination game.  Previously administrators in respective leagues voted for postseason representatives.

SCORING LEADERS

Name	Team	Games	Points	Average
Barrett	Castle Park	30	537	17.9
Landis	Monte Vista	26	529	20.3
Leininger	Morse	25	518	20.7
Fitzmorris	Madison	28	480	17.1
Rippe	Lincoln	24	442	18.4
Skalecky	Helix	30	440	14.7
Gray	Monte Vista	27	439	16.3
Buchanan	La Jolla	29	435	15.0
Syverson	Mar Vista	30	430	14.5
Henderson	Clairemont	23	421	18.3
Sunderman	Helix	30	421	14.0
Grey	Crawford	30	394	13.1
Canning	La Jolla	29	390	13.4
Vera	Mission Bay	24	384	16.0
Renwick	Grossmont	22	374	17.0
Queen	El Cajon Valley	23	370	16.1
Wilkins	Granite Hills	30	362	12.1
Eveleth	La Jolla	29	374	12.9
Paddock	St. Augustine	28	359	12.8
Jacobsen	Crawford	30	359	12.0
White	Chula Vista	26	353	13.6
Spence	St. Augustine	16	350	21.9
Howe	Grossmont	25	345	13.8
Kinkki	Mission Bay	24	328	13.7
Chandler	Mar Vista	30	328	10.9
Hallien	Kearny	26	327	12.6
Hanchett	Monte Vista	27	322	11.9
Dunne	St. Augustine	28	321	11.5
Reina	Kearny	24	320	13.3
Slocum	Helix	30	319	10.6
Calvin	San Diego	28	318	11.4
Walters	La Jolla	29	318	11.0
Shaulls	Madison	29	317	10.9
Lott	Point Loma	26	314	12.1
Boone	Crawford	30	312	10.4

 BIG LEAGUERS

Clairemont’s Kenny Henderson (18.3) and Madison’s Al Fitzmorris (17.1) were elite scorers in the Western League but made their marks in major league baseball.

Henderson played 16 seasons for seven teams and peaked with the San Francisco Giants in 1970, batting .294 with 104 runs, 17 home runs, and 87 runs batted in.

Fitzmorris pitched 10 seasons, mostly with Kansas City, and posted a 77-59 record.  He was 44-29 from 1974-76 with the Royals.

Helix’ Ron Slocum played parts of three seasons with the expansion San Diego Padres, 1969-71, and Bob Spence of St. Augustine in the same time frame was with the Chicago White Sox.

INJURY SLOWS SAINTSMAN

St. Augustine was 9-0 and had just defeated Hoover, 78-63, as Bob Spence scored 22 points, Mike Paddock 20, Jimmy Antl 10, and Dennis Dunne 13, including 11 consecutive free throws.

It was a pyrrhic victory.  Spence’s eye became inflamed from a foreign substance on a towel that Spence used to wipe sweat during a time out.

Spence missed 5 games because of that injury plus seven others. The Saints flattened out to 2-8 in the Eastern League and 16-12 overall.

Spence still led the County with a 21.9 scoring average with 350 points in 16 games.

LIVING LARGE

George (Bud) Milke had seen or played on all manner of basketball courts from his days at San Diego State to when he first took over the Mar Vista program in 1953-54.

“We used to play home games at Muni Gym, State College, and Point Loma, and practiced on asphalt,” said Milke, marveling at the beautiful facility he inherited when Milke began the Castle Park program this season.

With Rip Barrett, the only player with varsity experience, leading the County with 537 points, the Trojans surprised by tying Chula Vista for the Metropolitan League championship and posted a 23-7 record, stunning for a first-year school.

Castle Park made a quick exit from the playoffs, beaten by Lincoln, 78-55, which featured 6-5 Steve (Cord) Rippe, whose 23 points helped offset the 30 by Barrett.

BASKETS GALORE

San Diego teams were busy after Christmas, playing in the San Dieguito Mustang, Chino, Banning, Fillmore, Covina, San Bernardo Kiwanis, and Newport Optimist events.

Crawford was whacked by Downey Pius X, 76-54, in the third place game at Covina.  Pius X got to the finals of the Southern Section playoffs but bowed to Long Beach Poly, 60-58.

Yucaipa defeated St. Augustine, minus Bob Spence, 56-50, for the consolation championship at Banning after the Saints lost to Palmdale, 74-65, in the quarterfinals (the Saints were called for 30 personal fouls to their opponents’ 16). La Jolla beat Castle Park, 61-53, for the Mustang championship.

San Diego outscored Antelope Valley, 44-39, in the second half but could not overcome a 21-point halftime deficit and was beaten, 76-60, in the San Bernardino consolation finals.  Helix, after a 71-53 loss to Ventura and 64-47 win over Buena Park, bowed in the consolation finals to Burbank Burroughs, 71-69, at Fillmore.

CLASS A

Carlsbad (16-6) stretched its Palomar League streak to 30 wins in a row and beat Marian, 50-32 in the playoffs before losing to University (13-8) in the championship game at La Jolla, 48-44.

JUMP SHOTS

Morse’s Kenny Leininger set the single-game scoring pace with 49 points in a 73-71, overtime victory against El Capitan…Leininger, who scored 24 of the Tigers’ 25 fourth-quarter points, tied St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules (1956-57) for the third-highest-ever total, behind the 60 and 53 Shaules scored in 1957-58…Steve (Cord) Rippe scored 23 as Lincoln tied a school record in an 81-57 win over Granite Hills…the Hornets had 81 against La Jolla in 1958-59…a week after playing four games at Bing Crosby Hall in Del Mar in the Mustang event, Kearny went back to that venue and beat San Dieguito, 57-42, as erstwhile football stars Steve Reina (25) and Jim (Yazoo) Smith (11) paced the Komets…Reina was MVP of the Mustang but Madison’s Al Fitzmorris set the scoring record with 118 points…Al Skalecky’s 24 points led Helix to a 60-46 win over Granite Hills and his 23 rebounds were double that of any other player on the floor…after tying the school record with 32 points in a 84-66 win over Grossmont, Monte Vista’s Paul Landis broke the record with 40 in an 84-58 win over Granite Hills…led by Landis’s 27 points, 11 Monte Vista players scored in their record, 120-77 win over, you guessed it, Granite Hills…the Monarchs led at the quarters, 35-15, 61-38, and 89-57…Dennis Dunne’s basket with 5 seconds to play elevated St. Augustine past Morse, 68-66…a 74-50 victory was La Jolla’s first in 11 tries versus Clairemont…Lincoln’s 58-47 win against San Diego in the Eastern League opener was the Hornets’ sixth against 18 losses to the Cavers dating to 1953-54…Fallbrook had the highest point total of any Avocado League squad when it beat Ramona, 91-37….

 

Oscar Foster never won an individual scoring championship at San Diego High, but Foster finished his legendary prep career with the San Diego Section record for most points.

Consistent, often brilliant, Foster’s record was testimony to the popular, team player that he was.

Foster passed away recently in Los Angeles at age 69, a victim for at least his last 40 years of internal demons that robbed the friendly, gentle man of his great promise.

A lithe, 6-foot, 7-inch forward, Foster scored 1,766 points in three seasons and 91 games during an era in which the Cavers posted a 77-17 record and won two San Diego Section championships.

“The Big O was an unbelievable player, intimidating and competitive,” remembered Brent Strom, now the pitching coach for the Houston Astros and Foster’s teammate at San Diego High.

Foster averaged 14.7 and scored 457 points in 1964-65, his sophomore season, as San Diego, 24-8 overall after being a tied-for-second-place entry in the Eastern League, got hot in the playoffs and defeated Chula Vista, 62-40, in the championship game.

The Cavers were 24-7 in 1965-66, won the third-place game in the playoffs, and Foster averaged 21.4 points and scored 667.

The 29-2 championship team of 1966-67 was beaten only by Long Beach Poly, 67-62, and St. Augustine, 55-53, in the regular season.

Foster averaged 20.6 and scored 642 points and led coach Bill Standly’s squad a 54-53 victory over Mount Miguel in the championship game.

Evening Tribune writer Roger Conlee said the Grossmont-Helix game was more a circus carnival (of errors), with everything but a pie-throwing contest.

Conlee covered the Metropolitan League Southern Division contest that attracted about 1,200 persons to Grossmont’s “ancient, creaky arena.”

Taking them one at a time:

–The game started at 8:45 p.m. after a longer-than-usual junior varsity preliminary. The gymnasium was overflowing by 7:15 p.m.

–The lead changed 12 times in the first half.

–Officials made conflicting foul calls three times in the first half.  Unable to agree, the zebras each time ordered a jump ball.

–Play temporarily was halted when a puddle of water appeared on the floor.

–The gymnasium public address announcer pleaded with the crowd to be quiet during the shooting of free throws.

The announcement came during the shooting of a free throw.

–Twenty-one fouls were called on plays that involved driving to the basket.  None of the fouls were for charging on the player with the ball.

–Seven timeouts were called in the fourth quarter.  The eight-minute session of playing time began at 9:47 p.m. and did not end until 10:31 p.m.

–Spectators, restless after sitting for almost two hours-plus, engaged in three separate fights in the stands, all broken up quickly.

–Fourteen free throws were attempted in the frenzied, final three minutes.

–Officials attempted to quiet the crowd with no success when the game entered its final 1:55.

“That the scoreboard clock didn’t work and time had to be called out from the scorer’s table seemed to fit in perfectly, Conlee concluded.

Oh, the game. Helix took a 28-27 lead in the third quarter and hung on to win, 51-49.  Ed Vitale had 16 points for the Highlanders and Neil McClellan 15 for the Foothillers.

CARDINALS FLY AGAIN

Nick Barkett was the fifth of five guards on Hoover’s 26-2 squad of 1959-60, but he moved to forward this season and led the Cardinals to another Eastern League championship and to the inaugural CIF San Diego Section AA title.

“He lived at Muni Gym with (John) Bocko all summer,” said Coach Charlie Hampton, acknowledging Barkett’s commitment and reference to just-graduated Cardinals star John Bocko.

Barkett joined a lineup that included only one starter from 1959-60, guard Dave Morehead.  Dave Sickels, a 6-6 center had seen limited action.

The Cardinals’ record for the last two seasons was 50-5.  The only defeats for this year’s 24-3 squad was 65-60 in an early-season encounter at Hilltop, 63-59 in a stunning upset by Kearny, and 36-30 in a ragged contest at Lincoln.

Barkett was joined in the starting lineup by 6-1 Morehead, 6-foot junior guard Rick Potter, the 6-6 Sickels, and 6-2 Rich Keely, a junior varsity graduate who came within two points of the school record when he had 34 points in a December game against Glendale Hoover.

Barkett had 24 points in a 66-53 win over Point Loma in the regular season and 20 in the AA championship, a virtual repeat of the first game, Hoover winning, 66-54.

LINCOLN FOILED

Hoover enjoyed its usual late-game dominance of Lincoln, overcoming a 37-35 halftime deficit to win the Kiwanis Tournament, 55-51, the fifth Cardinals victory by four points or less in the last four years over their South 49^th Street rival.

Lincoln felt good when it took a 30-22 halftime lead in the teams’ first league meeting, but the Cardinals outscored the Hornets, 21-7, in the fourth quarter for a 59-48 win.

“This may be the best basketball ‘team’ I’ve had,” said Coach Charlie Hampton.  “They may not be the best players, but as a team they can’t be beat.”

CLAIREMONT BLOWS

Leading Point Loma, 35-34, with 11 seconds left in the game and in possession of the ball, Clairemont liked its chances.

But the Chiefs’ Joe Michael launched a shot that Point Loma’s Joe Soares rebounded, and got the ball to Dave Elliott, who was fouled.

Elliott made two free throws for a 36-35 victory and the Western League championship before a capacity crowd of 1,800 at Point Loma.

“I don’t know why (Michael) took the shot,” said Clairemont coach Dick Eiler.  “The poor kid is crying his eyes out about it.  It was just one of those things.”

T’D OFF

Leading Hilltop, 44-43, Escondido was assessed a technical foul when a substitute did not report  properly.  Robbie Hewitt then sank a free throw to tie the game and Tom Lee scored seconds later for a 46-44 Hilltop victory.

After much discussion, the T was upheld.

Escondido coach Don Hegerle argued with officials that the official scorer was not an adult and did not wear a jersey or shirt that indicated his position at the table.

“There was some question about it all right,” said Lancers coach Paul Pruett, “but we got our share of bad breaks, too. We’ll take the victory.”

NAME	TEAM	GAMES	POINTS	AVERAGE
John Fairchild	San Dieguito	26	428	16.5
Charlie Schneider	Hilltop	26	416	16.0
Brian Ross	El Capitan	21	393	18.7
Bob Hoss	El Cajon Valley	22	374	17.0
Dennis Henry	Kearny	25	367	14.7
Nick Barkett	Hoover	27	356	13.2
Robbie Hewitt	Hilltop	26	339	13.0
Steve Ojetti	Lincoln	24	327	13.7
Ed Vitale	Helix	23	319	13.9
Larry Meek	Escondido	22	318	14.4
Don Sada	Point Loma	25	317	12.7
Paul Hagen	Helix	26	312	12.0
Joe Soares	Point Loma	25	300	12.0

HIGHS AND LOW

Army-Navy’s Bill Froehling had the season’s highest individual point total, 47, on 23 baskets and one free throw. as the Warriors also scored the most points in a 91-47 win over San Diego Military.

Froehling’s total tied Fallbrook’s Paul Lockridge for the fourth highest in San Diego County History.

Lockridge’s 47 came in a 90-31 win over Brown Military in 1950-51.  St. Augustine’s Tom Shaules, with 60- and 53-point outbursts in 1957-58 and 49 in 1956-57, has the top three.

El Capitan outscored El Cajon Valley, 77-75, the teams’ combined 152  leading the County.

San Diego Military served up the lowest, outscored by University, 59-14.

SMOKING

Al Catlin was a starter for three straight seasons at Lincoln and one of the school’s all-time top players, an accolade later to be duplicated at San Diego City College and San Diego State.

Catlin, in a stunning turn of events, was forced to learn how to shoot from his opposite hand this season because he was wearing a cast on his right arm.

The 6-foot, 2-inch forward unknowingly played his entire junior season with a broken bone in his right wrist, an injury sustained in the 1959 football season.

Catlin had experienced continual discomfort, finally forcing a visit to a physician who discovered the injury. The Hornets’ senior remained the area’s best rebounder and was a more-than-adequate shot maker on a contending squad.

Like many of his generation Catlin took up smoking, a habit he says he never indulged on the school campus.  Someone, Catlin believes a member of the Lincoln faculty, saw Catlin smoking at the Campus Drive-In Theater on El Cajon Boulevard.

The faculty snitch reported what he saw to Lincoln coach Warren Barritt, who summarily cut Catlin from the squad.

“Steve Ojetti and I both used to smoke a cigarette before a home game,” Catlin remembered years later.  “It wasn’t a crime, but I got called into Barritt’s office and he told me I was off the team for disciplinary reasons.”

Despite the loss of Catlin, Lincoln rallied behind Ojetti’s 27 points and walloped Crawford, 75-60, to secure the Eastern League’s second playoff spot in the final regular-season game.

PLAYOFFS

Two divisions and 16 teams comprised the one-week posteason.

CLASS A

John Fairchild and San Dieguito couldn’t get a seat at the Class AA table (search 1960-61: “Where’s Aretha? Mustangs Want Respect”), so they rolled to the Class A title, capping a 25-1 season with victories of 73-57 over El Cajon Valley (8-14), 66-53 over Kearny (13-11), which had eliminated University (13-11), 43-38,  and 54-46 over Sweetwater (11-12).

Ramona, 21-1 in the regular season behind the scoring thrusts of Allen Brown and Mike Walters, was up against schools much larger, even though the Bulldogs were in the small schools class.

Ramona was beaten in the first round, 50-47, by Sweetwater, which got to the finals after a 48-46 win over Vista (12-8).

Vista had advanced with a 46-45 win over St. Augustine (4-17), fueled by the temper of the Saints’ Hugh (Hudge) McConnell, who threw a ball into the stands at Vista after a foul call with three seconds remaining in the game.

The Panthers’ Fred Boyer converted the resulting personal and technical foul free throws, giving Vista the come-from-behind victory.

CLASS AA

Lincoln (17-8) topped Grossmont (12-9), 46-45, in the first round but was eliminated in the semifinals as Point Loma (15-10) won a wild, 66-60 struggle at Lincoln. Pointer Joe Soares’ 24 points offset a 34-point performance by Steve Ojetti. Point Loma earlier eliminated Escondido (13-10), 61-44.

Hoover avenged an early-season loss with a 56-49 win over Hilltop in the semifinals after dismissing Chula Vista (10-11), 63-34. Hilltop (20-6) had polished off Clairemont (12-11), 71-48.

JUMP SHOTS

San Diego’s 10-14 record was the Cavemen’s poorest since the 1933-34 team was 6-9 and the ’34-35 squad was 6-8…Hoover coach Charlie Hampton said Glendale Hoover had the tallest high school lineup he ever saw: 6-foot, 4-inch and 6-3 guards, 6-2 and 6-5 forwards, and 6-5 center…Kearny presented a front line of 6-7 Doug Ogilvie, 6-5 Lon Swank, and 6-3 Elliott Reaves…Hilltop and Escondido each reached the semifinals of the Chino Tournament, losing to Anaheim Western, 56-51, and Chino, 58-46, respectively…San Dieguito topped Ramona, 58-47, for the Kiwanis Tournament Limited Division title…the Hoover-Lincoln Unlimited final was played in San Diego State’s Men’s Gym… Ventura whipped Helix, 80-47, for consolation honors at Fillmore…Fritz Ziegenfuss set  a Crawford record with 28 points in a season-opening, 73-57 win over El Cajon Valley…La Jolla’s Chet Guthrie set a school record with 35 points in one game…until the playoffs, Hilltop was 2-0 against Hoover…the Lancers also beat the Cardinals, 53-52, in Pepsi Summer League competition at Muni Gym….

West Hills’ Cameron Barry led the San Diego Section, was tied for second in the state, and 10th nationally in scoring average, and 22^nd in total points, according to Max Preps.

Barry scored 866 points in 26 games.  His 33.3-point average is No. 3 all-time in San Diego County. Jc Canahuate of Army-Navy was second to Barry locally with a 27.8 average in 23 games.

The national leader in points was Qwan Jackson of the Conservatory of Lifelong Learning in Milwaukee with a 42.3 average in 18 games.

Barry, who followed state leader Ryan Turell of Valley Village Valley Torah’s 34.3 average and 1,031 points, was tied  with Landis Spivey of Aspire Langston Hughes Academy in Stockton, although Spivey was limited to 17 games and scored 566 points.

Barry is behind only Tony Clark’s 43.1 and Tyrone Shelley’s 34.9 in scoring average.  See below.

SHAYLA LEADS

Bonita Vista’s Shayla Latone was first in San Diego and in California and third nationally with a 36.9 average with 1,290 points in 35 games.

Latone’s  closest challenger in California was Hannah Hurley of Lake Isabella Kern Valley, with a 30.9 average in 22 games. Shemera Williams of Milwaukee Science led the nation with a 39.9 average and 1,038 points in 26 games.

San Diego Section 2017-18 boys leaders in average and all-time season leaders:

HIGHEST AVERAGE

Name	Team	Games	Points	Average
Cameron Barry	West Hills	26	866	33.3
Jc Canahuate	Army-Navy	23	639	27.8
Kibru Sugebo	Preuss UCSD	27	695	25.7
Hassan Hunt	Chula Vista High Tech	26	593	22.8
Tiberus Ballard	Guajome Park	13	291	22.4
Bryce Pope	Torrey Pines	32	713	22.3
Taeshon Cherry	Foothills Christian	25	556	22.2
DeAndre Andrews	Kearny	21	464	22.1
Phillip Willis	Maranatha	27	592	21.9
Jayden Holloway	Patrick Henry	23	464	20.2

SEASON HIGH  ALL-TIME

Year	Name	Team	Games	Points	Average
1989-90	Tony Clark	Christian	31	1,337	43.1
2006-07	Tyrone Shelley	Crawford	27	941	34.9
2017-18	Cameron Barry	West Hills	27	866	33.3
1998-99	Kemmy Burgess	El Cajon Valley			33.1
2010-11	Johnny Dee	Rancho Buena Vista	30	982	32.7
1976-77	Mitchell Lilly	Madison	28	893	31.9
1995-96	Jeremy Killon	Rancho Bernardo			31.9
1995-96	Jorge Salazar	Bonita Vista	20	629	31.5
1988-89	Clark	Valhalla	28	847	30.3
2004-05	Chase Budinger	La Costa Canyon			30.1

CAL-HI SPORTS HAS BUCS AT NO. 17

Mission Bay (27-6), whose record included a win over No. 8 Oakland Bishop O’Dowd, finished 17th in trhe final Cal-Hi Sports Top 40.

Fioothills Chridtian (26-7) is 20th, although the up-and-down Knights, defeated No. 5 Los Angeles Westchester and No. 11 L.A. Fairfax.

Torrey Pines (28-4), is 33rd.