The Pipeline

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

LJ b BB 42, Poway 56 - CIF D2 first round

Photos by Ed Piper

Carson Diehl (far left) reaches in for

a foul to knock the ball away.

LJ b soccer 3, SD Jewish Academy 1 - CIF D4 first round

Photos by Ed Piper

Vikes' Titouan Ferton (2) vies with Ben Coiner (12)

of SD Jewish Academy in early going

in the late afternoon lighting.

Ferton (2, far left) begins his celebration

after knocking La Jolla's second goal into

the net (past 0, Oren Cohen, kneeling)

for a 2-0 lead with 27:04 left

in the first half.

Monday, February 17, 2025

LJ b wrestling: Trio goes to Masters

By Ed Piper

Three Vikings--Noah Pace (120 pounds), Jayden Williams (165), and Asher Sternberg (175)--came out of the CIF Division 4 Finals placing fourth or higher in their respective weight classes, and as a result earned their way into the CIF Masters tournament at Christian High Friday, Feb. 21.

Pace made it to the 120-pound final Sat., Feb. 15, at Mar Vista High. The junior has been sick for a couple or three bouts this season, yet has built on his earlier successes as league champion in his freshman and sophomore years at La Jolla High.

Williams, a senior who moved from Texas to live with his father a year ago, and Sternberg, a junior, have both had strong seasons during winter 2024-25. Their seasons have not yet finished, either.

Liam Kressin, at 144 pounds, will go to Christian High as an alternate for his fifth-place finish. A teammate, 150-pound Patrick Fitzmaurice, wrestles Wed., Feb. 19, for the opportunity to win fifth place in his weight division and go to Christian as an alternate two days later.

Another Viking who placed in the division finals was Jack Long, a senior at 215 pounds.

Sunday, February 16, 2025

LJ b wrestling @ CIF D4 Finals - Mar Vista HS

Photos by Ed Piper

LJ's Jayden Williams (right, 165) checks in

at the table for his first bout of the morning.

Williams took fourth in D4, making him

an alternate for the Masters meet

Fri., Feb. 21.

Asher Sternberg of La Jolla looks back

at the clock to see how he is doing

at the end of the first period, leading

9-2 over Tristan Rickert of Christian

in his first match. He pinned Rickert

in 3:47 and placed fourth at 175 pounds.

Jayden Williams (165) has his hand raised

after decisioning Jeffrey Krantz (left)

of Crawford, 8-6, in his first bout

of a long, grueling day beginning

at 5:45 a.m. when the wrestlers

met at LJHS to carpool to Mar Vista.

The La Jolla coaching brain trust at the

CIF D4 finals (left to right): Kellen Delaney,

Joey Stofko, Ryan Lennard, and Walter

Fairley.

Some of the Viking entourage at Mar Vista:

Noah Pace (bottom right, in black sweatshirt),

who placed second at 120 and goes

to Masters Fri., Feb. 21; his parents

(top middle); Maddie Quach (with camera),

100. Brenda Delaney, wife of head coach

Kellen, sits in front of Noah Pace

in lower right bottom.

LJ b BB: Game story 2/13

Brody Sessa dribbles at midcourt against

the Islanders' Ah'mahn Oliver in the

intense fourth quarter on

Coronado's Senior Night.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Coronado, with some of the best names in CIF--Blue Wild and Kannon Seals--was celebrating its joint Senior Night with the girls varsity Thursday night, Feb. 13, the evening before the four-day Presidents Holiday. Plus the rain and wind outside were fearsome.

So a depleted La Jolla club, missing starters Lance Braga, 6'6", and Eyal Amsalem, along with Coach Paul Baranowski, faced a tough task in the Vikings' final game of the regular season, despite the Islanders' weak 2-7 City League record coming in.

The game started late (7:46) after the festivities. Leo Hawkinson, Brody Sessa and crew immediately fell behind after a short 4-1 lead following opening tipoff. They trailed by as many as eight points, 18-10 and 23-15, in a dismal second quarter, on senior Loxly Johnson's driving layups.

Viking assistant Scotty Epstein inserted 6'7" reserve Lee Mannheimer, a sophomore, midway through the third period. The stretch frontcourt player had an immediate impact on the game, hitting one of two free throws to trail 29-28 with 1:52 left in the quarter, then a bucket 20 seconds later for La Jolla's first lead since the start--30-29. The home crowd was delirious, as "2025" pillars for the Senior Night celebration stood at one end of the court.

The short-handed visitors, with the rain pouring outside, continued their lead: "Hawk" hit a three to open the fourth quarter, 35-29. Carson Diehl scored on a layup on an assist from Leo, 37-31.

But the margin wasn't to last. Johnson, seemingly one of a contingent of "Navy brats" with their dads based at North Island, came back to score on a twisty, body-contorting drive to trail 39-37.

La Jolla's Cole Hein, back as a starter, drilled a three. That was the peak for the Vikings, 42-37, with four minutes left in the game before the slide.

With the crowd egging on the Islanders--even small Seals, with a giant 'fro, only a sophomore, hit on one of his otherwise off-target three-point attempts--Johnson tied the score at 42 to end the Viking lead with 1:57 on the clock. Earlier, Mannheimer, the 6'7" stretch, blocked a shot of his.

La Jolla, who has worn out its fans this season with nail-biters that went down to the last moments, were going to crush us again. Brody committed his fourth foul on Coronado's Austin Brown with 1:29 to go. Brown sank both free throws, giving the Islanders a 44-42 lead.

Derick Ritter scored on a teardrop in the paint for a four-point lead at :51.

Ah'mahn Oliver delivered the piece de resistance on Diehl's foul to stop the clock with 13.6 left, sinking both free throws for the closing margin, 48-42. The elated crowd stayed inside as long as they could to feat their players on a win they accomplished off pure emotion, before going out into the wind and wet.