The Pipeline

Wednesday, November 11, 2026

LJ b water polo: Photos 11/10

Photos by Ed Piper

LJHS students cheer as the scoreboard

shows "15-13" with 1:20 left. Coach Ian

Davidson of Bishop's is in the foreground right.

Henry Glenister (13) of La Jolla scores

past goalie Adrian Revenco (1)

to go ahead 14-13 with 1:52 left.

LJ b water polo 15, Bishop's 13 - Open Division semifinals - 11/10

Vikings Dexter Black (4) and Addie Calhoun

(in goal) celebrate at the closing buzzer

after La Jolla's 15-13 Open semifinal win.

Aden Shin of Bishop's removes his cap

next to Black. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

As hundreds of fans streamed out of the La Jolla-Bishop's semifinal playoff game Tuesday night, Nov. 10, a driverless Waymo car turned left onto Fay Ave. a half block away.

It fit the scene of "Back to the Future", an AI-inspired move into a world beyond of strange, delightful occurrences in the Coggan pool.

For fans of the Vikings, it was sheer joy. For adherents to the Knights, dungeons and dragons of despair, in yet another rivalry game between the two La Jolla schools as Henry Glenister and Barney Pearce scored late goals to break a 13-all tie and carry the red-and-black to the finals of the Open Division in four days.

The mistake for the Ian Davidson-Doug Peabody Bishopsonians was letting 6'8" Vike star Dexter Black get loose and create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates.

On the Glenister goal, the 2025 CIF Player of the Year backstroked his way into position on the four-five (right) side, then opened the way for the fellow lefty to fire in the go-ahead goal from dead-on center.

The LJHS student body, standing in anticipation behind the south goal, let out a roar--but a short time later minded their behavior, not jumping into the water like boys from the football team did last year at the Vikings' first Open Division title celebration. The crowd was repeatedly warned in the closing minute that there would be "possible sanctions" for the school if they did take a victory dip with the players. It's a new CIF rule.

The game itself was a playoff gem. The two schools traded goals, with neither team leading by more than a single score until 4:11 left in the fourth quarter, La Jolla up 13-11 on Glenister's fifth goal (the winner was his sixth).

There were stretches in which the Knights or the Vikings went through a full possession, working the ball, and being denied a shot or having a shot attempt blocked.

For example, after Bishop's scored the opening goal with a minute and a half elapsed, on the next possession the hosts couldn't get a shot off (5:54 on the clock). La Jolla had a shot attempt blocked on their second time down the pool (4:55), before Black scored his first goal at 4:03 for a 1-1 tie.

On the ensuing possession, the Knights couldn't get off a shot (3:44), ditto the Vikes (ending at 3:15), before finally Liam Zarcu notched a goal from the point.

The spirited and effective defense by both teams led to a 3-3 draw at the end of one period, 8-7 in favor of Bishop's at halftime, and 11-11 at the end of three quarters.

One poolside expert not aligned with either of the two schools predicted as the game moved toward crunch time that the result would come down to exclusions (three fouls and you're out, as Quinn Daniels of La Jolla experienced with 6:30 remaining), team depth in players "who have played in games like this" (favoring the Vikings, in his view), and goalkeeper play (another LJHS advantage). This wag predicted a one-goal difference in the final tally. It turned out to be two.

The advantage of having the 6'8" Dexter flying around with the ball became further apparent in the final 48 seconds, La Jolla leading 15-13, calling a timeout after Pearce's fastbreak goal. Coach Tom Atwell plotted to have Black swim with the ball and avoid Knights as long as he could to freeze the ball, then he passed to Glenister before the 30-second possession clock ran out. That left 21 seconds on the clock.

Tuesday, November 10, 2026

LJ wrestling: First day of tryouts 11/9

Photos by Ed Piper

Prospects engage in sumo wrestling,

having to push the other out of the circle.

Assistant coach Jim Hanley (far left)

motions.

Viking wrestlers move to the next skill

as new Head Coach Victor Lopez

(background, third from left) calls out

instructions.

Liam Kressin (right), who graduated in May

and is wrestling for Palomar College,

faces off with Colton Warren. Ori Mor

is in the background, awarding points

for whoever pushes their opponent

out of the circle.

Warren (middle) seems like he has

the advantage, but Kressin has one foot

outside the circle, Warren as well.

Back to high school wrestling, Alex

Mourlas is on top, Victor Franklin

down. They are practicing one of three

moves Coach Lopez introduced for

the tryouts.

Monday, November 9, 2026

Prep sports: Maclees-Walker now a junior

By Ed Piper

I've never had a high school athlete in class and blogged information on him or her before while they're sitting in front of me.

Dre Maclees-Walker came up and said "hi" moments ago. I said I wouldn't have recognized him if he hadn't introduced himself or if I didn't have his name on the roster.

He last played at La Jolla in football last year, as a sophomore. He was on Head Coach Tyler Roach's varsity roster as a freshman two years ago, and that's probably more the image I was retaining in my memory to compare him to what he looks like now.

He's, I'm sure, taller, listed at 6'2" on the Rancho Bernardo High roster. He came over after last season. This year, as a junior, he is the Broncos' leading receiver, with 692 yards on 51 receptions and four touchdowns.

LJ FB: Great rivalry with Central Union

By Ed Piper

Denton Young--not Denton True "Cy" Young, the namesake of the award that goes to the top MLB pitcher in each league every year--was talking about the 2017 La Jolla-Central Union game.

"It was misty, rainy. Our guys were getting sick, because they weren't used to the conditions (coming from the desert)," said the 10-year Associate Head Coach of the visiting Spartans. "It was the third game of the season."

The next year, Central went undefeated through the regular season, defeating Santa Fe Christian in the CIF Division 3 semifinals before losing to Morse in the finals.

Talking about the long travel from the Imperial Valley, Young, affable, willing to talk, recognizing this reporter from previous chats, said the team buses left Central Union High Fri., Nov. 6 at about 1:30 p.m. They stopped at a restaurant off Buckman Springs exit on the Interstate 8, just before Sunrise Highway, to get a bite to eat.

What amazed this reporter was that he and other staff could remember minute details of the previous games between the two schools. Four of the coaches, including Head Coach David Pena, are in their 10th years with the team. "The thing is they get along great, not just on the field but off it," said principal Craig Lyon, who grew up in the Imperial Valley.

Fletcher Mavity, the Spartans' statistician and self-described "team historian", is in his 14th year. He said Central got LED lights this summer to replace their old stadium lights from the 1950's or so--kind of like La Jolla's--and that they can be turned to various settings with a flick of a switch, for different colors and so forth--just like Petco Park or Dodger Stadium.

Mavity remembered the 2023 game against La Jolla, played in San Diego, which was a Division 3 quarterfinals. The Vikings won 28-23 during quarterback Jackson Diehl's senior season at La Jolla, when he was named the divisional Player of the Year.

A disputed play that Lyon, the principal, still carries on his phone, is a reception that Viking #10--gotta look it up--had his knee down when he received the pass. The boys at Central are still talking about that one. (Lyon showed me the photo on his phone.)

Lyon joked, "We don't have to worry about our population growing too much," with the extreme heat that occurs each year in the Imperial Valley. He also served as athletic director at Southwest High (El Centro), and he plans to stay in the area when he retires a year from now after 12 years as principal.

* * *

Mavity said Vincent Memorial, a small private school in the El Centro area, has a girl flag football quarterback from Mexico who is very talented.

I looked her up. Azul ("blue") Trujillo, a junior, has 6,298 passing yards and is not done this fall. The Scots defeated Mission Bay Nov. 3 in a CIF playoff game 32-6. Trujillo piled up 310 passing yards, four passing TD's, and 28 completions.

She plays in the Mexico Junior National Team program, and is ranked in yardage first in the San Diego Section, 11th in California, and 13th in the U.S.

Vincent Memorial defeated Escondido Charter, 38-12, for the D2 title Sat., Nov. 7.

Trujillo has seven more TD's keeping the ball, leading her team in rushing yardage with 678 yards.

One of her receivers, Jessica Manriquez, averaged 13.9 yards per reception, on 2,644 yards receiving. Unbelievable. I've never seen football numbers that high in high school.