"We lost our minds for a second, but we didn't stay in that mode for long," said basketball coach Paul Baranowski of La Jolla's scratching and clawing near the end of their 51-50 win over Mission Bay Feb. 17. After leading 11-2 and 21-9, they were tied with 3:53 remaining in the game.
"I felt good about the way we executed the game plan," the coach said.
The Vikings led 45-40 at the end of the third quarter but trailed 49-48 with 2:40 remaining in the game.
Baranowski complimented his defenders for limiting Buccaneer Justin Moore's options. Even so, the 6'4" junior guard scored 22 points, just about his average for the season.
Regarding Alex Pitrofsky's report card, the coach said, "A lot of growth. Much more confident. Still a work in progress. He knows that, but he has made a commitment to be better. And he commits to get better every time he steps on the floor."
The LJHS coach looks forward to working intensively with Pitrofsky this summer. "I'm excited to have him for another summer to get him stronger and clean up his footwork."
The 6'6" front court man went on a family vacation right in the middle of the preleague season. Hopefully, he will be in town this December to build momentum and enter Western League play with a ton more development under his belt. He is tall, athletic, he jumps well, and isn't afraid to take the ball up high to the backboard against the likes of 6'9" Armstrong Ojunkwu of Mission Bay.
"We talk about attacking bigs," said Baranowski. "You can't let bigs intimidate because of their size. It is rare to have a clean blocked shot at the high school level." In other words, Pitrofsky needs to continue to take the ball up to the basket, and he will have a good chance of either scoring or getting a foul call to go to the free throw line.
Regarding winning two close ones in the last two contests, "Coach B" said, "I can tell you from a coaching standpoint it's much more fun to coach a game like that. To win or lose by 40--there's no fun in that."
Copyright 2015 Ed Piper
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