The script didn't play out the way La Jolla wanted Friday night, Feb. 20.
The Vikings fell in a hole early to visiting Cathedral Catholic, trailing by scores of 15-3 and 19-7. They didn't hit early shots the way they did in their upset of Mission Bay three days earlier, and ugly turnovers reared their heads as in days of old.
But despite the early deficit before a big crowd on Senior Night, with both band and cheerleaders raising the energy level, the La Jollans didn't fold their tents and give up. They battled back to within three points late in the second quarter--giving the assembled multitude the thought, We have ourselves a ballgame--before letting things slip away in the third quarter.
The final was 59-45, Dons. There was a little disappointment at the ending to the regular season, with the loss following back-to-back wins. On the other hand, seniors Daniel Hemming, Johannes Osypka, and Grant Miller all saw significant playing time, and performed admirably in potentially their last home game.
And in an eight-minute stretch when the Vikings cut the Cathedral lead from 15-3, a 12-point difference, to 21-18, only three points, midway through the first half, they made time stand still and showed that they had the potential to battle back against a good basketball team.
During that effective stretch, from 3:21 left in the first quarter to just over two minutes left in the second, it was a team effort. Big man Mark Rawdin subbed in and immediately was fouled on the offensive glass and made two free throws. Rawdin scored off a pass from guard Gaynor Blackmon. Shooting guard Ladd Castellano hit two free throws. Miller entered the game at the end of the period.
Then to start the second frame, Castellano hit his first three-pointer. "Joho" Osypka was subbed in by Coach Paul Baranowski just in time to knock down one of two free throws. Then Hemming was inserted into the game.
Ladd sank one of two free throws, before point guard Reed Farley hit both ends of a one-and-one, and the home team trailed only 21-16. After forward Alex Pitrofsky tipped in a shot, the Vikings were within 21-18 when a timeout was called with 2:07 left in the first half.
Unfortunately, La Jolla couldn't keep the genie in the bottle, and turnovers bit the red and black as the Dons reeled off eight straight points and led 29-20 at halftime. They increased their lead in the third quarter to 41-23, and the game turned out to be virtually decided.
The Vikings helped make Austin Beech of Cathedral look like an all-star, as he continually scored and went to the line in the first quarter. He dominated play in the early going, as La Jolla had no solution for the 6'5" guard.
Showing the intensity and emotion of the Senior Night game, several hard fouls and resultant hard falls to the floor occurred. Vikings Owen Porter and Blackmon committed physical takedowns in the first quarter. At the end of the period, Miller was involved in a collision on defense, but no call was made as the clock ran out.
The only physical play that resulted in an injury was Farley's fall on his back to the floor with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter. At the time, La Jolla was down 45-28. Reed's right ankle apparently ended up under his body, and he reacted visibly. He spent the remainder of the game with a big bag of ice on the ankle.
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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