St. Augustine saw an 18-point lead in the third quarter dwindle to 4 but finally put away La Verne Damien, 73-63, as a full house of about 800 persons nervously looked on at St. Augustine Saturday night.
Trey Kell had 22 points for the winners but it was six free throws in the final 38.7 seconds by sophomore Martin Tombe that got the Saints over the finish line against the resilient visitors, who were 13-1 coming in.
St. Augustine, which led 41-25 at halftime and 50-32 midway in the third quarter, improved to 13-2.
Damien formerly was Pomona Catholic and is the alma mater of baseball slugger Mark McGwire and former San Diego State quarterbacks Dennis Shaw and Dan McGwire.
2013-14: Saints Now 10-0 and on 24-0 Run
St. Augustine is 10-0 and has a 24-game winning streak after a 65-49 victory over the host team in the first annual Rancho Santa Margarita Tournament today, climaxing a 4-game run through the Orange County event.
The Saints beat Trabuco Hills, 62-61, Seattle Prep, 79-60, and Alta of Sandy, Utah, 63-56, in earlier games. Santa Margarita was 7-0 before taking on coach Mike Haupt’s North Park sharpshooters.
Trey Kell led the top-ranked San Diego Section team with 26 points. Eric Monroe and Danny Caya had 11 each and Martin Tombe 10.
The Saints, ninth in California and 30th in the country in Max Preps‘ ratings, now gear up for the Under Armour post-Christmas tournament and draw scoreboard blinking Chino Hills in their opening game at 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 26 in the Torrey Pines gym.
Chino Hills is 7-2 and averaging 79 points a game.
The Huskies most recently dropped a 65-63 decision to Etiwanda, ranked fourth in California and 10th in the country by Max Preps. Chino Hills also holds a 121-102 decision over tough Rancho Cucamonga. Both games were in the Inland Empire Classic at Ontario Colony.
St. Augustine has not lost since dropping a 62-59 decision to Cathedral on Jan. 24, 2012. The Saints won their last 14 in a run that took them to the State III championship and a final record of 29-4 in 2012-13.
2013-14: Saints Switch Places With Mavericks
The season’s first showdown came in the Horsman Invitational at West Hills and the tournament championship and this week’s No. 1 ranking went to St. Augustine.
Trey Kell fired from three-point range and, driving to the hoop, twisted around Torrey Pines defenders to score 28 points and lead the Saints to a 60-55 victory in a matchup of unbeaten teams.
Torrey Pines went to the foul line 17 times in the first three quarters. St. Augustine did not make its first visit until early in the fourth quarter. The Saints led throughout and had opened a 42-33, third-quarter advantage.
La Costa Canyon, the preseason number one, dropped a 61-59 decision to Hoover, then rebounded with a 74-50 win over the Cardinals.
Mater Dei was off to a fast start, then fell to Capistrano JSerra, 63-48, and West Hills Chaminade, 55-47, in the Catholic Cup Challenge in Phoenix. The Crusaders defeated St. Mary’s of Phoenix, 74-60, in the same event.
#
Team (1st place votes)
W-L*
Points**
Last Week
1
St. Augustine (11)
6-0
128
2
2
La Costa Canyon (2)
5-1
117
1
3
Hoover
5-2
90
3
3
Torrey Pines
5-1
90
5
5
San Marcos
5-1
56
8
6
Mater Dei Catholic
6-2
51
9
7
El Camino (2)
4-2
46
4
8
Foothills Christian
2-1
41
41
9
Francis Parker
4-1
31
7
10
Poway
3-2
30
NR
* Last year
**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
NR Not previously ranked.
Others receiving votes: Lincoln, 15; Escondido, 6; Valhalla, Cathedral, 5 each; Mission Hills, El Cajon Valley, 1 each.
Thirteen sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego);
Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego correspondent);
Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com);
Andrew Smith (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera and Jack Cronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
and Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).
2013-14: La Costa Canyon Opens on Top
The discussion already is in full swing. Who’s No. 1?
The U-T San Diego preseason basketball poll has La Costa Canyon No. 1 and St. Augustine No. 2.
North County bias by a majority of the voters aside, I’ll take the Saints. Call me South-of-Highway-56-biased, at least for this vote.
Saints Coach Mike Haupt, 330-173 in 18 seasons, guides the state’s defending Division III champions, 29-4 in 2012-13 and returning, among others, four-star San Diego State commit Trey Kell.
La Costa Canyon, 28-6 last season, was eliminated by Westlake, 66-64, in the Southern California playoff quarterfinals in D-II.
The Mavericks opened with a 56-46 victory over Poway earlier this week. St. Augustine has beaten Serra, 70-47, and Santa Fe Christian, 80-38.
A top 10 adjustment should already be in the works. El Camino, No. 4, was edged by No. 6 Foothills Christian, 74-71, and unranked Poway topped Foothills, 72-70.
In other action:
No. 9 Mater Dei has been the busiest with wins over Chula Vista, 78-55; Rancho Buena Vista, 83-43; Castle Park, 66-33; Patrick Henry, 63-40, and Grossmont, 55-49.
No. 8 San Marcos eased up in the second half but still rolled over Castle Park, 102-18. Cathedral, No. 10, defeated Patrick Henry, 69-48.
Hoover, No. 3, topped Vista, also No. 10, 61-55.
#
Team (1st place votes)
W-L*
Points**
Previous*
1
La Costa Canyon (6)
28-6
111
6
2
St. Augustine (4)
29-4
94
1
3
Hoover
31-6
88
3
4
El Camino (2)
26-7
87
7
5
Torrey Pines
20-10
67
NR
6
Foothills Christian
20-15
50
NR
7
Francis Parker
16-12
46
NR
8
San Marcos
27-6
43
NR
9
Mater Dei Catholic
26-7
32
8
10t
Cathedral Catholic
29-5
38
5
10t
Vista
15-13
38
NR
*Last year
**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
NR Not previously ranked.
Twelve sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego);
Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego stringer);
Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera and Jack ronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section office);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Jodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
and Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).
2013: Is Eastlake Underrated?
Cal-Hi Sports honcho Mark Tennis continues to build a case for Eastlake as the San Diego Section’s No. 1 team, although the 31 members of the U-T San Diego voting panel have re-installed Oceanside as No. 1, followed by Mission Hills.
Eastlake is third.
Answers should be forthcoming in the Open Division playoffs, which begin tonight. Eastlake and Oceanside could meet in next week’s semifinals.
Eastlake is ranked 12th in Cal-Hi Sports’ latest poll, followed by Mission Hills, which rose from 20th to 14th, and Oceanside, back in the poll at 25th.
“Bubble” teams included Helix and Madison. Cathedral did not get a call, its loss to St. Augustine three weeks ago a collective kick in the pelvic region.
“Based on our assessment of their record and the who beat who, a young Eastlake is our top dog until someone from the CIFSDS beats them,” wrote Tennis.
Tennis then made a more interesting observation. “If the boys from Chula Vista were the top seed in the San Diego Union-Tribune (sic) poll, they would most likely be a Top 10 team (in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings).
Eastlake’s only loss in a 9-1 season was to Chandler Hamilton 28-17, in the season’s opening game. Hamilton is a Top 10 team in Arizona.
THE BOWLS
Eastlake is sixth in the newsletter’s South Division I ratings for State Bowl consideration. Madison is fifth and St. Augustine seventh in D-II. Francis Parker and Christian are 1-2 in D-IV.
HOOPS
Cal-Hi Sports is not particularly impressed with San Diego Section basketball teams. Not one was in its preseason Top 10. La Costa Canyon is 22nd, El Camino (with standout guard Jason Watson transferring from Army-Navy) 26th, and St. Augustine 35th.
Foothills Christian and Hoover are on the bubble.
2013: Don Hegerle, 82, Player and Coach
Don Hegerle, a leader and playmaker for 1950s San Diego State basketball teams and who later coached at Escondido High, passed away on Sept. 9.
Hegerle, 82, was a fast, slashing guard who fearlessly drove to the basket and fired jump shots for one of the best teams in Aztecs history.
Hegerle is second player to right of coach George (Ziggy) Ziegenfuss. Clockwise from left other 1955-56 players are Rich Gehring, Al Nordquist, Tony Pinkins, Danny Newport, Jim Sams, Bob Adams, Archie Rambeau, John Hannon, Ray Woodmansee, and Noel Mickelson, in front of Hegerle.
He was a vital player on the 1955-56 Aztec team that overcame three straight losses at the start of the season and went on to post a 23-6 record.
Hegerle averaged 10.9 points and scored 315 points, third highest on the team, which was paced by Tony Pinkins (18.1) and Danny Newport (14.7).
The Aztecs earned a berth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament in Kansas City by defeating Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, 93-69, Pasadena Nazarene, 78-62, and Humboldt State, 91-63.
After enduring a 30-hour trip to the Midwest by rail, the Aztecs’ opening contest following a first-day bye had a 10:30 a.m. tipoff. They defeated Alderson-Broaddus of Philipi, W.Va, 77-64.
San Diego State’s season came to an end in another contest that began the next morning. The Aztecs were eliminated by Gustavus-Adolphus of St. Peter, Minnesota, 69-60.
Hegerle, who played high school football, basketball, and baseball at Point Loma, was head coach at Escondido for five seasons before going into administration.
The 1957-58 team, paced by brothers Toby and Steve Thurlow and Jim Gabbard, posted a 20-11 season and tied for the Avocado League championship.
Hegerle’s overall record with the Cougars was 73-50.
A lifelong basketball fan, Hegerle’s favorite team became the University of San Diego Toreros. His son-in-law is Ky Snyder, athletics director at USD. Snyder’s wife, Sue, was a standout in track and field at San Pasqual and later the women’s volleyball coach at USD.
