LJ wrestling: 'No bro photo', Carrot Festival

Jesus Castorena, 154 pounds, invites teammate

Chris Abarca, 184, for a "bro photo".

Abarca pulled away, saying "No".

(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

HOLTVILLE--Jesus Castorena was warming up with Chris Abarca Sat., Jan. 30, before the second day of the Holtville Wrestling Tournament. Both are members of the La Jolla high team.

Then Castorena got the idea for a photo. Sitting near the middle of the mat, he said to his teammate Abarca, "Let's do a bro photo."

Abarca, looking uncomfortable, said "No" under no uncertain terms, and moved away from Castorena.

It was a moment of levity in a long two days of wrestling by nine Viking wrestlers among almost 300 from all over San Diego at Holtville High School, 15 miles east of El Centro.

*  *  *

 

Combatants in the Carrot Festival exhibition in

Holtville's park dressed in period garb.

"We just came from there," said Carlton Hoggard, staff member of the CIF San Diego Section. He and his significant other, arriving at the Holtville tourney Saturday morning from San Diego, was talking about the 69th Annual Carrot Festival a couple of blocks away.

 

La Jolla coach Kellen Delaney talked the day before about the cook-off at the park in the tiny town, population 5,000 and a few tumbleweeds.

Little did I know before my first trip to Holtville, a 256-mile round trip over two days, that I was trekking to the "Carrot Capital of the World." This year's festival theme: "Let Carrots Rock Your World."

 

Actually, Saturday was rib cook-off day. Then each day during the coming week, Monday through Friday, there is a cook-off every day. A culminating event is the annual parade Saturday, followed Sunday by the family tailgate cook-off.

 

A peek downtown during a break from the wrestling tournament revealed several people dressed in what appeared to be Elizabethan-era clothing. On the east side of the park, men dressed in garb, wearing metal helmets and leather leggings for protection, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with wooden swords.

 

It didn't appear to be too violent. Each pair hugged at the conclusion of their 10- or 15-second faceoff, overseen by an official keeping track of blows that were landed.

 

At a nearby table under a park gazebo, a gentleman was repairing the face cage of a metal helmet.

Women in period garb were tending pots of cooking food. One table held three pies, waiting to be either cooked first or eaten, undisturbed by the midday winds that were starting to pick up.

 

A road near the center of town had been blocked off for the festival, and people were crossing city streets, enjoying a time with family or friends in the park, with children making the most of the play equipment.

 

*  *  *

 

Heard at the Holtville Wrestling Tournament:

 

2:09 p.m., Friday. A Southwest High (of El Centro) coach to his wrestler during a match: "Dude, get out of your head. Wrestle."

 

2:30 p.m., Friday. A coach from Mater Dei to a referee who backed up to him while officiating a match: "Don't fart." Both laughed.



LJ wrestling: 'I can't see'

An intense Jake Harvey

after dropping his match

to Murphy Fri. afternoon.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

HOLTVILLE--"I can't see. I can't see," Jake Harvey, La Jolla 154-pound wrestler, said, looking somewhat dazed as he walked unsteadily toward his coaches' corner of the mat.

There were 20 seconds left in the first period of his match against Colin Murphy of Rancho Bernardo Friday afternoon, Jan. 29, on the initial day of the Holtville Tournament. Harvey was trailing Murphy 8-1. He took off his headgear as he repeated his words.

Viking coach Kellen Delaney stood up and moved close to Harvey. He gripped Harvey's arm to help steady him. He looked his wrestler right in the eyes. Harvey had a deer-in-the-headlights kind of look.

Delaney listened silently, then he instructed Jake to take some breaths. The whole match had stopped. The referee stood off at a distance. Murphy stayed in the middle of the mat.

After a short time, of a minute or two, Harvey slowly seemed to regain his composure. There were no marks or bruises near his eyes or on his face. He wasn't rubbing his eyes as if they had sustained a blow in combat.

A meet official had brought a bottle of water over for the young man to hydrate.

Harvey, with the referee allowing injury time but also looking at his watch to keep it moving, eventually re-entered the match and lasted the duration, losing by decision 11-5.

Immediately following the incident, Jake's father Mark Harvey, who was filming the match from the edge of the mat, said, "I've never seen that. He said he couldn't see."

Delaney, afterwards, said, "I wondered if he had been choked" and reacted as he did.

When the match ended--with four other matches going on simultaneously in the Holtville High gym, packed with hundreds of coaches and family members--another official brought over another bottle of water to Jake. He accepted it and tore off the cap with his teeth as he listened to his coaches' post-match feedback. He didn't show any unusual signs outwardly. He wasn't wobbly like he was when he said, "I can't see."

He recovered well enough to make it to the consolation round on Saturday morning, day two of the tournament--one of only two Viking wrestlers, with Christophe Naviaux, to make it that far. He lost  by a pin in the second period.

On Saturday morning, Delaney said, "I've never seen something like that. It seemed like he hyperventilated."

An assistant coach for Rancho Bernardo said Saturday morning, "He (Murphy) was my wrestler. I was right there. After the match, the referee came over and talked to me. I wondered if he (Harvey) had hit his head" and was affected the way he was.

Harvey, in the stands, made some reference to his episode. He brushed it off, saying something about "yesterday". He was moving on.

The solid 154-pounder, from limited observation, seems to be an intense competitor. In dual meets, he has appeared very fired up and focused during his matches. Maybe that's why he has several classmates who come to meets and cheer loudly for him.

As he walked off the mat following his match against Murphy Friday, he looked intense. But he bore the normal signs of a six-minute match: fatigue, exertion, drained in energy.

LJ wrestling: Naviaux, Harvey last till day two

The Vikings' Brock Bonnette, at 147

pounds, grinds in his first match

Saturday morning at Holtville.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

HOLTVILLE--Sophomore Christophe Naviaux, a 147-pounder, and Jake Harvey, wrestling at 154 pounds, were the two of La Jolla's nine wrestlers who lasted in the consolation bracket into the second day of the massive 27-school Holtville Rotary Tournament Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30.

The other seven Viking grapplers, having been eliminated from the championship and consolation brackets after the first day of the prestigious double-elimination competition with two losses each, got two new matches in the so-called "Hard Luck Bracket" Saturday.

Coach Kellen Delaney's wrestlers included Elliot Austin (115 pounds), Joe Costa (134), Brocke Bonnette (147), Austin Clerget (147), Jesus Castorena (154), Jack Hathaway (162), and Chris Abarca (184).

In a feature of the 53-year-old tournament--a long 128-mile drive from San Diego--that makes it such a draw for San Diego high wrestlers year-after-year, the nine Vikings were housed by local families overnight Friday after being fed a nice dinner following the first day of matches. "They really like that part," said Delaney, who fondly remembered his own school's hosting of visiting Iowa wrestlers in Kansas City when he was a prep athlete. "It builds camaraderie and they feel a connection."

"This is our hallmark event," said Ryan Lindenblatt, La Jolla assistant coach, of the Holtville tourney. "Every year we aim for this tournament." Two hundred ninety-five wrestlers competed, with every entrant knowing he would get at least four matches in the two days: two or more in the championship and consolation brackets, and two more, if needed, in the Hard Luck Bracket.

"It's a chance to get away," said Juan Sanchez, another La Jolla assistant, with feeling, recalling his own days competing as a Viking wrestler in the renowned tournament. As he spoke, he surveyed the nearly 300 wrestlers from 27 schools, along with hundreds of family members and coaches, packed into the geodesic-dome ceilinged Holtville High gymnasium. Grapplers competed in continuous matches on five mats simultaneously, amid a loud cacophony of coaches shouting instructions and words of encouragement to their student athletes in 14 weight classes.

In the only head-to-head match-up of La Jolla High wrestlers during the tournament, Naviaux out-pointed Bonnette, 17-2, in a 147-pound pairing Friday evening. Both wrestlers came in 1-1 from their previous matches, so Brocke was eliminated, suffering his second loss.

"It was weird," commented Delaney of the wide score differential, "because the two always compete in a wrestle-off against each other in their weight class for dual meets."

The head coach seemed not displeased with his nine wrestlers' efforts at Holtville. Everyone got in a lot of work under meet conditions, there was the bonding and camaraderie aspect of the weekend, and he said he could use the experience in his work with the athletes in the future.

Naviaux, warming up for his consolation bracket match Saturday morning--in which he was pinned in the second period--talked about recovering physically after three matches Friday. "I'm pretty good (about recuperating)," he said. "I don't feel it until I get on the mat."

The sophomore, a wiry 147-pounder, also plays catcher in the La Jolla High baseball program. Asked if he had ever caught both games of a doubleheader, he said, "No, they don't do that. They'll have you play the second game at another position. The most I've caught (in one day) is 13 innings. They did that after I entered the first game midway through."

While relishing his place in the Viking wrestling program, he hopes to be the starting catcher on the junior varsity baseball team this spring.

LJ wrestling: Stable of coaches

At Holtville, Viking head coach Kellen Delaney (in hat)
gesticulates to wrestler Jake Harvey (far left).
Assistant Ryan Lindenblatt is to Delaney's right, with
assistant Jesus Sanchez behind him in red sweatshirt.
Viking Jesus Castorena is to Lindenblatt's right,
Brocke Bonnette standing at far right.

(Photo by Ed Piper) 

HOLTVILLE--Juan Sanchez, head coach of La Jolla High wrestling from 2002 to 2006, was reliving fond memories of his own wrestling career as a Viking.

The occasion was the 53rd Annual Holtville Rotary Wrestling Tournament. Sanchez recounted during the first day of competition Fri., Jan. 29, his winning the 103-pound class as a sophomore and junior in 1996 and 1997 in this very tournament, and the 112-pound division his senior year in 1998.

Which points up the wealth of experience on the LJHS wrestling coaching staff: Kellen Delaney is present head coach. Ryan Lindenblatt, an assistant coach, was head coach prior to Delaney. Sanchez provides his expertise. And Walter Fairley, who retired a year ago as a vice principal at La Jolla, assists and has been part of the Viking wrestling coaching staff for many years, going back to prior to his becoming an administrator.

This amount of head coaching experience on one staff, assisting and supporting and working together with the student athletes, would be almost unheard of in any other sport. Basketball tends to have a highly hierarchical coaching structure, with one coach setting the vision at the top. In football, sometimes former head coaches may assist others in their twilight years, with the time commitment being less for an assistant than for a head coach.

It's a unique gift for the young men in the Viking program.

LJ wrestling: 'They were the funniest people'

Elliot Austin (right) looks for an opening in his

Hard Luck Bracket match at 115 pounds

Saturday morning. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

HOLTVILLE--"They cooked a roast for us. They were the funniest people," enthused La Jolla wrestler Elliot Austin after staying overnight with the family of Jimmy Zarate, a wrestler from host Holtville High, Fri., Jan. 29.

"They have chickens running around. They live on a ranch," said the British-born Austin, a little wide-eyed at the fact. He wrestled at 115 pounds in the 53rd Annual Holtville Tournament in the carrot capital of the world Friday and Saturday

Jimmy wrestles at the far end of the spectrum from the lithe Austin: he is Holtville's heavyweight at 285 pounds. His mother is Stella Chavez.

"We drove about 10 minutes to get to their house," said the La Jolla athlete. Dinner was served, Elliot said, at about 7:30 p.m., after the first day of competition in the 5,000-resident town. The tourney started at 1 p.m. Friday.

Twenty-nine families in Holtville, mostly families of wrestlers from the local high school, hosted many of the 295 wrestlers in the tourney overnight Friday. Twenty-seven schools were represented, including Madison, San Ysidro, Cathedral Catholic--all of whom the Vikings have faced or will face this season, either in dual meets or a practice--as well as LJHS.

Holtville's mascot is also the Viking. The gentleman charging admission at the front door was carving more of his creations, which include Vikings--but, unlike La Jolla's version, they're green. Can't do that.

"They were the friendliest people," Austin said, with emphasis, of the Chavez-Zarate family which provided dinner and a bed for him. He must have been popular in the house, too, with his outgoing nature and pronounced British accent.

LJ b BB: Second in power rankings

Reed Farley points downcourt to try to influence

a referee's call on a ball out of bounds in

La Jolla's loss at Scripps Ranch Jan. 26.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

"Tuesday was a wakeup call for where we want to be the rest of the season," said Coach Paul Baranowski of his La Jolla basketball team Thurs., Jan. 28, referring to the Vikings' stale 57-46 loss at Scripps Ranch Jan. 26.

"We're still number two in the power rankings, which would give us home games throughout the playoffs until the championship game at the arena."

In the CIF power rankings for Division 2, La Jolla has 44.79 points, trailing number-one Country Day by less than a point, at 45.27 points.

The following spots are held, in order, by West Hills with 44.50, Rancho Bernardo (44.25), Mira Mesa (44.19), San Ysidro (44.14), and Scripps Ranch (44.10).

The Vikings have a 13-6 overall record. The power rankings take into consideration a team's record and strength of schedule. You can beat a lowly team by 20 points and look good, but it won't help your team's power ranking. You could lose while playing well against a top team like Cathedral or St. Augustine and help your cause.

The lackluster loss against the Falcons dropped La Jolla to 2-4 in the Western League at the halfway point, with a game at home against Mission Bay Fri., Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. It's another girls varsity/boys varsity doubleheader.

LJ b BB: Albers

Morgan Albers tries to rein in

Scripps Ranch's Andrew Chau (42)

Jan. 26. (Photo by Ed Piper)

Morgan Albers, one of three seniors on the La Jolla basketball team who will graduate next June, says his ethic is to work hard on defense, and this season, "I'm trying to be more of an offensive threat."

"This year's team is better than previous years," he said in a short interview before the Vikings' game at Scripps Ranch Tues., Jan. 26. "We've lost in the first round of CIF before. We hope to make a good run in CIF."

Asked if he has thought about the fact he is older than most of the rest of the team and in his final year, he responded, "I try to make the most of it" (in his minutes played).

He said he doesn't really mentor younger teammates. Instead, he tries to lead by example. "I try to play hard. If people are nervous before a game, I try to (say something that will encourage them)," he said.

He started in the Vikings' game against the Falcons, a 57-46 loss.

LJ wrestling 27, Madison 45

By Ed Piper

La Jolla head coach Kellen Delaney talked straight to 160-pounder Jack Hathaway after his 3-0 win Wed., Jan. 27.

"Jack, you just cost us three points by turning your opponent," he told his wrestler, going on to point out the particular move that lost a potential pin that would have won his team six points instead of the three he got for his 3-0 decision.

Hathaway was fully attentive and looking his coach right in the eye. The one-way exchange took place on the edge of the red home mat, as soon as Hathaway left the center circle after the referee raised his hand to signify his win over Madison's Christian Carrizosa.

But this is what Jack signed up for. He has said he thrives on the support and interaction he participates in in the Viking wrestling program, a group he likens to a brotherhood, gaining mentoring and friendship he hadn't enjoyed anywhere else prior to his entering the program two years ago.

And Delaney and his staff talk straight stuff. Delaney is always mild-mannered and low-key, even as his eyes fairly burn as he calls out commands to his wrestlers in the heat of their matches, sitting alongside assistant coach Ryan Lindenblatt, with assistant Walter Fairley and others standing nearby.

The wrestlers seem to appreciate Delaney's calm demeanor. He's all business, but he means well. He isn't heard qualifying and softening his words, because he seems to believe his grapplers want to hear exactly what he means--not some soft-pedaled pap.

As a result, the Vikings have been able to field a nearly full slate of wrestlers this season, with 12 of the 14 weight classes filled in varsity dual meets. Though host La Jolla lost to the Warhawks, 45-27, there were no heads hung. No whimpering of "woe is me". This is the time they've waited for. This is what they enjoy.

As Lindenblatt called out to one of his wrestlers during a match, "Don't hang your head."

It's all upward from here, as the Vikings look from where they were--not fielding a viable varsity team for most of two seasons--to a newly built core.

Griffin Young starred again at 132 pounds with a pin of Madison's Shane Smith in the second period. Hathaway took away his triumph. In between, Brocke Bonnette pinned Eduardo Gonzales 47 seconds into their 138-pound faceoff.

Jake Harvey, the people's choice with a loud bevy of girl supporters yelling his every move, fought the good fight but went down, 8-5, in a three-period thriller to 152-pound Micah Wells.

In an exhibition, La Jolla's Austin Clerget pinned Nathaniel Loya at the beginning of the meet.

LJ g BB 21, Scripps Ranch 48

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's girls basketball team started out okay. Satori Roberson took a sweet pass over her shoulder on a give-and-go for a basket.

Roberson then drove to make another basket on her own.

Finally, the 5'11" center had a putback of a miss by Katrina Kurtchi to bring the Vikings back to trailing host Scripps Ranch, 14-10, near the end of the first quarter.

But from there, things unraveled as La Jolla suffered a 48-21 loss in the Western League to the Falcons Tues., Jan. 26.

"The first quarter was pretty good," said LJHS coach Darice Carnaje. But she shook her head about most of the rest of the game.

She concluded on a hopeful note, "We're getting better every game."

LJ g BB: Sartorial Satori

Satori drives to the basket with

her new confidence.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

It's going to torture us a little to say it, but I'm going to go ahead: Satori Roberson's drives to the basket Tues., Jan. 26, against Scripps Ranch reminded one a little of a developing Madeleine Gates two years ago.

Four times the 5'11" senior either put the ball to the floor to drive down the lane to the basket, or she took a pass from a teammate to score, during one stretch in the second half.

This is yet another element of the blossoming Satori's basketball game. Previously noted has been her realization incorporated into her athletic body's movement that you go off your opposite foot for a layup.

The give-and-go was just beautiful, as Roberson sprinted for the basket looking over her shoulder for her teammate's pass. I've never seen her do this before--in three years of La Jolla basketball.

In 2013-14, one saw something similar: the talented Gates, since lost by the basketball program to a focus on volleyball only, dribbling down the lane proficiently with her right hand to the bucket. Then, as the season proceeded and her confidence increased, dribbling the ball all the way from half court unguarded to lay the ball up. All effectively breaking a press by the Vikings' opponent.

As Gates only did it with her right hand, whereas the goal is to eventually to be able to handle the ball with both hands equally well, her former teammate is making steps of growth incrementally.

The basic footwork for a layup. Pretty simple. That started showing in December.

Now, the drive to the basket.

Satori added another wrinkle in the same game: Twice, from the left block, she made a power step into the lane to make a right-handed turnaround shot or jump hook. This is new stuff. Evidence of practice. Someone is working with her. And she is being an apt pupil.

"Yeah, she does that," Coach Darnice Carnaje acknowledged her center's new drive ability after the game.

"She is so athletic," said the veteran coach, "she can get places" and reach for balls others without her mobility wouldn't be able to try for.

"But (as a result) she got into foul trouble. That hurts the team. She has to learn that she can't get into foul trouble." As a result, she sat out the start of the second half, contributing to a slide by La Jolla from down 28-15 at halftime to a nearly 30-point deficit later in the second half.

"We're getting better each game," Carnaje repeated. Roberson and her teammates, indeed, are getting better.

LJ FB: Roach

Tyler Roach, offensive coordinator for La Jolla's football team the past three years, was holding his handsome baby boy at the Viking boys basketball game at Scripps Ranch Tues., Jan. 26, and said he has applied for the head football coaching position.

"I wanted to be the first one to apply," he said, standing with his family before viewing the game.

"No, we don't want that," Roach said in reply to a statement about La Jolla having to start over with a new coach's program after Jason Carter stepped down earlier in the month.

Interested parties have until Jan. 31 to submit their applications online for the open position.

Roach sat with assistant coach John McColl and talked with him during the game, won by Scripps, 57-46. Two of Roach's players, Daniel McColl and Nick Hammel, were on the court for the Vikings.

Regarding what position his young son would play in football, Roach included "running back" in his prediction, being the offensive coach that he is.

LJ b BB 46, Scripps Ranch 57

The Vikes' Eddie Parker (13) has to

fight through a screen by Kyle

Mullin (22) of Scripps.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

These circulated on the La Jolla side after the Vikings' 57-46 loss in boys basketball at Scripps Ranch Tues., Jan. 26:

--"Scripps shot the eyes out of the basket on threes, with 9, to the Vikings' 4, on 9-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc."

--"None of La Jolla's players played well."

--"This was the first game La Jolla lost to a team it should have beaten."

All three were pretty true, as the traveling Vikings spent a frustrating evening in which, at some points, they couldn't throw a pea in the ocean on the offensive side and trailed 16-6 after one quarter.

The Falcons' Carsten DenHerder, a stocky, bearded senior who doesn't look like a basketball player, meanwhile was showing some range by hitting two three-pointers and a two in the period.

The visitors closed the margin to five at 18-13 early in the second quarter, but then fell back to 29-20 by halftime and 38-21 in the third quarter before Reed Farley slammed one home with 4:54 left.

The clean, two-handed dunk didn't do anything to cut the Vikings' turnovers and futile play. This time Scripps junior Kyle Mullin showed off some smart long-range shooting with a pair of threes in the third stanza and was 3 for 5 on the night from the arc.

Again in the fourth the Vikings crept back within seven, 51-44, on a putback by Daniel McColl. But by then there were only 30 seconds left, and La Jolla went down to a blasé Western League loss before a small, largely hushed late afternoon audience.

McColl led La Jolla with 11 points on 3 for 5 shooting from the field and 5 of 6 free throws. Guard Eddie Parker had 9 points, making 2 of 3 threes and shooting 3 for 5 overall from the field.

DenHerder led all scorers with 19 points. With his trio of threes, he shot 4 for 7 from the field.

After a relatively easy 55-41 win over Valley Center Saturday at Montgomery High in the Coaches Vs. Cancer event, and this loss, the Vikings are 2-4 in league play, 13-6 overall.

A fourth statement was heard among La Jolla wags after the loss:

--"The team has fallen back to earth, and maybe it's good for them."

The Vikings, who played effectively through a successful 8-2 December, look human now. They now trail a 3-3 Scripps Ranch team (12-8 overall) in the Western League standings at the half-way point.

LJ b BB: Stonebraker

Terry Stonebraker, long-time basketball coach at University City High, said Friday night, Jan. 22, when asked, that he understood the Western League, as well as the other City Conference teams, will be realigned for next season.

The question came up because CIF announced last week new league alignments for La Jolla High and other schools in the City Conference.

The basketball realignment would mean the Vikings would play some other combination of teams in league play than the present lineup of Cathedral Catholic, St. Augustine, Mission Bay, Lincoln, and Scripps Ranch.

It would be advantageous for La Jolla, which, since winning back-to-back CIF Division 3 titles in 2007-08 and 2008-09, and losing in the title game on free throws after the buzzer in 2009-10, has often struggled against Lincoln, which had a state championship team, and Cathedral and St. Augustine, private schools which can offer free tuition to talented players from throughout the county.

LJ g water polo: 'Daughters of Dungeon'

By Ed Piper

You talk to Summer Broekema and Claire Andrews and their ilk, in quiet pool-side interviews, and you get the idea they're the nicest, kindest people in the world.

But then you enter the "tank", so to speak, as I have in the past two weeks, to watch these La Jolla High water polo players up close in competition, and, well--

Let's say, the picture I have of them is fuller now. More rounded. The kitten, yes. But the kitten has claws.

A vivid image I have, writing the day after La Jolla finished sixth against top Southern California talent in the two-day America's Finest City tournament at Coronado, is this: Claire Andrews, defending close to the goal, sprawled out horizontally in the water while waiting for the time when she will have to spring into action and start clobbering.

These girls are physical. They pound. And they get pounded. There's no one-way street there.

Listen to the seemingly meek, mild Broekema, one of Coach Keller Felt's two starting goalies: "I'm a really competitive person. I guess that's something you wouldn't know about me if you just met me."

I'm thinking at the time, Oh, yeah, right. Like you're a real killer.

Now, I believe. "Daughters of Dungeon" I came up with. I'd call them "Daughters of Death". They deal death blows to their opponents. But I don't think that would go over too well.

"Madams of Mayhem." Now, that fits. Life in the pool is a battle.

The Vikings won their first 13 games this season, finally stopped by Bishop's in their only loss of 18 games until this weekend. They stand 18-3, with the remainder of league and CIF playoffs ahead.

And there's another thing. Water polo is a secret society unto itself. To the consternation of all of us reporters, they don't publish their teams' statistics. It's maddening. Hard to get the news of their triumphs out.

Part of that bond in the "secret society" is bearing almost unimaginable workouts without telling others outside the "circle of trust" (go watch "Meet the Fockers"). Monday and Wednesday mornings, "5:15 a.m. on the deck, 5:30 in the water," fellow assassin Nicole Bertrand told me. Those are workouts for pure conditioning, in addition to the regular daily practices in the afternoon!

I gained a glimpse into the inner chamber, and it is full of horrors. Lexi Atwell dunking, and being dunked, then coming up for air, sputtering water out of her mouth, and immediately resuming her chase for the ball. Karlie Canale, ditto. Leslie Rendon-Morales, check. Kira Bruno, the same. 

LJ g water polo 7, Carlsbad 11

La Jolla dropped an 11-7 decision to Carlsbad in the fifth-place game of the America's Finest City water polo tournament at Coronado High Sat., Jan. 23. An earlier 19-17 win over Vista Murrieta qualified the Vikings (now 18-3) for what turned out to be a sixth-place finish in the tourney.

Senior captain Lexi Atwell texted after the 19-17 win in a 1 p.m. game that it was "gnarly".

Earlier in the day, in an 11 a.m. game at the Brian Bent Memorial Aquatic Center, on the campus of Coronado High, La Jolla lost an 8-7 nail-biter to Huntington Beach as a last-second shot that would have tied the contest hit the left post and missed. If LJHS had tied, then won in overtime, it would have meant a trip to the tournament semifinals at 3 p.m.

The talented La Jolla squad is off until Thurs., Jan. 28, when Atwell, fellow captains Claire Andrews and Kira Bruno and colleagues travel to Coronado for a Western League contest at 3:30 p.m.

LJ b BB 64, UC 52

La Jolla's Nick Hammel exerts in trying to maintain

possession against UC's Seth Laurie.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's basketball team held off a late University City rally to win its 11th game out of 13 that were not against highly-ranked Western League opponents, not counting early-season losses to Parker and Torrey Pines. The Vikings prevailed, 64-52, Fri., Jan. 22, in front of their biggest crowd of the year by far.

In sifting through the Vikings' record like this--throwing out league losses to Cathedral Catholic, St. Augustine, and Mission Bay--it shows the relative strength of the 2015-16 team. Coach Paul Baranowski's squad hasn't been stellar against top Western League foes, but it has been very good against all others.

And we could take the sifting one step further: La Jolla played well against then-fifth-ranked Torrey Pines before losing. And if it weren't for Tulane-bound Timothy Harrison shooting unconsciously from well beyond the three-point arc for 35 points, La Jolla could have beaten Parker, too.

In the rivalry game against the young Centurions, with the outstanding LJHS band in uniform and in fine tune for the second Friday night in a row, junior Reed Farley and comrades built a 14-point halftime lead on a 28-9 run.

Then, with their lead down to five and under two minutes left and the struggling Eddie Parker hitting three key free throws on a single shooting foul, the Vikings were able to hold off a surging UC unit for the final 12-point margin.

La Jolla's first-half tear converted an early 7-2 deficit to a 30-16 lead after two quarters. But then UC's Anil Tangirala made a bid for late heroics by hitting four three-pointers in the final period and the Centurions, winless (0-6) in the Western League, trailed only 53-48 when Parker stepped to the line.

Eddie had clanked three of six previous free throws, hitting the front of the rim and throwing up one air ball. He shook his head and muttered to himself. With 1:44 left in the game, and the shot-clock on three, the senior guard leaped in the air beyond the arc. Foolishly on UC's part, he was fouled, giving him a trio of free throws.

He calmly sank all three in succession, giving the Vikings some breathing room and an eight-point lead, enough to sail home safely.

In the third quarter, Anil and his minions began making things tough for the hosts with four threes by four different players. La Jolla still held them at least nine points away the whole quarter, though.

Parker finished with 16 points. Farley had 15.

It was the uncanny Farley-Alex Pitrofsky connection that helped fuel the early drive. Farley, the Vikings' junior point guard, found his 6'6" counterpart twice in the opening quarter for baskets. They combined for another in the second quarter.

But it was also the movement without the ball of the senior Pitrofsky, showing no ill effects of a sickness that sidelined him Tuesday, that created headaches for the Centurions. Alex scored a trio of baskets in each of the first two quarters, then two in each of the second two quarters, for a total of 22 points to lead all scorers. UC had no one with the height or ability to rein him in.

LJ g water polo 12, Agoura 3

Junior Sydney Boland applies pressure on

Agoura's Sawyer Alter (2) in 13-3

Vikings win. (Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Under a full moon, La Jolla's water polo team was howling as Ciara Franke and company launched out to an early 4-2 lead en route to a 12-3 victory in the second round of the America's Finest City Tournament Fri., Jan. 22.

Franke, playing big in the two-meter position in front of the goal, scored the Vikings' first, second, and fourth goals, all in the first half.

When Franke, with her back to the goal, receives the ball that close to pay dirt, the average defender is going to find it pretty difficult to stop her. She's physical, and she's obviously playing with a lot of confidence, as are her teammates on the 17-1 Vikings.

On the merits of La Jolla's second straight win to open the tournament in its home pool Friday, Coach Keller Felt's squad will play an 11 a.m. quarterfinal Saturday at the Brian Belt Memorial Aquatic Center on the Coronado High campus.

Said senior captain Claire Andrews, "Our defense has been pretty unstoppable. We gave up only five goals in the two games today."

Echoed teammate Nicole Bertrand: "Our defense makes our team."

The Vikings' Ciara Franke (10) imposes her will

inside from the two-meter position.

 



Sydney Boland led scoring with four goals. Lexi Atwell and Karli Canale each scored two goals. Kira Bruno added another goal.

Before the game, assistant coach Tom Atwell, walking without a crutch after suffering a stress fracture last weekend, was discussing the intersplicing of tournaments into the league schedule. "It gives a team the chance to try some things out against teams that they don't normally play," he said as one advantage, "before CIF playoffs."

After the game, his daughter Lexi said, "I'm going to sound somewhat similar, because tournament play does let us try some things out." She continued: "They (tournaments) are tiring."  She was speaking later in the evening, after watching the Viking boys basketball team defeat University City. By then, it was after 9 p.m. on a school day after playing two full water polo games.

LJ g water polo 13, Oaks Christian 2

Karlie Canale arches up to power a shot on

goal in the Vikings' 10-5 win over Cathedral

Wed., Jan. 20. (Photos by Ed Piper)

La Jolla smashed Oaks Christian, 13-2, to use captain Lexi Atwell's word, in the opening game of the two-day American's Finest City girls water polo tournament Fri., Jan. 22, at Coggan Pool.

Phoebe Diller, Ciara Franke, and Karli Canale scored three goals apiece for the Vikings.

Jensine Bugelli had two. Kira Bruno and Julie Shriver had one each.

Randy Franke, father of Ciara, keeps the scorebook for La Jolla. One report was that the score was 14-2. But Randy explained there was an error made, then corrected after the game.

The Vikings play at 6 p.m. Friday evening at Coggan Pool against the winner of the Agoura-Vista game at 2 p.m.

Win or lose, La Jolla plays at 11 a.m. Saturday. If the Vikings win their second game Friday, they play at Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Center at Coronado High School against the winner of the Friday 8 p.m. game. If they lose, they play the loser of the Friday 8 p.m. game.

 

Kira Bruno (9) faces double coverage in one position

in 10-5 win over Dons.

 

Ciara Franke applies pressure on defense.



LJ g water polo: Rankings

La Jolla, with a 15-1 record going into the American's Finest City tournament Fri., Jan. 22, is ninth while Cathedral Catholic, whom the Vikings pounded 10-5 earlier this week, is third in CIF power rankings.

As one observer said, "The power rankings aren't perfect."

Coach Keller Felt's LJHS squad faces Oaks Christian at 1 p.m. at Coggan Pool Friday, according to information on the Internet. The Vikings will then play through their bracket Friday and Saturday in the tournament, based in Coronado.

Playing sites including Coggan, Brian Bent Memorial Aquatics Complex at Coronado High School, and the Coronado Community Aquatics Center on the Silver Strand.

'Umping for the Dodgers'

By Ed Piper

I'll never forget when our dad came home and told us, "I'm going to be umpiring for the Dodgers."

I was about eight years old, and this caused quite a stir, because we lived in L.A. Dodger territory and we thought it meant Dad was going to go pro!

"Are you going to be umpiring for the real Dodgers in L.A.?", we asked.

"No," he and our mom explained, "it's going to be for your Dodger league at Patrick Henry."

My older brother Steve and I played for the Dodgers in rubber-coated-ball youth baseball in the Patrick Henry Cub League--"P.H.C.L." on our trophies.

"Oh." It took a while for us to settle down from the excitement, having thought Dad would be on the games on TV from Dodger Stadium--without so much as having ever played baseball as a boy, much less umpired it!

Shag Crawford and Harry Wendelstedt and all the other major league umpires at the time would have been mighty jealous to have seen a whippersnapper like Dad with no experience suddenly skyrocket into their selective ranks.

So Dad, having never learned the strike zone as a batter, now would be calling the strike zone for young players who practiced all the time. Somehow he did honorable service.

It was his way of serving as a parent in a youth organization that ran by having volunteers perform the various duties of the organization.

But our dad was like that. Part of the "Greatest Generation", we could say--applying that to both our dad and mom.

When he wasn't "umpiring for the Dodgers"--he never did any of our games, because that would have created an unnecessary conflict--he attended our games with Mom. And their great quality was that they stayed behind the scenes. They never raised a peep.

During games, they never made a single loud comment during all of Steve's and my years playing baseball. After games, they never complained to the coach or manager that their kids weren't playing enough.

That wasn't true for all parents. One baseball player, Wayne, in the new community that we moved to after the PHCL, had a nightmare of a dad who yelled and screamed and carried on during games, with his son wishing he could melt into the scenery from embarrassment.

Now, looking back, I really admire my dad for his selflessness in staying quiet and in the background in his sons' sports. Having not been allowed to play sports as a child because it was the Depression and he had to work three paper routes--the family story goes--Ed Sr., with our mom, made a point of ensuring that we three kids could participate in any after-school activities we wanted. And without interference.

Having not played sports as a kid, he didn't live through us kids as we played baseball and, later, high school basketball. Maybe his background made that easier. But I'm thankful he didn't play a vocal role and try to get us more playing time when we were sitting on the bench. Some parents, out of their love for their child, could still benefit from learning to stay out of the way and "let the kids play".

LJ FB: Re-leaguing

By Ed Piper

The earth just opened under La Jolla High and other members of the former Western League.

The Western League, as we know it--and the other City Conference leagues--are no more.

With the news that the leagues are being completely realigned according to power rankings, Viking football fans can now look forward to their team vying against schools of more comparable ability, beginning next August.

The City Conference has had okayed the formation of a whole new lineup of schools: La Jolla will begin competing in an as-yet unnamed new league that includes local rival University City; Serra, right down Balboa Ave.; the green and yellow of Patrick Henry; and Hoover.

I can already hear the clang of weights on the bars in strength coach Ryan Lennard's room sounding a little different.

No more will there be moans of "Why do we have to play Madison in league? They recruit."

And it's goodbye to at least the league rivalry for "the Boot" with Point Loma, which has "not recruited" football players from as far away as the South Bay for as long as I've been in San Diego.

Now, all our beloved black-and-red program needs is a new pilot to lead us into this new frontier of parity under the power rankings.

The application deadline for the new head football coach comes Jan. 31. Meanwhile, assistant coach John McColl, about whom somebody said recently, "The program wouldn't function if it weren't for John McColl," is said to be helping keep weight training going in the interim.

His son, Daniel, a forward on the LJHS basketball team, doesn't seem to be showing any ill effects from the limbo situation. He scored well against Bishop's in their rivalry game Wed., Jan. 20. Nick Hammel, his teammate on both the football and basketball teams, just keeps rolling along, as well.

Cathedral Catholic and St. Augustine went where they should be under the new alignment: They will face off against each other in the football reconfiguration, with the "Madhouse" boys of Madison and Point Loma, along with fifth-wheel Mira Mesa.

Mission Bay goes bye-bye, too, joined up with Lincoln, Scripps Ranch, Morse, and Christian in yet another league. The old names of the leagues will reportedly be kept: Western, Eastern, Central. They just haven't been assigned yet.

We'll have to wait to see on basketball. That's not necessarily going to be reconfigured before next season. I don't know the status on that. I dipped my toe into the inner workings of CIF with attendance at my first Coordinating Council meeting recently. But that still doesn't get me up to speed on when basketball will be realigned according to power rankings.

The good part of the earthquakian shift is that La Jolla, if it chooses, can still schedule its more-talented, long-time nemeses as part of its non-league football schedule. With four league opponents, as in the previous alignment, that leaves space for five or six games against teams from other leagues.

For La Jolla, playing the likes of Henry, Serra, and UC means catching one's breath, starting over under a new coach, and building under parity. That's a positive move, in my book.

An issue the new head coach will have to deal with is the number of bodies in the football program: How will he draw a larger number from the entire LJHS student population? We're not a Bishop's or Country Day that has to employ six or seven players on both offense and defense due to a small student body.

Another issue playing itself out across the nation is boys and their parents deciding whether they're going to play football, in view of the growing discussion over concussions and CTE, the condition that has been found in the brains of former NFL players. How many dads, who played football themselves in their school days, will prohibit their sons from playing? How many boys will just choose lacrosse or soccer or baseball or another sport as a safer choice?