By Ed Piper
La Jolla is a good Central League team, as it proved Tues., Dec. 19, with a a 58-39 win over SDA in the Sweetwater Frank Pekarek Classic, and Wed., Dec. 20, in a 60-56 win over San Ysidro in the same tourney.
But the Vikings, who were riding high with a 10-5 record, ran into a Hoover squad playing at a different level Thursday night. Reality collided head-on with their recent roll, and under the steady, wise guidance of 6'1" playmaking guard Exavier Williams, the more experienced Cardinals cruised to a 74-47 victory on the fourth day of the Host Lions Club event, held at Sweetwater Union High.
The fact is that Coach Walt Felusme's unit put together the flow and progress of the game. It wasn't by chance. And what La Jolla's less-seasoned players could profit from was by observing the tight, physical byplay of Hoover's elements as the offense wove patterns toward productivity and the defense, to the bench's chant of "Red, red, red", pressured individual Vikings into their vise-like grip.
No knock on Viking coach Paul Baranowski, whose 45 years of mentoring high school basketball players--his 12th year at the helm of La Jolla--have given him all the experience and wisdom he needs to guide Michael Contreras, Jaime Guzman, and company. He has seen it all.
And there he was, during full timeouts, the players in a circle around him, teaching, reinforcing, explaining, instructing.
Felusme's squad ran off an 11-2 start after winning the opening tip, then 16-4, finally 18-6 to finish the first quarter. Williams, deftly bringing the ball upcourt and settling the offense, dished to Amanuel Tesfahegun for three's in the corner, an omen for further things to come.
Contreras, as usual, was aggressive in driving to the basket at the other end. But he was faced with more than one defender as the Cardinals collapsed into the middle.
Marley Lafond, finding his touch with good rotation on his shot, was able to break free for successful shots beyond the arc in both the right and left corners as the game progressed.
The Vikes gained a little more momentum with the insertion of speedy Nick Sebro at 3:28 of the opening period, who entered the game along with Lafond. But by then, Hoover already led 14-4, and it was going to be a tough hill to climb.
Forward Jackson Diehl could leap with the best of them. He snagged a rebound, going up high, with 2:40 left in the quarter.
La Jolla slowed the sand draining out from under their feet in the second period, only being outscored 20-15 as the pace picked up.
The third wasn't as kind, the designated visitors losing ground at the rate of 22-13, the Hoover gap widening to 60-34.
Mohamed Abdisalan, another of the Cardinals' proficient shooters, hit from three with 6:40 left in the game.
Baranowski's troops play host Sweetwater in the 2 p.m. game Friday on the fifth day of the tourney. The Cardinals play Mount Miguel at 8 p.m. for the tournament championship.
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