Some things remain the same. Like
La Jolla Country Day girls basketball.
Oh sure, the faces in the Torreys' blue and white uniforms change, but the rate of success doesn't.
One of the best teams in the state and the No. 1-ranked team in the CIF-SDS, La Jolla Country Day belted No. 6-ranked and Coastal South League rival Bishop's 78-54. With the win, LJCD (21-4) wins its 10th Coastal League title in the past 11 seasons.
Malina Hood – one of four Torreys to score in double figures – finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. Hood scored eight of LJCD's 13 points to open the second half turning a 10-point cushion into an insurmountable lead. The Torreys toppled the Knights with a 29-7 third quarter rush.
Maya Hood paced LJCD with 18 points.
Kaylah Miller also had 17 — including five 3-pointers.
Kelsey Plum added 15 markers, while
Alissa Campanero of Bishop's registered a game-best 21 points.
VETERAN COACH AMAZED BY SAN DIEGO SOUTHWEST BOYS RALLY
"I've been coaching for almost 30 years and the game was one of the most exciting games I've ever participated in,"
Southwest (San Diego) boys basketball coach Steve Selland told the San Diego Union-Tribune. He was talking about his Raiders turning a 17-point halftime deficit into a 74-73 overtime victory over South Bay League rival San Ysidro.
The main cog in that dramatic victory was 6-foot-4, 205-pound football quarterback Lamar Weston. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds against San Ysidro and helped create opportunities for teammates Marcus Gladden and Alex Viegas, who scored 25 and 18 points, respectively.Weston, who leads the Raiders in scoring and rebounding with averages of 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks a game, bulked up by 20 pounds going into his senior season.
"Last year, it was kind of hard to score," Weston told the Union-Tribune, "But this year it's a lot easier to overpower people because everybody that guards me is kind of smaller than me."
IT'S A DONE DEAL FOR SANDOVAL'S MOUNT MIGUEL GIRLS
Whether the players or coach would actually admit what was at stake,
Mount Miguel (Spring Valley) rolled over Santana 71-42 in Friday's contest to clinch the Grossmont Valley League championship for the Matadors. Mount Miguel locked up its 11th straight league title during coach Robbie Sandoval's 11-year reign by stuffing Santana. During his tenure Sandoval's Matadors have compiled a Grossmont League record of 100-1.
"I don't think coach Robbie even focused on that kind of stuff," said Mount Miguel UNLV-bound senior
Danielle Miller, who scored a game-high 28 points in the victory over the Sultans. "He's real humble about stuff like that – never talks about it."
LA COSTA CANYON PAIR POURING IT ON
Senior guard
Jen Dumiak scored a career-high 42 points with nine assists, four rebounds and three blocks in La Costa Canyon's 90-57 rout of Mission Bay. She also tallied 14 points in the Mavericks' 64-44 romp over El Camino.
La Costa Canyon's 6-foot-4 senior center
Madisen Irwin also enjoyed a big week, totaling 51 points, 35 rebounds and three blocks in the Mavericks' sweep of Mission Bay and El Camino. Irwin bagged 21 rebounds against the Wildcats.
MORE FOOTBALL SIGNINGS
Two Grossmont Conference football players have signed NCAA Division II letters of intent. Helix linebacker-running back
Raymont Nailon has inked a pact with Humboldt State, while
Grossmont (El Cajon) defensive back-return specialist Joey Acosta cast his future with Northern State University of Aberdeen, S.D.
Meanwhile, Brawley offensive lineman
Matt Self signed with Mayville State University – an NAIA institution in North Dakota.
OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES * Poway senior sharpshooter
Katie Kuklok hit seven 3-pointers against Ramona to become the CIF-SDS career girls basketball leader in 3-pointers made with 324. She broke the mark held by San Diego's Elise Paty (2003-06), who netted 323 from long distance.
* Junior Michael Jordan of Steele Canyon scored 25 points and snagged 17 rebounds as the Cougars edged West Hills 52-50 in overtime.* Granite Hills senior
Garrett Larch-Miller scored 37 points and plucked 10 rebounds as the Eagles lost to Valhalla 53-50.
* Senior guard
Johnny Dee of Rancho Buena Vista knocked down 60 as the Longhorns stampeded past Carlsbad and Oceanside.
*
Nick Kerr, a senior guard at Torrey Pines, pounded down 43 points – the majority coming on ten 3-pointers – as the Falcons whipped Poway and Mt. Carmel.
* Valhalla junior post
Manny Hernandez scored 35 points, grabbed 24 rebounds and blocked 14 shots as the Norsemen split a pair of Grossmont Hills League contests.
* Murrieta Valley's
Justin Gudger scored a game high 32 points to help the Nighthawks clinch the Southwestern League title with a 10-0 record while presenting coach Steve Tarabilda his 300th career victory.
*
Ben Gonzalez of Rancho Christian scored 55 points in victories over Public Safety Academy and Santa Barbara Providence Hall.* Valley Center's A.J. Broomell banged in 41 points, most coming on nine 3-pointers as the Jaguars clipped San Dieguito Academy and Hanford.
* Six-foot-2 El Cajon Christian freshman girls basketball standout
Chayan Lowery punched in 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against Clairemont.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
This is the final week of the CIF-SDS regular season and there are still a few mysteries yet to be solved. Best of the lot is in the Avocado East League, where
Vista (17-9, 7-1) hosts
Mission Hills (San Marcos) (16-9, 8-0) in a boys basketball showdown on Wednesday. On the same day, Palomar League-leading
Poway (22-3, 7-1) visits
Westview (San Diego) (19-6, 4-4) in need of a win that would assure the Lady Titans of the circuit crown. In another game of interest,
Parker (San Diego) (18-6, 8-0) visits
La Jolla Country Day (15-9, 5-3) in a boys basketball duel on Friday.
DICKENS DEALINGS
We've discussed this mess in the past and now it could decide the Grossmont Hills League girls basketball championship.
Entering the final week of the regular season
Grossmont (El Cajon) (19-6, 6-1 GHL) trails
West Hills (Santee) (15-9, 7-1 GHL) by one-half game in the league race with two games remaining. Fortunately, these teams will face off on Friday – the final night of the regular season. Should both teams win on Tuesday the finale should determine the championship.
West Hills is all but a sure thing to knock off Valhalla on Tuesday, but Grossmont will have its hands full against Granite Hills – a team the Foothillers beat only 46-40 in round one.
If Grossmont were to lose the rematch to Granite Hills, and then beat West Hills, the Foothillers would still come up a half-game short and West Hills would be declared the champions.
That's because the Wolf Pack will play its full complement of 10 league games. Grossmont will play only nine, which is why the league championship could be decided by only a half game.
This is due to the fact that the first-round match – scheduled for Jan. 21 – between the Foothillers and Helix was never played. That was because a transportation problem caused the Highlanders to arrive at Grossmont 30 minutes late, and – after much debate – led the district to declare the game "no contest."
Surely the administrators never imagined the league championship would come down the final night when they made their foolish declaration that the first Helix-Grossmont game not be played.
In spite of the district's poor judgment, the league title likely will be decided where it should be – on the court.
