LJ b BB 46, Scripps Ranch 57

The Vikes' Eddie Parker (13) has to

fight through a screen by Kyle

Mullin (22) of Scripps.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

These circulated on the La Jolla side after the Vikings' 57-46 loss in boys basketball at Scripps Ranch Tues., Jan. 26:

--"Scripps shot the eyes out of the basket on threes, with 9, to the Vikings' 4, on 9-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc."

--"None of La Jolla's players played well."

--"This was the first game La Jolla lost to a team it should have beaten."

All three were pretty true, as the traveling Vikings spent a frustrating evening in which, at some points, they couldn't throw a pea in the ocean on the offensive side and trailed 16-6 after one quarter.

The Falcons' Carsten DenHerder, a stocky, bearded senior who doesn't look like a basketball player, meanwhile was showing some range by hitting two three-pointers and a two in the period.

The visitors closed the margin to five at 18-13 early in the second quarter, but then fell back to 29-20 by halftime and 38-21 in the third quarter before Reed Farley slammed one home with 4:54 left.

The clean, two-handed dunk didn't do anything to cut the Vikings' turnovers and futile play. This time Scripps junior Kyle Mullin showed off some smart long-range shooting with a pair of threes in the third stanza and was 3 for 5 on the night from the arc.

Again in the fourth the Vikings crept back within seven, 51-44, on a putback by Daniel McColl. But by then there were only 30 seconds left, and La Jolla went down to a blasé Western League loss before a small, largely hushed late afternoon audience.

McColl led La Jolla with 11 points on 3 for 5 shooting from the field and 5 of 6 free throws. Guard Eddie Parker had 9 points, making 2 of 3 threes and shooting 3 for 5 overall from the field.

DenHerder led all scorers with 19 points. With his trio of threes, he shot 4 for 7 from the field.

After a relatively easy 55-41 win over Valley Center Saturday at Montgomery High in the Coaches Vs. Cancer event, and this loss, the Vikings are 2-4 in league play, 13-6 overall.

A fourth statement was heard among La Jolla wags after the loss:

--"The team has fallen back to earth, and maybe it's good for them."

The Vikings, who played effectively through a successful 8-2 December, look human now. They now trail a 3-3 Scripps Ranch team (12-8 overall) in the Western League standings at the half-way point.