By Ed Piper
La Jolla coach Darice Carnaje took a phone call from Foothills Christian coach Joey Turk, and the result was the first meeting between the two teams.
"They called me," asserted Carnaje before the Vikings' season opener at home Tues., Nov. 26.
"We had never played them," was the reason Turk, in his third year as Knights head coach, gave for making the call.
Maybe Carnaje had second thoughts after the game. But then again, in the past she has welcomed opponents that have provided a "wakeup call" for her girls, if that was needed.
Foothills, behind Turk's daughter, point guard Ellie Turks, pommeled its way to a 61-13 win over the inexperienced Vikings.
"She is one of the best players in the county," her father, not unbiased, claimed before the tipoff.
But, true to form, even after the hosts went down 15-0 in the first six minutes, and trailed 37-3 at halftime, Carnaje didn't opt for a running clock until the fourth quarter.
From her vantage point, at least her players were piling up game experience and minutes, even if the scoreboard wasn't kind.
"Most of our experienced players graduated last year," said the fourth-year coach, referring to Brooke Strowbridge, Kat Kurtchi, and other seniors on the 2018-2019 squad.
Caroline Palmer, an aggressive, go-to-the-ball type, and Sam Stark, a 5'8" front court player, were among the returners from last year's rotation.
The contest, against one of the county's top 25 teams, which went 25-7 last year when Ellie Turk averaged 24 points a game, 7.2 assists, 6.4 steals, 6.3 rebounds, and 3 blocks a game, really wasn't a fair match for the young La Jolla players.
They'll do better against programs more in their range, in games that are coming up.
Besides, the original purpose of interscholastic sports was healthy competition, not paths to college scholarships and possibly beyond. Anyone and everyone can play on this team.
It seemed for a while that Regina Cardenas, just over from the winning Viking field hockey team, would be the only team member to score.
The 5'3" guard made a 12-foot jump shot with 1:57 left in the opening quarter to break the 15-0 shutout.
The junior then canned the second of two free throws early in the second quarter for a 23-3 deficit. That was right after Turks made yet another steal and bucket at the other end, as Foothills' pressure was relentless.
Other Vikings eventually scored a rare basket here and there.
Just because the game was out of reach, the Knights, who also feature 6'0" front court player Arontxa (pronounced "aront-za") Fonseca, obviously weren't about to take their foot off the gas.
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