We’re going to hold off on publishing the weekly Union-Tribune basketball poll, because games Monday night would dramatically alter the Top 10, the deadline of which for voters is 10 a.m. on Monday.

The poll’s timeliness often is in question at this time of year, because clubs are involved in the annual series of one-night stands and specially promoted events on various dates before league play permanently locks in.

Torrey Pines hosted a Martin Luther King doubleheader  and the No. 3-ranked Falcons defeated La Costa Canyon, tied for No. 1 with Foothills Christian, 68-42.  Francis Parker, No. 10, topped St. Augustine, No. 7, 65-55, on the undercard.

Most impressive, at first glance, was Morse’s 96-88, double-overtime victory over Riverside John North in the MLK Classic at La Salle High in Pasadena.

Justin Davis had 42 points and 13 rebounds and 6-foot, 11-inch sophomore Brandon Davis added 27 points for the 16-5 Tigers, who dealt the North Huskies their first loss in a 16-1 season.

Two of North’s starters did not play, according to Cal-Hi Sports.

FOOTHILLS UP AND DOWN

Enigmatic Foothills Christian, ranked 17th in the state, continued to roll with 6-foot, 11-inch T.J. Leaf, in and out of the lineup since an ankle injury in the Under Armour event at Torrey Pines in December.

The Knights were stunned, 48-41, by unranked The Bishop’s but defeated La Jolla Country Day, 76-52, in Coastal League contests which Leaf sat out.

Foothills took a 45-36 lead over state No. 6 Redondo Beach Redondo Union but were outscored, 22-12, in the final  quarter and beaten, 58-57,  by the 14-4 Seahawks in a MLK event at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Leaf, who has missed seven games, scored 21 points and had 16 rebounds against Redondo.

NEAR THE PARK 

Balboa City is a prep school located on the former Hawthorne Elementary campus at Second Avenue and Hawthorne Street.

The team plays  other prep squads and high school opponents and is coached by school principal Zack Jones, the formerly successful mentor at Horizon.

Jones is assisted by Ollie Goulston, who built a powerful program and won more than  250 games at Hoover before being pushed out by a principal who soon moved to La Jolla High.

(The principal has since incurred the disfavor of a group of  Vikings football alums who say they are at odds with the administrator on where a plaque could be placed honoring the late Vikings coach and beloved figure Walt Harvey).

Balboa City has a 7-6 record and dropped its most recent game, 65-40, to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, in the Flyin’ To The Hoop Tournament in Kettering, Ohio.  St. Vincent-St. Mary is the alma mater of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Lebron James.

The order of  the Union-Tribune Top 10 was unchanged after the fourth vote of the season, but there will be changes next week.

No. 1 Foothills Christian was beaten, 48-42, by The Bishop’s at Cuyamaca College last night in what is evolving into a tough Coastal Division race.

Foothills’ 6-foot, 11-inch T.J. Leaf did not play as the Patriots fell to 10-7, while The Bishop’s improved to 10-4.

UT-San Diego poll #4:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes: Kearny, (11-6) and Grossmont (11-2), 8 each; Escondido (7-5), 5; Vista,  (13-4), 3; Steele Canyon (12-4), 1.

Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).

Foothills Christian is No. 1 in the UT-San Diego poll, but the Knights  got there wondering what if.

Foothills is 8-6 and has a “woulda-coulda” lament.

The Knights forfeited two early, blowout victories because of the ubiquitous and Dreaded Administrative Glitch involving player eligibility and they’ve dropped two of their last three following the loss of their star.

Coach Troy Leaf’s team has not been the same since Leaf’s 6-foot, 10-inch son, T.J., went down with a sprained ankle with two minutes remaining in the first round of the Under-Armour tournament at Torrey Pines.

Leaf had scored 22 points with 13 rebounds, and seven assists in the 67-49 victory over Los Angeles Westchester, then was unavailable as the Knights were mauled by Corona Centennial, 73-51, and Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson, 77-47.

With Leaf still out, Foothills then scored an unexpected, 49-47 win over La Costa Canyon.

But the  10-4 and second-ranked Mavericks had some injury problems of their own.  They played  without 6-8 Travis Fuller, who is averaging 17 points.

Foothills Christian’s other losses were 84-75 to state ninth-ranked Chino Hills and 66-59 to state third-ranked Long Beach Poly.

The El Cajon school will take another shot at a California powerhouse when it meets No. 5 Redondo Beach Redondo Union Jan. 17 at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

The Knights open Coastal League play this evening at home against 9-5 Santa Fe Christian. Leaf, averaging 28 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, will be welcomed back.

La Costa Canyon has a nonleague game Wednesday night versus Escondido, 7-5.

Late December tournaments and intersectional games shook up the Top 10.  Five teams changed positions since the last vote.

UT-San Diego poll #3:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes: Kearny, 9 (9-5); Grossmont  (11-2), Escondido (7-5), Cathedral (7-5), 3 each; Vista, 2 (11-4); Mission Hills, 1 (8-4).

Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).

Foothills Christian is second in UT-San Diego‘s basketball poll, but the Knights are 18th in the Cal-Hi Sports state vote, ahead of San Diego Section rankings leader La Costa Canyon.

La Costa received all 11 first-place votes in the local balloting, but the Mavericks  received on-the-bubble status and are out of the top 20 in the state-wide publication’s weekly ratings.

The UT-San Diego poll  is inclusive of games through last Saturday.

Action has been hot and heavy for the  first three weeks of the season and local clubs have been active in tournaments here, out of the area, and out of state.

All attention shifts  this week to the Under-Armour tournament at Torrey Pines and other North County venues.  The four-day event brings together outstanding teams from throughout the U.S.

Foothills (6-4) tips at 7 p.m. on Friday at Torrey Pines against Los Angeles Westchester (6-4), for decades a state and national leader.  La Costa Canyon (9-1) will be on its home court at 7 Friday against Santa Monica (3-5).

Coach Brad Leaf’s Foothills Knights are 8-2 competitively but 6-4 legislatively. The ubiquitous and Dreaded Administrative Glitch resulted in forfeiture of a 89-59 win over San Ysidro and 83-33 rout of Rancho Buena Vista. Player eligibility, as usual, was the problem.

The Knights’ two losses on the court were 66-59 to Long Beach Poly (Cal-Hi Sports’ 6) and 84-73 to Chino Hills (16).  They also own victories over Constitution of Philadelphia, 88-60, and 71-66 over Lone Peak of  Montana.

UT-San Diego poll #2:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Grossmont, 15; Mater Dei, 11; Cathedral, Poway, 10 each; Army-Navy, Steele Canyon, 7 each; Mission Baay, 54; Sweetwater, 3; Eastlake, 2.

Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).

La Costa Canyon, which began and ended the 2013-14 campaign as the No. 1 team in the San Diego Section weekly poll (it fell to fifth during the season)  is again at the top of the UT-San Diego inaugural basketball voting.

The Mavericks returned four starters (another reportedly tranferred to a prep school in New Hampshire) from last season’s 27-5 squad.

La Costa has a game against Las Flores Tesoro on Saturday after posting a 3-1 record in the Mission Viejo Diablo Inferno Tournament.

La Costa dropped a 62-47 decision to La Mirada and topped La Habra Sonora, 70-68, Anaheim Canyon, 69-54, and Anaheim Esperanza, 73-56.

Second-ranked Football Hills Christian, already 4-0 with a game against San Ysidro tonight, features 6-foot, 9-inch T.J. Leaf, who averaged 25.6 points and 12.6 rebounds as a sophomore.

A state Division IV favorite, Foothill will find out a lot about itself against Chino Hills Dec. 17 in the Tarkanian Vegas Classic and when the Knights meet Los Angeles Westchester in the first round of the post-Christmas Torrey Pines tournament.

St. Augustine, which lost to La Costa, 62-60, in the Open Division finals after topping the Mavericks, 77-74, in the regular season last year, is without Trey Kell for the first time in four seasons, but is 3-0, with wins over Box Hill of Australia, 65-46, 61-55 over Cathedral, and 84-52 over Rancho Bernardo.

Week 1 poll with last year’s records  and final ranking:

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. NR–Not ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Grossmont, 15; Mater Dei, 11; Cathedral, Poway, 10 each; Army-Navy, Steele Canyon, 7 each; Mission Baay, 54; Sweetwater, 3; Eastlake, 2.

Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).

Noel Mickelsen, Charlie Paulk, and Richard Verlasky recently passed.

Mickelsen, 80, had a lengthy coaching career in San Diego’s East County after posting a 71-62 record in nine seasons of professional baseball, including three years in  the AAA Pacific Coast League.

The 6-foot, 6-inch Mickelsen was a star player on the 1955-56 San Diego State basketball team that posted a 23-6 record and gained the second round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament in Kansas City.

The Aztecs were beaten, 69-60, by Gustavus Adolphus of Minnesota.  Mickelsen still ranks No. 10 among the Aztecs’ all-time leading rebounders.

HORNETS WON STATE TITLE

Paulk, 68, became coach at Lincoln before the 1994-95 season and led the Hornets to a 25-7 record and the state IV championship, the first for San Diego Section team.

Led by future NBA player Mark Sanford, the Hornets closed fast and won four state tournament games,  105-51 over Easton Washington, 83-51 over Oxnard Santa Clara, 94-93 over Los Angeles Verbum Dei, and 63-50 over San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake.

A 6-8 forward from Northeastern State in Louisiana, Paulk played three seasons in the NBA. He was the Milwaukee Bucks’ first selection and the seventh pick in the first round of the 1968-69 draft.

SAINTS STANDOUT

Verlasky, 70, was a San Diego attorney who starred at St. Augustine and played for legendary coach Phil Woolpert at the University of San Diego and with future NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

Verlasky averaged 12 points  and was one of the Eastern League’s leading scorers in the Saints’ 13-7 season in 1961-62.

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