John Singer has seen the greatest Helix teams from the bench.

He was an underclassman reserve on the 1969-70 squad led by Bill Walton that posted a 33-0 record and is regarded  as not only the best team to come out of the La Mesa foothills but the all-time No. 1 in San Diego County.

Singer’s also the coach, and the winner of 679 games in 36 seasons at Helix, of this season’s team, which will play Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent Saturday at 1 p.m. in the CIF state Division IV championship game at Sacramento’s Golden Center.

Helix is 31-5, and winner of 22 in a row.  It got to this point by prevailing in four successive games at home during the Southern California regional after earning a No. 2 seed following a championship run through the San Diego Section playoffs.

Walton competed  before San Diego Section teams were part of Southern California regional or state playoffs.

But that Helix team averaged 88 points a game, exceeded 100 points six times, and scored a 71-49 victory over Long Beach Millikan, the 1969-70 Southern Section champion, in  a December tournament in Covina.

Singer’s club outscored opponents by an average of 60-55 in a 9-5 December, but has not lost since Dec. 30 and are winning by an average score of 71-53.

The Scots were almost as effective against competition from outside San Diego, building an average advantage of 70-57 in the four regional games.

Vallejo St. Francis-St. Patrick of the North Coast Section is 27-7, won the Northern California regional, and outscored 4 opponents by an average of 82-43.

Helix and St. Patrick each is a bubble team in Cal-Hi Sports’ latest top state top 20, but the Bruins are ranked 37^th in California by Max Preps and Helix is 69^th.

Galvanized Americans had Victory on their minds as the war moved into its second year.

San Diego school officials, living in the hub of the defense industry, pitched in.  They created the Victory League and put the Metropolitan League in a basketball drydock.

Call theirs a New Year’s Resolution.

Coronado coach Hal Niedermeyer had announced a Metro schedule of one round of nine games on December 10.

But on Jan. 12, when play got under way, the circuit had a new name, a positive acknowledgement of Uncle Sam’s rallying cry for Victory in Europe and Japan.

The Metro, born in 1933 and inclusive of the city’s and suburbs’ smaller schools, would not return until after the 1945-46 academic year.

OFF ROAD?

Low fuel tanks and balding tires were by-products of the need for precious wartime materials.

Necessary gas rationing and travel restrictions were such that the league did not include all members who competed in the similar Metropolitan loop during football season.

Victory travel would be by streetcar or bus.

Suburban Sweetwater and rural Escondido and Oceanside were forced to bail.

Night games were at the option of host schools.

As they did in football for the 1942 season, local titans San Diego High and Hoover split their squads.  Four teams included the San Diego Blues and Whites and the Hoover Reds and Whites.

WE GOT GAME

Military personnel and defense workers needed outlets, free of the stressful demands of their jobs.

Dozens of basketball teams were formed.

Some were unique, such as the Spot Welders of the Solar Day Shift League.

There also were teams named the Balloon Battalion, B-24 Fuselage, Machine Shop, Tool Controls, Bombing 12, Naval Air Personnel, 10th Replacement Center, Armed Guard, and Submarine Repair.

Not to mention Naval Training Station Dental Clinic, Provisional Battalion, the Elliott Leathernecks, Point Loma Radio School, and the Solar Aircraft Dawn Patrol.

And more.

MY ALMA MATER

Several months after graduation at San Diego and before he entered the military, Ermer Robinson still had his game.

Robinson scored 17 points, including the winning free throw with 20 seconds remaining as the Alumni defeated the San Diego varsity, 30-29, in one of the few December games throughout the County.

Frank Pietila played for the Hilltoppers varsity while his brother Paul was on the Alumni B team that lost to the school B’s, 38-32.

SHRILL WHISTLES

Earl Keller of The Tribune-Sun pulled no punches.

“In a game that was all but ruined by over officiating on the part of Pete Burk and Don Clarkson, Herbert Hoover’s cagers scored a last-minute, 34-33 win in their city championship series opener over San Diego High before an overflow crowd in the Hiller gym,” wrote Keller.

Burk and Clarkson called 29 fouls “and had the players afraid to breathe,” noted the scribe, incidentally a San Diego High graduate.

Leo Tuck, who would be a midterm graduate the following week and later played at San Diego State, emerged from a crowd under the basket to score and give the Hoover varsity a 34-33 victory.

The combined teams would meet twice during the season and the rival split squads would meet four times.

San Diego won the second game between the combined teams, 35-25, and the varsity, Blues, and Whites were 5-1 against Hoover, counting all games.

A’s AND B’s

San Diego’s split squads won the Class A title with a  13-1 record, the Whites going 7-0 and the Blues 6-1, the only blemish a 33-32 loss to Point Loma.

Against all competition, San Diego was 17-6, including Blues and Whites combined teams.

One of the combined team losses was 42-32 to Camp Callan, a rugged Army anti-aircraft squad that scored more than 100 points against multiple service teams.

The Hoover Class B team, a power and school favorite for a decade, won that classification with a 12-2 record.  The Cardinals’ combined Reds and Whites were 10-4, and 11-4 against all competition.

KEEPING IT IN FAMILY

Johnny Correia of Point Loma scored a running set shot from near the half-court line in the final seconds of a 38-25 loss to Hoover to finish with 16 points and earn his second straight Victory scoring title.

Correia, who had 102 points in league play, was joined on the all-Victory League team by Hoover’s Don Nuttall, who had 101 points.

Other first-team choices were the Cardinals’ Don Smith and San Diego’s Sal Gumina and Jim Glasson, who also was all-Southern Section third team.

Correia’s  brother Frank made the Victory second team and cousin Ed was on the B first team.

KEEPING IT IN FAMILY II

San Diego High midterm graduate Frank Pietila was on the second all-Victory League team and played municipal and AAU basketball for years in San Diego.

Pietila’s son, Ron, played professional baseball after graduating from Sweetwater and became an honored coach in San Diego and throughout California, known as the “Godfather of Girls Soccer.”

Frank, who coached youth baseball and  scouted talent for major league baseball teams, also is the great grandfather of  Micah Pietila-Wiggs, who starred on Chula Vista’s 2013 Eastlake team that won the Little League World Championship.

WHAT’S YOUR TRADE?

San Diego Vocational, which opened in September, 1941, fielded a team and joined the Victory League when Sweetwater, Oceanside, and Escondido backed out.

Vocational competed in most sports except football  before being merged after the 1954-55 school year into technical and shop departments at San Diego High.

The school was aligned with San Diego JC before moving to a more permanent location at State and Market streets in downtown San Diego in 1948.

SET SHOTS

So he didn’t mistake one for the other, San Diego coach Merrill Douglas asked brothers Mitch and Ben Rosenthal to get different style haircuts…Vocational’s first victory was 58-45 over a team known as the “Mission Beach Champs” as Larry Hansen scored 22 points…Sweetwater developed an intra-school team competition in which every boy enrolled was invited…success of the Victory League in football and basketball encouraged participation in spring sports; principals met at Hoover on Feb. 16 and decided to go ahead with baseball and track, with a precautionary “Only necessary travel to games would be permitted,” said La Jolla principal Dr. Earl Andreen…after winning eight consecutive practice games, La Jolla flattened out to 9-7…former Escondido football coach Harry Wexler, who coached a military team in 1941-42, was Vocational’s coach…teams that did not have campus gymnasiums and played on outdoor courts, were able to access the San Diego gym when the Blues and Whites were playing elsewhere…Point Loma defeated Grossmont, 26-17, for its first victory over the Foothillers since 1938…the San Diego County Officials’ Association announced that any surplus money from the season would be turned over to war bonds….

The Helix boys and Serra girls are still in the hunt.

Both teams have reached the finals of the Southern California Regional playoffs, last step before the state championships March 24-25 at the Golden Center in Sacramento.

Helix (30-5), the No. 2 seed in Division IV, defeated Carson of the L.A. City Section, 56-53, for its 21st consecutive victory, 15^th in a row at home, and now will play its fourth straight game as host, Saturday night at 6.

The Highlanders will take on Reedley Immanuel (23-8), with the winner meeting the Northern California champion, either Salinas Palma or Vallejo St. Patrick-St. Vincent, which also play Saturday evening.

D-III six seed Serra (23-10) qualified to meet 1 seed Anaheim Rosary (28-5) after a 57-51 win over No. 2 Camarillo.

SIX ELIMINATED

St. Augustine strived mightily against the taller and favored hosts from Santa Ana Mater Dei, but the Saints were only 6 for 22 in three-point attempts and committed 22 turnovers in a 63-57 loss.

Taeshon Cherry scored 25 points and had 11 rebounds for the San Diego club and was the best player on the floor.

The Saints should be back knocking on the door again in 2017-18.

Fourteen D-III seed Orange Glen’s unexpected ride came to an end when the Patriots were outscored, 17-7, in overtime and dropped a 72-62 decision at No. 2-ranked Villa Park.

Mission Hills was a 66-57 loser at Long Beach Poly and The Bishop’s, after a 315-mile ride, over the Grapevine and up Highway 99, were run off the floor by Clovis West, 73-31, in Girls’ Open Division contests.

Rancho Bernardo was a 57-49 loser to Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos in D-IV, and Olympian was ousted, 70-53, by Riverside Notre Dame in D-V.

FINAL STATE SELECTIONS

With Cal-Hi Sports’ last rankings to be made after the state finals. San Diego’s representation could change.

St. Augustine had moved from seventh to fourth before the Mater Dei game and Torrey Pines was 15^th in boys’ play.

Mission Hills was fourth in the girls’ rankings and The Bishop’s had jumped from unranked to 12^th after upsetting Studio City Harvard-Westlake, 63-60, in the quarterfinals.

The  Southern California regional of the state playoffs reached the semifinal round after San Diego Section teams qualified eight of the 17 teams it sent to the weekend quarterfinals.

All local boys and girls teams except Helix will be on the road Tuesday night.  The Highlanders (29-5), seeded No. 2 in Boys’ Division IV, play host to 3 seed Carson (23-6)  of the Los Angeles City Section.

Beginning with Open Division  6 seed St. Augustine (28-4), a scrappy, 88-81 winner over nationally regarded and Southern California third-ranked Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, all section teams except Helix will be in against favored clubs.

The Saints will try for the third time at No. 2 Santa Ana Mater Dei (32-2), having lost to the Monarchs, 86-62, in the Diablo Inferno at Mission Viejo on Dec. 3 and 74-62 at the Nike Extravaganza Feb. 4 at Mater Dei.

If there is a potential Cinderella, the D-IV Orange Glen Patriots are the top candidate at this juncture.

The 14 seed from east Escondido visits No. 2 Villa Park.  The Patriots are the South’s lowest ranked squad still alive in  boys or girls.

The lowest overall  seed in the state still playing is Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, a No. 15 in the Northern California D-II regional. Eastlake, a 12 seed in D-V and not in the box below, visits No. 1 Riverside Notre Dame.

Helix, should it defeat Carson, would take on the winner of No. 1 Burbank (25-9)  and No. 5 Reedley Immanuel (22-8) on Saturday, March 18, at 6 p.m. If Burbank wins, the Bulldogs would host.  If Immanuel wins, Helix would host.

GIRLS SEMIFINALS LOADED

The Bishop’s (30-3), seeded fifth in the Open, will make the South regional’s longest trip, 368 miles, to face No. 1-ranked Clovis East (31-2).

Mission Hills (31-2), seeded  third in the Open, revisits 2 seed Long Beach Poly, which sent the Grizzlies home with a 58-41 loss in the first round of the 2015 regional.

The four Girls’ opponents are ranked 2, 1, 2, and 1.  One of those top-ranked squads is No. 2 Camarillo, which represents a 175-mile trip for No. 6 Serra.

BOYS

GIRLS

With Open Division play beginning with quarterfinals tonight, seventeen of 31 San Diego Section teams still are in the Southern California regionals of the state playoffs.

Boys teams won seven of Wednesday’s 13, opening-round games, were 6-1 in road games, and 3-3 at home.  

Four lower seeds, Vista, Orange Glen, Olympian, and Mission Hills won and three higher seeds, Foothills Christian, Mater Dei, and La Costa Canyon lost.

Girls teams won 6 of 14, opening-round games Wednesday, were 6-1 at home, and 0-7 on the road.   Favored Poway was beaten by Huntington Beach, 52-43, in the only upset.

Biggest surprises so far were No 11 seed Vista’s remarkable, double-overtime, 97-94 win at No. 6 Rancho Santa Margarita and, just a few miles South, No. 13 Orange Glen’s 66-65, overtime victory at No. 4 Capistrano Valley.

Going into tonight’s four Open Division contests, San Diego Section clubs are 13-14 overall, 9-4 at home, and 6-8 on the road.

San Diego teams will be visitors in 11 of the 16 quarterfinals games.

BOYS FRIDAY, MARCH 10

BOYS  SATURDAY, MARCH 11

GIRLS FRIDAY, MARCH 10

GIRLS SATURDAY, MARCH 11

Thirty-one teams from the San Diego Section begin play Wednesday and Friday nights in the Southern California regional  playoffs.

Regional winners will qualify for the state championships against Northern California winners.

The CIF state committee which created the seedings and brackets based on the power ratings model didn’t think highly of the San Diego Section’s 15 boys’ teams chances or those of the 16 girls’ squads.

Helix, seeded 2 in Boys’ D-IV, is the highest ranked boys club.  Brawley, a 4 seed in D-V, is the only other male team with a seeding higher than 6.

Helix (28-5) gets a Wednesday night home game against No. 15 Granada Hills (14-16), better known as the alma mater of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway.

Brawley, Foothills Christian, Mater Dei, and Santa Fe Christian are the only others with home games.

St. Augustine and Torrey Pines, San Diego Section Open Division finalists, were placed in the eight-team regional Open, which begins play Friday night.

Helix, on an 18-game winning streak and having played a decidedly easier, mostly local schedule, was given a lower division slot and a presumed stronger prospect of advancing to the to the state final.

St. Augustine and Torrey Pines played stronger intersectional schedules and were “rewarded” with first-round road games against loaded, nationally ranked Southern Section teams Chatsworth Sierra Canyon  and Torrance Bishop Montgomery, respectively.

GIRLS FARE BETTER

Nine teams earned seeds that will give them home games, beginning Wednesday night.

Mission Hills (29-2) is No. 3 in the Open Division and plays host on Friday to a dangerous 6 seed, 28-2 Rancho Cucamonga Etiwanda.

Rancho Bernardo (4), The Bishop’s (5), Serra (6), Scripps Ranch (6), Mater Dei (7), and Escondido Adventist (7) all will act as hosts.

The biggest underdog of all 31 teams appears to be the Guajome Park Frogs, who have a 19-9 record but are seeded 16^th in boys’ D-V and will travel to No. 1 seed Riverside Notre Dame.

FINAL UNION-TRIBUNE TOP 10

1–St. Augustine, 2–Torrey Pines, 3–Foothills Christian, 4–Helix, 5–Vista, 6—Mater Dei, 7—Mission Hills, 8—Santa Fe Christian, 9—La Jolla Country Day, 10—Canyon Crest.

BOYS PAIRINGS

GIRLS PAIRINGS