If the La Jolla Vikings were riding high off their 73-52 takedown of the Crawford Colts last Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. La Jolla fell to University City 58-52. While losing is never fun, La Jolla can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 374th, while University City is ranked 177th).
Loss or not, La Jolla got some senior leadership from Elijah Vaz who scored 23 points and Michael Contreras who scored 16 points along with nine rebounds and two steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Vaz has scored all season. Jackson Diehl was another key contributor, scoring two points along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Even though they lost, La Jolla smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as University City only pulled down seven offensive rebounds.
University City's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Dylan Griffin led the charge by dropping a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds. Griffin hasn't dropped below 15points for three straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Ash Aka, who scored nine points along with five assists and three steals.
La Jolla's loss dropped their record down to 12-8. As for University City, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 13-6.
La Jolla will head out on the road to challenge Canyon Hills at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday. As for University City, they will be playing at home against Olympian at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Olympian knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with flashy point totals in its past 12 matches -- so hopefully University City likes a good challenge.
