Boys basketball outlook for the summer

Owen Porter operates near the basket
versus Marysville-Pilchuck, WA, at
UCSD last summer. (Photo by Ed Piper)

Boys basketball is only a week away, much to my surprise.

I looked up, having covered 13 sports at three high schools for the La Jolla Light, plus keeping my own LJHS loyalties going after 10 years (that's right - I started out in Fall 2004 when my granddaughter Alexis made the varsity cheer squad) by photographing as many teams in as many games as I could for my photo website during what turned out to be a hectic spring. And there, on leaguelineup.com, was a basketball game next Tuesday night at Alliant International University at 7:30 p.m.

Zach Duffy, with Gaynor Blackmon and Ladd Castellano, pantomimed "AIU" from the home team stands at the baseball field at Muirlands Middle School during La Jolla's wipeout of Mission Bay, 17-0, May 19. Zach pointed down, and I didn't know if that meant "tonight" or when. Then Coach Paul Baranowski's schedule on leaguelineup.com revealed the truth.

Ladd, Reed, Owen each a year older. Plus Morgan, Zach, Gaynor, Daniel, Grant...

I thought it might be a message from God when I first went onto my work computer to the League Lineup site and I didn't see any place to enter "La Jolla Vikings" under "Team" and "Boys Basketball" under "Sport", as I am used to doing. Then, finding the site saying I didn't have an account, I had to create a new account as if I had never been to the site.

Such are the vagaries of technology.

How long has Paul been head coach? Two years. How long has he kept the team's schedule on leaguelineup.com? Two years. How long have I had an account on the site? Two years...

Back to bball. Having no other insight than the fact Zach, Gaynor, and Ladd were sitting near one another at the baseball game, and access to last year's varsity roster on maxpreps.com, I surmise that the following players loom in the summer picture for La Jolla High's team: Ladd, Owen Porter, and Reed Farley returning as starters from 2013-14; Zach, Gaynor, Daniel Hemming. and Max Scott as returning guards/wings/swingman; Morgan Albers, Mark Rawdin, and Grant Miller returning in the front court. It is possible that one or more may not go out again next year. I don't know. Paul Baranowski isn't picking up his phone right now. (I say that with a smile. He has always been very helpful. I get impatient sometimes.)

I do not know who is coming up from the junior varsity from last year. Stay tuned for next Tuesday's opening spring/summer league game.

The summer schedule appears to include some Tuesday night games in a league at Alliant International University. During the last two summers, Paul has also favored "team camps" (tournaments in the summer over long weekends) at UCSD and SDSU. I think the team traveled to UCSB the last two summers, but I have never been to one of those team camps, though I lived in Santa Barbara and wrote sports for a small newspaper just outside the university campus in the 70's. Great days playing city league and outdoor pickup basketball on the courts at UCSB.


Copyright 2014 Ed Piper