Fledgling Lincoln High began to create its great athletic legacy after Luther Hayes, a vital member of San Diego high’s 1955 Southern California championship team, transferred to the young school at 49^th Street and Imperial Avenue.

Hayes, 78, who passed on Thanksgiving Day, surrounded by his wife, Anita, and family at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, starred in football, basketball and track and field at Lincoln, was a standout in football and track at USC, and played on the first Chargers team in San Diego in 1961.

Hayes, who was born in Houston and came to San Diego at age 5, was a starting end as a sophomore on Lincoln’s first varsity team in 1954.

Hayes transferred to San Diego after the football season and competed in track and field for the Cavers, finishing fifth in the Southern California broad jump competition in Ontario, at 22 feet, 1 inch.

Hayes was an offensive and defensive end on the 1955 San Diego team that posted an 11-0-1 record and was declared the national champion by a New York publication.

A dramatic play in the Cavers’ march to the title that season came in a game that Anaheim tied, 20-20, late in a semifinals struggle at Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium.

The 6-foot, 4-inch, 190-pound Hayes had gotten his hand up and deflected an attempted point after following Anaheim’s first touchdown in the fourth quarter.  If successful, the Colonists would have won the game, 21-20.

Hayes’ family (and that of San Diego teammate David Grayson) moved during the ’55-56 school year, back into the Lincoln district.

Luther helped Lincoln post a 20-4 record in basketball and he won the first of two Southern California broad jump championships, overcoming a markedly short runway at Inglewood with a 22-foot, 9 ¾-inch, effort.  He had set the City Prep League meet record of 23-9 ½ three weeks before.

Hayes was all-City as a fullback on the ’56 Lincoln team, its leading scorer in basketball and, defeated favored Preston Griffin with a 23-11 broad jump in the track finals at Ontario Chaffey.

Hayes finished fourth with a jump of 24 feet, 1/8 inch in the state meet at Chico in 1956 and won the event the following year at 23-8 ½ at Edwards Field in Berkeley.

The first athlete from Lincoln to be recruited by USC, Luther earned two varsity letters before an injury slowed his senior season, but he etched his name in Trojans’ lore in 1958 when he returned a kickoff 74 yards for a game-tying touchdown as underdog USC battled UCLA to a 15-15 standoff.

Hayes won the national collegiate championship in the hop, step, and jump in 1960 and ’61, and set a NCAA meet record of 51-2 ¼.  He still ranks among all-time USC leaders with a 25-6 ¼ broad jump and 51-9 ½ in the event that became known as the triple jump.

Drafted by the NFL Philadelphia Eagles and the San Diego Chargers of the AFL, Hayes opted to sign with the hometown team and played one season, catching 14 passes for a 20-yard average and three touchdowns.

Luther went on the coach and educate in Los Angeles in a career that lasted 40 years.

He is remembered as an athlete that  came up big in the big games and meets and as the gentleman Lincoln student who always had time for anyone, no matter their status on campus.

Here they are, our predictions for the five San Diego Section semifinals and one final this week. I pretty much went with the seeds, although there are a few strays from chalk.  I’m not Colin Cowherd or the late “Jimmy the Greek,” so take these picks for what they’re worth.

OPEN DIVISION

3 SAN MARCOS (9-2) @2 HELIX (10-1).

Helix dropped a 23-6 decision to Lancaster Paraclete in what was considered a moderate upset in the opening game. The Paraclete Spirits still are winning, 11-1 with only a 30-21 loss to well-regarded Westlake Village Oaks Christian.   Since that game in September the Highlanders have run off 10 straight victories, including their annual beat down of big brother Grossmont, 57-3, one month ago.

San Marcos, laboring in the  shadow of the neighboring and more renown Mission Hills, is 9-2 and sent St. Augustine packing last week, 41-21.  The Knights are the No. 2 team in the muscular Avocado League, despite a 38-21 loss to Torrey Pines and 49-27 loss to Mission Hills.

The Pick:  Helix.

5 TORREY PINES (7-4) @1 MISSION HILLS (11-0).

Mission Hills, 52-42 over Grossmont in the quarterfinals, has been here before and is the elephant among the Avocados, taking charge since Oceanside’s John Carroll retired and rode off with his 248 career victories.  Mission Hills’ Chris Hauser is moving up the list with 153 wins. Quarterback Jack Tuttle, wideout Chris Olave, and the rest of the Grizzlies’ crew will have the home crowd behind them.

Torrey Pines, despite four losses and a 7-4 resume, emerged as one of the best teams in the San Diego Section beginning in Week 5.  The Falcons were 5-2 down the stretch, losing to No. 1 Mission Hills, 24-23, and to La Costa Canyon, 27-21.

The loss to the Grizzlies was not surprising, but Torrey’s rematch seven days later with La Costa Canyon got people’s attention. The Falcons, pounding it with a flock of runners in the Wing T tradition of Ed Burke and used today by Coach Ron Gladnick, kayoed the Mavericks, 40-0, in a stunning 46-point swing.

The Pick: Torrey Pines.

DIVISION I

5 Oceanside (6-6) @1 El Camino (6-5).

2 Carlsbad (6-5) @3 Eastlake (9-2)

The Picks:  El Camino & Eastlake.

DIVISION II

7 Steele Canyon (8-4) @6 Granite Hills (10-2).

4 Otay Ranch (8-3) @1 Ramona (11-0).

The Picks: Steele Canyon & Ramona.

DIVISION III

4 Hilltop (7-4) @1 El Centro Southwest (11-0).

3 San Pasqual (7-4) vs. 2 Santa Fe Christian (7-4) @Torrey Pines.

The Picks: Hilltop & Santa Fe Christian.

DIVISION IV

3 El Centro Central (10-1) @2 San Diego (11-0).

4 Monte Vista (6-5) @ 1 University City (10-1).

The Picks: San Diego & University City.

DIVISION V

2 Crawford (8-4) vs. 1 Calexico Vincent Memorial (10-2) @Southwestern College.

The Pick: Calexico Vincent Memorial.

SCHEDULE STRENGTHS

Except for Division II, the new ratings system is working, but the real test comes in the next two weeks.

Three of the five top seeds still are in the hunt in the Open and Division I, respectively. The top 4 in III and IV are active and the top two will meet in the D-V championship.  Numbers 2 and 3 went down in D-II

The Bishop’s, No. 2 in D-II and a state finalist in 2016, lost a 61-52 shootout to 7 seed Steele Canyon and 6 seed Granite Hills topped No. 3 Valley Center, 49-30.

Two fifth seeds, Torrey Pines in the Open and Oceanside in D-I, will continue making their cases.

QUICK KICKS

El Centro Central has not scored on San Diego High in 100 years…not that the Spartans have had many opportunities…San Diego won at Central, 20-0, in 1987 and blanked the visitors from Imperial Valley, 28-0, in 1917 in the teams’ only meetings…San Marcos’ win over St. Augustine last week was the Knights’ fifth against no defeats versus the Saints…the teams had last met in 1984…Mission Hills remained 11^th in Cal-Hi Sports’ top 50, Helix dropped from 25th to 26^th, Ramona rose from 44^th to 42^nd, and Torrey Pines joined at 50^th…San Marcos is on the bubble.

CIF boss Jerry Schniepp had a thoughtful response recently to criticism of the San Diego Section playoff formula by writer John Maffei, but even if Schniepp’s assertion that the system implemented this year is the best of several that have been tried, teams like Bonita Vista. 0-11 and counting, continue to get postseason invitations.

Bonita Vista apparently had a stronger “strength of schedule” than 6-4 Brawley or 5-5 Morse, but the Barons were only the most recent example of the “participation trophy” mentality that has been evolving since the CIF first admitted a losing team, coincidentally Bonita Vista, in 1984.

The CIF seemed to even go out of its way to include 0-10 San Marcos in 2006.

Steve Brand, then of The San Diego Union, wrote of the Knights’ inclusion that year:

“Mission Hills dumped San Marcos, 42-0 (in the regular-season-ending game) but the Knights received an unexpected bonus.   They were given a playoff berth.

“Madison and Crawford were out of the postseason because of (combined 11) forfeits, but instead of constructing an eight-team playoff bracket in Division IV, the committee of former coaches, overseen by (commissioner) Dennis Ackerman, opted for a 10-team bracket.”

Of the 11 eligible IV possibilities in 2006, San Marcos was picked over another winless club, Kearny.

“0-10 is 0-10,” Knights coach Desi Herrera admitted to Brand, “but the beauty is we’re starting 0-0 and the playoffs are where we aspire to be.  I want the players to get used to going to the playoffs every year.”

San Marcos was game but bowed in the first round to Coronado, 27-21. Bonita Vista exited last week after a 35-19 loss to Oceanside.

SOLUTIONS, ANYONE?

If not fewer divisions, smaller brackets would make for a more competitive postseason.

That won’t happen. The more the merrier is the financially-enhancing go-to philosophy throughout the state CIF’s 10 sections.

There will be more blowouts this week as the surviving 44 teams from the original 64 reach the quarterfinals in Open, I, II, II, and IV.  D-V teams are in the semifinals. Games should tighten up the following week.

RECORD SETTER

The echoes of Rancho Buena Vista’s thundering herd of the late 1980s were loud and clear on Longhorn Drive last week.  Running back Dorian Richardson brought back memories of Markeith Ross, Scott Garcia, and O.J. Hall, who ran and ran and ran in that era for the Rancho squads of Coach Craig Bell.

Richardson scored 8 touchdowns and rushed for 499 yards in 37 carries in the Longhorns’ 62-43, first-round win over Santana.

The yardage total bettered the section record of 436 by Mt. Carmel’s Ken James in 2009.

Richardson’s record touchdown total would have led the County for the whole season in 1943 and  been runner-up in in 1937 and ’40.

Hoover’s Eddie Crain and San Diego’s Tom Poole each scored 25 points in the abbreviated, wartime, six-game season of 1943. Point Loma’s Paul (Red) Isom had 54 points in 8 games in 1937 and Sweetwater’s Marcus Alonzo had 54 in 8 games in 1940.

Frank Green of Coronado scored 11 touchdowns in one game and a ttoal of 80 points in  a 108-0 win over Sweetwater in 1929

CALVIN CONKED

Julian upset undefeated and favored Calvin Christian, 26-21, in the D-VI eight-man finals at Ramona.

Eagles quarterback Ozzie Martinez scored 20 seconds into the game when he faked a pass and hustled 65 yards for a touchdown.

Julian’s Roman Sanders halted a Crusaders drive with less than a minute to play when he returned an intercepted pass 28 yards, allowing the Eagles to take possession and do  akneel-down.

QUICK KICKS

Despite having a bye, Mission Hills profited from some playoff losses of teams ahead of the Grizzlies, who advanced from 16^th to 11th in Cal-Hi Sports’ Top 50…Helix gave ground, dropping to 25th from 24^th despite a bye, and Ramona moved from 48^th to 44th…The Bishop’s and San Marcos are on the bubble.

A doffing of the fedora to the 16, playoff-bound teams that won league championships:

*Tied for Eastern League championship, 1974.

+Tied for Eastern League championship, 1994.

#Won championship as member of Desert League; tied for Manzanita championship, 2016.

^First championship since school opened in 2004.

^^Tied for Mesa League championship, 1986.

**Tied for championship as member of Ocean League, 2014.

++Won championship as member of Eastern League.

Not included:  Eight-man and Independent squads.

POSTSEASON PEEVISHNESS

Playoff selections have stirred emotions for as long as most people can remember.

In a simpler time, league champions and, sometimes, second-place teams were included.

Then the playoffs began to expand and expand and expand…and expand.

Coaches were drafted to make selections. Complaints of bias and oversight were as common as if the media or school bosses were making the choices.

Then a few years ago came the ratings system, which took into account team performances over a multi-year period.

The ratings are out, replaced this season by a combination of  formulas developed  by Max Preps and Cal Preps.com, two nationally recognized sites recommended by coaches.

Sixty-four of the San Diego Section’s 80-odd teams playing 11-man football have postseason dates on their calendars.

It was inevitable that stinko teams would be included, winless Bonita Vista (0-10), among several others.

“There is no perfect formula to determine the seeds, but I think this is very close to right,” said CIF honcho Jerry Schniepp to writer John Maffei.

Tell that to Brawley (6-4) and Morse (5-5), two schools that were left out, despite long playoff traditions and  success, apparently because they had insufficient strengths of schedules.

MEYER PULLED NO PUNCHES

I like what legendary Herb Meyer said about the playoffs to writer Steve Brand in 1998, after Meyer declined a playoff invitation for his sub-.500 El Camino team:

“If you’re upright and can take a breath you’re in the playoffs these days.  It’s a joke. The playoffs should be a reward for having a good season and I certainly don’t consider 3-6-1 a good season.”

IRONIC

It was such when Valley Center defeated Monte Vista, 51-10, in the regular-season ending game.

The victory was the 214th in Jaguar coach Rob Gilster’s career.  He’s now tied with, you guessed it, Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto for seventh place on the all-time list.

TURNAROUNDS

QUICK KICKS

The Bishop’s Mozes Mooney has 65 career touchdown receptions, one less than the state record, set in 2000 by Earvin Johnson of L.A. Cathedral and tied last week by Murrieta Valley’s Marquise Spiker…Mooney and Spiker both will  have opportunities for more in the playoffs…Mission Hills moved from 16th to 11th in Cal-Hi Sports’ weekly top 50…Helix climbed to 24th from 29th and Ramona from 50th to 48th…San Marcos is on the bubble,., Mission Hills, on top since Week 3,  finished the regular season No. 1 locally, with voting suspended from now until the end of the postseason….

The Union-Tribune Week 11 poll:

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

*Forfeit loss.

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Valley Center (9-1, 18 points),  Eastlake (8-2, 12) El Centro Southwest (10-0, 10), San Diego (10-0, 4),  Otay Ranch (7-3, 2), Grossmont (7-3, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

What is it when Grossmont plays Helix?

The Highlanders exercised their annual domination over the Foothillers, 57-3, last week.

Grossmont had scored 157 points in its previous three games, wins of 51-14 over Steele Canyon, 54-26, over Valhalla, and 51-7 over El Capitan.

Those scores matched up well with Helix’ victories of 58-7 against El Capitan and 41-7 over Steele Canyon.

Grossmont hasn‘t beaten Helix since 1992, a span of 20 consecutive losses to its La Mesa neighbor.

What gives?

The Foothillers are not alone.

Helix is to its league opponents, Grossmont  in particular, what San Diego was to those on its schedule in the old City Prep League.

The Highlanders are 35-1 in circuit play since 2010 and 50-4 since 2006.  The Cavers were 52-3-1 versus City League and Eastern League competition from 1950-59.

SIX STILL UNDEFEATED

–Calvin Christian (9-0) can earn its second straight, eight-man, Ocean League title against Foothills Christian (6-2).

The Crusaders, located in Escondido with a student body of about 125, are 26-4 in the last three years under Coach Randy Kreglow, who was 16-23 in his first four seasons.

–El Centro Southwest, 31-13 since 2014 under John Mitosinka, is 9-0 for the first time and will seek its first Imperial Valley League title since 2010 against Calexico.

–Mission Hills (9-0), unquestionably the North County’s leader—111-35-2 since 2006 under Coach Chris Hauser, after Hauser guided the Grizzlies through 1-10 and 4-6 beginnings in 2004 and ’05—can earn a seventh league championship in Hauser’s 13 seasons.

Mission Hills, which survived a tense battle last week and nosed out Torrey Pines, 24-23 (the Falcons scored with 1:01 left but botched the snap on a two-point conversion attempt  and then almost recovered an onside kick), will meet tough San Marcos (8-1), a loser only to Torrey Pines, 38-21, for the Avocado League title and Highway 78 bragging rights.

–Coach Charles James’s San Diego 9-0 squad can claim its first outright league championship since 1960, after sharing the crown in 1964, ’69, and ’74, when the Cavers attempt to keep pace with the 1925, ’47, ’55, ’57, and ’58 teams, which also were 9-0  at this juncture.

–The Bishop’s (8-0), which topped Classical, 73-0, to claim its third 70-point explosion in the last two seasons (with 4 more of at least 60 since 2015) will try to improve on its 20-13, all-time series lead against La Jolla Country Day and knock down the Knights’ third Coastal League title in the last 4 seasons.

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

La Costa Canyon used an ineligible player and it cost the Mavericks a 50-13 win over Mt. Carmel in the second game of the season.  The Mavericks are 7-2 competitively but 6-3 legislatively.

QUICK KICKS

La Jolla (5-4) visits University City (8-1) for the City League championship and Julian and Salton City West Shores, each 5-2, roll in the Citrus League title decider…Mission Hills dropped to 16^th and Helix stayed at 29^th in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports state top 50…Ramona moved from No. 50 to 48 and San Marcos is on the bubble..Mission Hills has 23 No. 1 votes and Helix picked up 3 for a total of  5  in the Union-Tribune  Week 10 poll:

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

*Forfeit loss.

NR: Not Ranked.

Others receiving votes:  Lincoln (7-2, 22 points),  Valley Center (8-1, 12) El Centro Southwest (9-0, 8), Eastlake (7-2, 6) El Camino (5-4, 6),  San Diego (9-0, 1).

Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak,  1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.

Chula Vista’s basketball history was brief and uninspiring. Two seasons, 12 wins, 18 losses, seventh and fourth-place-tie finishes in the Metropolitan League.

No problem.  The Spartans emerged from the pack to win a Southern California championship this season.

It was a nice accomplishment for the fledgling South Bay power, but not without a few assists, beginning a year before.

CIF Commissioner Seth Van Patten asked for some membership feedback when Van Patten posted his CIF newsletter in March, 1949.

Van Patten wanted to add a playoff bracket for small schools.

Big schools had dominated the postseason.  A team generated from a student body of 2,000 often was matched against another with an enrollment of several hundred less.

Van Patten must have liked the responses, because a new bracket for the little guys was implemented this season.

SPARTANS LIKE FOREIGN HOME

Point Loma opened a beautiful, 1,800-seat gymnasium on campus. The facility included a balcony on one side, similar to the 1939 vintage layout at Hoover.

The Point Loma gym for years would serve as the site for Harlem Globetrotters games, NBA preseason games, home games for the Pointers…and for the Chula Vista Spartans.

Chula Vista, like most of the area’s teams, did not have a court.  The Spartans would not move into the Chula Vista Recreation Center until the mid-1950s and into their campus gym until a few years after that.

Major playoffs had been held at one site after the first round of games, lately at Redondo Beach Redondo Union.

With a new division, Van Patten looked for a suitable site for games beyond the opening round.  Made aware of the facility in San Diego, Van Patten contacted Darrell Smith, San Diego City Schools’ athletics coordinator.

An agreement was reached between the City Schools and CIF that put in place a bracket of six squads competing over two days at Point Loma.

The teams were Chula Vista, Claremont, Brawley, Beaumont, San Dieguito, and Garden Grove.

MEDIOCRE RECORD

What was fourth-place Chula Vista doing in the playoffs?

The Spartans, 9-9 overall,  posted a 4-3 league record and tied with Kearny in the Metro, behind triple co-champions La Jolla, Point Loma, and Sweetwater.

Given the Metropolitan circuit’s playoff history, it was not surprising that the three co-champions each declined an invitation to participate.

Metro football winners, dating to the league’s beginning in 1933, generally bypassed the postseason.  The latest example was the first-place, 7-1 La Jolla football team in 1948.

Metro basketball champs recently had been more agreeable to participating, so there were some raised eyebrows when the door was left open for Chula Vista, which was selected over Kearny.

ANOTHER ASSIST

The Spartans caught one more break.  They were seeded into the semifinals, meaning they did not have play twice on Friday, as did Claremont and Garden Grove.

Claremont defeated Beaumont, 47-37, and Garden Grove eliminated San Dieguito, 45-39, in the first round.

Chula Vista, defeated Brawley, 46-27, and Claremont knocked off Garden Grove, 38-33, in the last of four Friday games.

The Spartans, beginning a decade in which they were a class power in football, basketball, and baseball, winning or competing for several championships, topped Claremont, 39-26 in the finals.

MUSTANGS CORRALED

San Dieguito, a member of the Southern Prep League since the school opened in 1936, rolled with a 14-0 league record and was 24-4 overall but must have felt as if salt was being rubbed into  a wound.

The wound was a 45-39 loss to Garden Grove in the playoff opener.  The salt was the league realignment in San Diego that left the Mustangs in the Southern Prep, which the Encinitans felt they had outgrown.

Mustangs bosses and fans were upset they were not invited to the Metro, which was reconstructed after Kearny and La Jolla left to join the new City Prep League, which made its debut in the 1950-51 school year..

Led by 6-foot, 4-inch Graham Grande, the County’s  probable leading scorer with 423 points and 15.1 average, coach Jack Davidson’s club won league games by scores such as 83-22 (Mountain Empire) and 72-15 (Brown Military).

San Dieguito eventually would get its wish, joining the Metro in 1951 and then becoming part of the new Avocado League in 1954.

TOURNAMENT TRAIL

A record 24 teams, including 16 in the large, Unlimited Division and with St. Augustine an invitee for the first time, the third annual Kiwanis Tournament had a repeat winner as El Monte defeated Pasadena Muir, 44-29, in the finals.

Grossmont’s Phil Embleton tied Bill McColl’s record of 69 points in 4 games, a 17.3 average, but San Dieguito’s Graham Grande had 54 in 3 for 18.0.

San Diego defeated Hoover, 28-18, for fifth place in a disappointing performance by local teams and then surprised by winning the prestigious Western States Tournament at Compton.

The Cavers defeated Los Angeles Cathedral, 44-26, and Santa Monica St. Monica, 42-37, and reached the finals by dealing Ventura its second loss in 21 games, 45-38,  as Dean Davis scored 18 points and Roy Fields 17.

San Diego won the championship, 36-35, over L.A. Mt. Carmel and Davis was the tournament’s most-valuable player, joined by Fields on the all-tournament team. Hoover bowed in the consolation semifinals, 36-35, to Santa Barbara.

Chula Vista reached the consolation semifinals of the Chino Tournament before losing to Chino, 40-39.  The Spartans fell to San Bernardino, 37-23, in the opening game and beat Azusa Citrus, 38-29.

San Diego’s season ended with a 43-34 victory in the morning over Long Beach Jordan and an afternoon, 43-39 loss to Ventura in the Beverly Hills tournament.

INDOOR AND OUTDOOR CAVERS?

Host Pasadena Muir defeated San Diego, 42-26, in a Coast League opening weekend game. Not a shocking event, but the result as published had more questions than answers.

The San Diego Union account, probably telephoned in by San Diego coach Merrill Douglas or a student manager, described a  game that was played in an “open-sided gymnasium and it was rainy and frigid.”

A partially enclosed playing area, or was the game outdoors in inclement weather?  There was no follow story in local newspapers.

San Diego completed a 20-8 season with a 6-4 Coast League record and second place finish to Compton.  One of the victories was 32-31 at home against Muir in which the Cavers used a “wheel passing offense” while stalling the last three minutes.

Charlie Powell did not accompany the Cavers to the Western States event after missing practice during the Christmas Holidays and was not  part of the San Diego contingent that split a pair of weekend games in the Imperial Valley, beating Brawley, 39-30, and losing to Calexico, 32-26.

HYPERBOLE

“Escondido pulled off one of the most surprising upsets in the history of local prep basketball,” wrote Gardner Morse in The San Diego Union after the Cougars defeated La Jolla, 32-30.  Hardly. The Cougars were 3-4 in league play and La Jolla was 5-2, same as Coronado and Point Loma.

OOPS

Sweetwater’s Pat Tomlinson survived an embarrassing moment against Vista in the Kiwanis Tournament.  Tomlinson scored a wrong-goal basket for Vista, but the Red Devils  won, 29-27, in overtime.

ARRIVEDERCI, COAST LEAGUE

San Diego, Hoover, and Grossmont were saying good bye to the historically most prominent circuit in Southern California, joining the new City Prep League after an announcement in early February, 1950.

The Cavers had been Coast members since 1923, except for the 1942-45 period of World War II.  Hoover joined in 1937 and Grossmont in 1948.

SET SHOTS

Hoover defeated San Diego, 62-38, in a game between alumni of the schools, proceeds going to financial aid at San Diego State for Cardinals and Cavers varsity players…San Dieguito won by an average score of 61-29  in running the table against Southern Prep League competition…Bill Foy of Army-Navy set a SPL individual record with 28 points in the Warriors 58-40 win over Fallbrook…Jack Goddard had 27 in Vista’s 67-22 triumph over Mountain Empire…three-year veteran Bob (Bama) Shell of St. Augustine had the highest single game scoring total of the season with 31 in a 58-36 victory over Sweetwater at Municipal Gym…season totals weren’t available but Grossmont’s Phil Embleton led Coast League scorers with 150 points in 9 games for a 16.7 average…Coronado passed on the Kiwanis Tournament but was all over the map, schedule-wise, losing to the  “taller and older” U.S.S. Badoeng Strait, 50-36, defeating Naval Air, 53-50, and losing to a Tijuana high school on a court in the Baja California community…Bill Reaves, who would coach La Jolla to a 28-1 record in the 1963-64 season, was a starting guard for the Vikings…future international badminton star and NFL game official Jim Poole was a Point Loma standout….