By Ed Piper
I have two observations from La Jolla's 1-0 win in the second round of the CIF Division 4 playoffs in boys soccer Sat., Feb. 27, besides the majestic osprey, with his large wingspan, soaring over the field at the start of the game.
First, after Viking Jack Barone knocked in the lone goal just before halftime, I was reminded how success brings a relaxation from tenseness. When the players came to the sideline, they were whooping, hollering, joking with each other. This was in direct contrast to the controlled, possibly tight, demeanor they exhibited only a short time before.
When we experience a good result, we naturally loosen all our muscles and our mind is freed to think, plan, create. At least that's what I thought I saw happening among the La Jolla players, a dynamic which I and all other sports observers have seen happen many times before.
The Viking players' confidence soared, as the bird had 40 minutes earlier. Going into the second half against Crawford, now leading instead of struggling in a no-score tie, La Jolla would be a formidable foe.
Isn't it ironic that we naturally relax after achieving a step forward, when in reality we would benefit if we could let tension go during the adversity? That's what all performers work toward--in sports it's now called "slowing things down".
My second observation has to do with soccer (and some other sports): Once the Vikings went into the lead, they were now faced with the fact they didn't want to lose that lead in the second 40-minute period. I didn't observe them being tentative or hesitant in the second half. But--since goals are so rare in soccer, and an opponent can easily knock in a goal when you least expect it, even when you're playing solid defense--La Jolla couldn't afford to allow a tie, then go into an overtime in which anything could happen.
So, as the second half progressed and the minutes were ticking down, the Viking players were actually playing to avoid losing, as opposed to attacking to win. In trying to score another goal, you can use up valuable resources and suffer a counterattack, giving up an avoidable goal.
As I sat at the end of benches on the Mission Bay High field (where La Jolla had the home game, since Edwards Stadium is all torn up) away from the LJHS players, with my camera propped up, the coaches paced back and forth, barking out commands, propping up players, conferring on what defensive player to send in to use the limited substitutions wisely.
Assistant coach Victor Zendejas, who is always quite vocal, told defender Alejandro Romano, who he calls "Ali", "Animales, diles que hablen y griten" ("Get them [his fellow defenders] fired up, tell them to talk and get loud"). Head coach Marcos Gonzales is much more subdued outwardly.
The energy released at the end of the game, the victory secure 1-0, came from all the focus on not allowing a tying goal, as well as the celebration of the win. La Jolla hasn't gone into the third round of the playoffs in a while.
The Vikings play Serra in the semifinals Wed., March 2. They have the higher seed, so it will be another home game, most likely at Mission Bay again.
Since teams are placed in the playoffs by power rankings, one reward for La Jolla's lower performance in the last few years is placement in Division 4, which allows the Vikings more opportunities for success.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
LJ b BB 61, Helix 59
By Ed Piper
Senior Eddie Parker scored the winning basket on a driving layup from the left wing with five seconds left, as La Jolla defeated Helix, 61-59, Sat., Feb. 27, to move into the CIF Division 2 semifinals.
The feisty Highlanders had tied the game 59-59 with 12 seconds left on a three-point bomb. The Vikings held a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but saw that lead erode steadily through the fourth quarter.
Guard Reed Farley had deposited a layup with 27.6 seconds on the clock to put the host La Jollans in the lead before a big student crowd, the loudest of the year. After the girls water polo championship game ended, a number of students came over from the pool and crowded the floor along the western sideline.
"In the huddle after they shot the three, Coach (Paul Baranowski) said Reed take the ball," recounted Parker, amid the student crowd that flooded the floor at the final buzzer and was still milling around the court. "Number 13 was just standing there. Reed couldn't get open. I thought I might do something.
"So I did what I think I do best, which is attack the basket."
Parker, in his second high-scoring playoff game after a drought, finished with 21 points. His backcourt mate, Farley, had 14. A third guard, Nick Hammel, plunked in 10.
The Vikings led 33-22 at halftime. The margin narrowed to six points in the third quarter, with the score 47-38 at the end of the period.
La Jolla travels to West Hills (the number-one seed) Tues., March 1, for the semifinal tilt. The Vikings are seeded fourth.
Senior Eddie Parker scored the winning basket on a driving layup from the left wing with five seconds left, as La Jolla defeated Helix, 61-59, Sat., Feb. 27, to move into the CIF Division 2 semifinals.
The feisty Highlanders had tied the game 59-59 with 12 seconds left on a three-point bomb. The Vikings held a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but saw that lead erode steadily through the fourth quarter.
Guard Reed Farley had deposited a layup with 27.6 seconds on the clock to put the host La Jollans in the lead before a big student crowd, the loudest of the year. After the girls water polo championship game ended, a number of students came over from the pool and crowded the floor along the western sideline.
"In the huddle after they shot the three, Coach (Paul Baranowski) said Reed take the ball," recounted Parker, amid the student crowd that flooded the floor at the final buzzer and was still milling around the court. "Number 13 was just standing there. Reed couldn't get open. I thought I might do something.
"So I did what I think I do best, which is attack the basket."
Parker, in his second high-scoring playoff game after a drought, finished with 21 points. His backcourt mate, Farley, had 14. A third guard, Nick Hammel, plunked in 10.
The Vikings led 33-22 at halftime. The margin narrowed to six points in the third quarter, with the score 47-38 at the end of the period.
La Jolla travels to West Hills (the number-one seed) Tues., March 1, for the semifinal tilt. The Vikings are seeded fourth.
LJ b soccer 1, Crawford 0
By Ed Piper
A pair of ospreys cackled from their nest atop a light stanchion at Mission Bay High's stadium as both teams stood at midfield during the first half of the National Anthem, then one sprang from the nest to soar high over the field during the remainder of the anthem before La Jolla's second-round boys soccer match against Crawford Sat., Feb. 27.
It seemed to be a good sign, and it was for the Vikings, who haven't seen much playoff action in recent years. Jack Barone, back from a long absence due to an injury, popped in the lone goal of the game after the clock stopped at the end of the first half, and La Jolla made it stand up for the 1-0 victory.
A pair of ospreys cackled from their nest atop a light stanchion at Mission Bay High's stadium as both teams stood at midfield during the first half of the National Anthem, then one sprang from the nest to soar high over the field during the remainder of the anthem before La Jolla's second-round boys soccer match against Crawford Sat., Feb. 27.
It seemed to be a good sign, and it was for the Vikings, who haven't seen much playoff action in recent years. Jack Barone, back from a long absence due to an injury, popped in the lone goal of the game after the clock stopped at the end of the first half, and La Jolla made it stand up for the 1-0 victory.
LJ g water polo 4, Bishop's 5
By Ed Piper
Sydney Boland scored on a lob from in close to knot the game 2-2 midway through the second quarter, but La Jolla went into halftime with a 4-2 deficit and saw rival Bishop's secure its sixth straight CIF title with a 5-4 win Saturday evening, Feb. 27, at Coggan Pool.
Boland's shot, coming with 3:51 left in the period, followed teammate Ciara Franke's goal from center forward position in the first minute of the game. Franke's tally likewise tied the game, this one at 1-1.
Viking goalie Bennett Bugelli made several excellent stops as Bishop's, the two-seed to La Jolla's one-seed in the Open Division, came with aggression and gave the red and black their first test in the playoffs.
For six seniors on the LJHS squad, this was their last time playing together. They had been playing together on club and school teams since the fifth grade.
Large and expressive student cheering sections from both schools exchanged chants. Seven Vike students wore red paint spelling out "V-I-K-I-N-G-S" on their collective bare chests in the evening cool. They first stood up out of order.
"What time is it?" "Knight time" won out in the end.
Sydney Boland scored on a lob from in close to knot the game 2-2 midway through the second quarter, but La Jolla went into halftime with a 4-2 deficit and saw rival Bishop's secure its sixth straight CIF title with a 5-4 win Saturday evening, Feb. 27, at Coggan Pool.
Boland's shot, coming with 3:51 left in the period, followed teammate Ciara Franke's goal from center forward position in the first minute of the game. Franke's tally likewise tied the game, this one at 1-1.
Viking goalie Bennett Bugelli made several excellent stops as Bishop's, the two-seed to La Jolla's one-seed in the Open Division, came with aggression and gave the red and black their first test in the playoffs.
For six seniors on the LJHS squad, this was their last time playing together. They had been playing together on club and school teams since the fifth grade.
Large and expressive student cheering sections from both schools exchanged chants. Seven Vike students wore red paint spelling out "V-I-K-I-N-G-S" on their collective bare chests in the evening cool. They first stood up out of order.
"What time is it?" "Knight time" won out in the end.
Friday, February 26, 2016
LJ g BB 45, Bonita Vista 57
Satori Roberson (left) shows
her defensive prowess
against Daeshya Battle.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
A curious thing happened when host Bonita Vista broke out to a commanding 17-4 lead early in the second quarter in the Barons' CIF Division 2 playoff opener against La Jolla.
The Vikings didn't give up.
In a season in which new coach Darice Carnaje has preached getting better every game and playing for the joy of basketball, the inexperienced Vikings used a high-low offense Carnaje switched to after a 13-4 first quarter deficit to relax a little and to open the floor for more scoring opportunities.
Center Satori Roberson, herself emblematic of La Jolla's improvement over the course of the year, stood at the free throw line and found teammate Sina Anae at the low post for cuts behind the defense.
Trouble continued at the mid-court line, where point guard Rebecca Saul was under assault bringing the ball up court against the wicked pressure of Bonita's hard-working guards, tiny Alexis Lopez and Shyla LaTone.
That didn't get much better quickly, as the Vikings fell back to trailing 28-15 at halftime. But Saul started finding fellow guard Abby Ward and others nearby to pass to. La Jolla had closed the gap to eight points midway through the second quarter.
Unfortunately, the Vikings, though spirited, experienced a third quarter dropout, going from a nine-point deficit at 37-28 to losing 46-28 within a couple of minutes. The damage was done, but once again, Carnaje's crew didn't fold.
The red and black kept their pride and lost by a respectable 12 points in the final result.
LaTone, a stellar outside shooter, scorched the Vikings for 30 points. Included in her long-range arsenal were four three-pointers. Repeatedly, she put daggers in the Vikes' hearts with jumpers to slow down or reverse rallies.
Roberson, enjoying her best season as a senior by far, had a big impact in bringing her team back within eight points in the second period. She scored three straight baskets late in the quarter. First, Satori took a rebound and put it back up with 4:20 left in the half.
Then, after failing to finish on a drive, she had another putback for a bucket with 1:43 on the clock.
The third of her trio of scores came on an assist from Saul, who found her with 55 seconds left.
After the game, Carnaje complimented her players and applauded their steady improvement during the season in a closing circle outside the gym. No one had their head down, despite the season-ending loss.
LJ g water polo 14, Valhalla 6
Captain Lexi Atwell lobs yet another La Jolla missile
in the first half as Vikings stifle Valhalla, 11-4.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
La Jolla's top-ranked girls water polo team unleashed another blistering attack to smother Valhalla 14-6 in the CIF Open Division semifinals Thurs., Feb. 25, in the friendly confines of Coggan Pool.
This time five different Vikings got into the scoring act as they broke out to a 4-0 first quarter lead, then an insurmountable 8-0 advantage at halftime. It was 12-3 after three quarters.
Junior Kira Bruno, who hasn't been getting all the headlines lately among her talented teammates on the first-seed La Jolla squad, opened up scoring less than a minute into the contest with her goal. Two a half minutes later, big Ciara Franke delivered the first of her two goals in the first half from the center-forward spot directly in front of the goal.
In the last minute of the opening stanza, leading scorer Karli Canale drilled a shot from the five position to the left of the cage. Seconds later, senior captain Lexi Atwell added her first of an early pair of goals. La Jolla led, 4-0.
As Sydney Boland, Atwell again, a dominating Franke, then the junior Boland again scored goals in short order in the second quarter for the 8-0 halftime lead, the Viking defense led by goalie Bennett Bugelli was smothering Valhalla at the other end of the pool.
The Norsewomen, undefeated as Grossmont Hills League champions and the fifth seed in the Open Division bracket, were no match for torrid La Jolla, which beat El Camino in the quarterfinals, 11-4. Valhalla didn't manage to score until two minutes into the third quarter, a goal by Gabrielle Martinez.
At least in the quarterfinal match last Saturday overmatched El Camino was able to score a goal in the second quarter. This beating was worse, if that's possible.
The Vikings, now 25-4, have had to keep their eyes on the prize without any help from the competition in the playoffs. In fact, there hasn't been any competition in the upper bracket. Winning by big margins, Coach Keller Felt's squad has had to maintain its own focus and intensity. It has not been tested in the playoffs.
Looming in the lower bracket is archrival Bishop's, the second seed, which came back to defeat Carlsbad 8-7 in the later game. La Jolla lost to the Knights in the semifinals last year.
The title tilt is set for 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 27, at Coggan.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
LJ b BB 66, Canyon Crest 53
By Ed Piper
Canyon Crest guards Ryan Michaels and Tyler Elsom were creating havoc with outside shots against La Jolla in the first half of their first-round CIF Division 2 basketball game Wed., Feb. 24.
While the 6'2" Michaels hit two three-pointers and added a trio of free throws, and the diminutive Elsom, listed generously at 5'9", canned four threes and a pair of two-point goals, the visiting Ravens--seeded 13th to the Vikings' 4th seed--built up a seven-point bulge in the second quarter to lead 33-26. The hosts did come back to forge a narrow 35-33 at the half.
During halftime, La Jolla regrouped. Coach Paul Baranowski said the adjustment was a change in the way Nick Hammel and Eddie Parker guarded the hot Michaels and Elsom, respectively. Instead of going over or under the screen, the Viking defenders were to stay closer to their men.
It worked. With Elsom shut off completely from the floor in the second half, and Michaels limited to three layups with no outside bombs, La Jolla stayed consistent on the offensive end of the floor to build a nine-point lead, 46-37, midway through the third quarter.
The Vikes never led by less than six from there on, securing a 60-49 lead with 1:30 left in the playoff game on a pair of free throws by Parker. They won 66-53 before a polite but appreciative home crowd.
Senior Alex Pitrofsky had a season-high 28 points for the victors to lead all scorers. Earlier he scored 22 in a win over University City. Parker finished with 13 in addition to his defensive work on Elsom.
For the Ravens, Elsom had 17 points, while both Michaels and athletic Daymian Vajda had 16 each.
La Jolla (17-10) enjoys another home game Saturday evening, Feb. 27, in the second round of CIF against Helix, the fifth seed, which defeated Valley Center 61-45. The Highlanders have obviously righted the ship after getting clobbered by the Vikings in the season opener at Petco Park 55-30 on Dec. 1.
"They (Hamel and Parker) were guarding number 5 (the junior Michaels) and number 23 (Elsom, a sophomore)," said a smiling Baranowski afterward of the first half shots. "But they weren't getting up close enough to them. So we had to change the way they were covering them."
La Jolla had known going in that Canyon Crest had some shooters. Forward Charlie Gal, before the game, commented, "We have to close out really well. They have a lot of good shooters."
On the other bench, Raven coach Brian Baum cautioned that his players needed to block out the Vikings. "They're huge," he said. Baranowski was amused. "Not in our league," he said when told of his counterpart's comment.
Canyon Crest's center, Sawyer Lebert, who guarded Pitrofsky, has length at 6'7". He was physical with Alex, though not an offensive threat. But he wasn't successful in slowing down the mobile Pitrofsky, who goes at 6'6".
The Viking center, playing his final year at La Jolla, was a virtual point machine in the first two quarters, with four baskets in each period. He had 19 points at halftime.
Pitrofsky had a putback at 5-4, CCA leading. He took a pass from Hamel on another basket. He followed a miss with another score. Then he tied the game, 10-10, with two minutes left in the opening stanza with a jump shot.
In the second quarter, Reed Farley fed him for a bucket that he was fouled on. He made the free throw, the Vikings trailing 22-21 with 4:57 left in the period. He made another layup, then yet another as Vajda committed his third personal and had to sit out the remaining four minutes of the half.
Vajda, a team co-captain with Michaels, showed some nice moves inside as he carried much of the Raven offense in the second half with the guards stifled. The senior drove the baseline on the right side frequently for a trey of baskets in the third quarter, three more in the closing quarter.
Morgan Albers, another Viking senior in his last CIF playoff run, was the most effective he has been in the memory of one reporter. Down the stretch, in the fourth quarter, he made three crucial baskets.
Opening the period, with Canyon Crest knocking on the door, trailing only 48-42, Albers put a ball in for an eight-point lead.
Then, after Vajda drove to score his third straight basket for the Ravens, Albers turned his back to the hoop and made his signature left-handed move to bank the ball off the glass and put his team up, 58-48. There was 3:38 on the clock.
In between, the 6'4" Morgan persisted after having a shot blocked by Canyon's M.J. Metz to gather the ball up and put it in.
Canyon Crest guards Ryan Michaels and Tyler Elsom were creating havoc with outside shots against La Jolla in the first half of their first-round CIF Division 2 basketball game Wed., Feb. 24.
While the 6'2" Michaels hit two three-pointers and added a trio of free throws, and the diminutive Elsom, listed generously at 5'9", canned four threes and a pair of two-point goals, the visiting Ravens--seeded 13th to the Vikings' 4th seed--built up a seven-point bulge in the second quarter to lead 33-26. The hosts did come back to forge a narrow 35-33 at the half.
During halftime, La Jolla regrouped. Coach Paul Baranowski said the adjustment was a change in the way Nick Hammel and Eddie Parker guarded the hot Michaels and Elsom, respectively. Instead of going over or under the screen, the Viking defenders were to stay closer to their men.
It worked. With Elsom shut off completely from the floor in the second half, and Michaels limited to three layups with no outside bombs, La Jolla stayed consistent on the offensive end of the floor to build a nine-point lead, 46-37, midway through the third quarter.
The Vikes never led by less than six from there on, securing a 60-49 lead with 1:30 left in the playoff game on a pair of free throws by Parker. They won 66-53 before a polite but appreciative home crowd.
Senior Alex Pitrofsky had a season-high 28 points for the victors to lead all scorers. Earlier he scored 22 in a win over University City. Parker finished with 13 in addition to his defensive work on Elsom.
For the Ravens, Elsom had 17 points, while both Michaels and athletic Daymian Vajda had 16 each.
La Jolla (17-10) enjoys another home game Saturday evening, Feb. 27, in the second round of CIF against Helix, the fifth seed, which defeated Valley Center 61-45. The Highlanders have obviously righted the ship after getting clobbered by the Vikings in the season opener at Petco Park 55-30 on Dec. 1.
"They (Hamel and Parker) were guarding number 5 (the junior Michaels) and number 23 (Elsom, a sophomore)," said a smiling Baranowski afterward of the first half shots. "But they weren't getting up close enough to them. So we had to change the way they were covering them."
La Jolla had known going in that Canyon Crest had some shooters. Forward Charlie Gal, before the game, commented, "We have to close out really well. They have a lot of good shooters."
On the other bench, Raven coach Brian Baum cautioned that his players needed to block out the Vikings. "They're huge," he said. Baranowski was amused. "Not in our league," he said when told of his counterpart's comment.
Canyon Crest's center, Sawyer Lebert, who guarded Pitrofsky, has length at 6'7". He was physical with Alex, though not an offensive threat. But he wasn't successful in slowing down the mobile Pitrofsky, who goes at 6'6".
The Viking center, playing his final year at La Jolla, was a virtual point machine in the first two quarters, with four baskets in each period. He had 19 points at halftime.
Pitrofsky had a putback at 5-4, CCA leading. He took a pass from Hamel on another basket. He followed a miss with another score. Then he tied the game, 10-10, with two minutes left in the opening stanza with a jump shot.
In the second quarter, Reed Farley fed him for a bucket that he was fouled on. He made the free throw, the Vikings trailing 22-21 with 4:57 left in the period. He made another layup, then yet another as Vajda committed his third personal and had to sit out the remaining four minutes of the half.
Vajda, a team co-captain with Michaels, showed some nice moves inside as he carried much of the Raven offense in the second half with the guards stifled. The senior drove the baseline on the right side frequently for a trey of baskets in the third quarter, three more in the closing quarter.
Morgan Albers, another Viking senior in his last CIF playoff run, was the most effective he has been in the memory of one reporter. Down the stretch, in the fourth quarter, he made three crucial baskets.
Opening the period, with Canyon Crest knocking on the door, trailing only 48-42, Albers put a ball in for an eight-point lead.
Then, after Vajda drove to score his third straight basket for the Ravens, Albers turned his back to the hoop and made his signature left-handed move to bank the ball off the glass and put his team up, 58-48. There was 3:38 on the clock.
In between, the 6'4" Morgan persisted after having a shot blocked by Canyon's M.J. Metz to gather the ball up and put it in.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
LJ g soccer 1, Bonita Vista 0 (OT)
By Ed Piper
The Viking girls are writing a new script for the end of their soccer season.
La Jolla did not get its first win until last month.
Coach Kristin Jones' squad only managed one victory in Western League play, and four total wins overall.
For much of the season, offensive standout Phoebe Riley and defensive stalwart Jesse Penner were sidelined by injuries.
But finally, with Riley again playing regularly and Penner dressed and available, and neither host Bonita Vista nor the Vikings able to score for 95 minutes, Emma McCall-Delgado kicked in a feed in close from Charlie Davey after a cross from Phoebe to take home a 1-0 first-round victory in the CIF Division 1 playoffs Tues., Feb. 23.
"It was terrifying and exciting," said McCall-Delgado. "I thought I missed. I thought I hit it over (the goal). I'll admit it."
The goal came five and a half minutes into a single 15-minute overtime period after neither team managed to score through two periods. Riley brought the ball up the visitor sideline before sending a cross Davey's way for her back post run.
McCall-Delgado was asked if she had had a more exciting goal. "Not recently," she said. She mentioned a goal against Clairemont, but said this one was much more important, considering it won a playoff game.
Goalie Vanessa Shaffer recorded the shutout for the Vikings.
La Jolla was awarded the 11th seed in the bracket off its low power ranking, the Barons the sixth seed. With the upset, the Vikings now earn the right to face Point Loma, the three seed which had a first-round bye, on the Pointers' home field Fri., Feb. 26.
In their previous encounter, the Vikings lost 1-0 to Point Loma in a Western League game Dec. 17.
The game in Bonita was La Jolla's first one all season on natural grass, "the first time in a couple of years," according to Jones. She voiced some concern before the game about "the playing conditions", as she termed them. The Bonita Vista field is uneven and hard-packed, causing some high bounces in the game. "If we can get through the first 10 minutes, with the nerves and the playing conditions, we'll be fine," she said.
In addition, though Riley has now played the last three weeks, midfielder Trisha Turner was going through the concussion protocol after sustaining one Thursday at Coronado and has not been released to play. "We're optimistic about (her playing) Friday," said her coach.
"We're a little weak in the midfield," said Jones of Turner's inactive status. Also unavailable to play was defender Grace Dessert.
Penner did not play, though Jones said before the game she might insert the tall veteran defender as the game progressed.
McCall-Delgado's shot, a right-footer from close range rising as it arched into the middle of the net, was a "golden ball"--the first goal scored in the overtime, making it the game-ender.
If neither team had scored in the overtime, it would then have moved to a "FIFA shootout", as the lead official called it, with five players from each team alternating kicks until a conclusion.
The Viking girls are writing a new script for the end of their soccer season.
La Jolla did not get its first win until last month.
Coach Kristin Jones' squad only managed one victory in Western League play, and four total wins overall.
For much of the season, offensive standout Phoebe Riley and defensive stalwart Jesse Penner were sidelined by injuries.
But finally, with Riley again playing regularly and Penner dressed and available, and neither host Bonita Vista nor the Vikings able to score for 95 minutes, Emma McCall-Delgado kicked in a feed in close from Charlie Davey after a cross from Phoebe to take home a 1-0 first-round victory in the CIF Division 1 playoffs Tues., Feb. 23.
"It was terrifying and exciting," said McCall-Delgado. "I thought I missed. I thought I hit it over (the goal). I'll admit it."
The goal came five and a half minutes into a single 15-minute overtime period after neither team managed to score through two periods. Riley brought the ball up the visitor sideline before sending a cross Davey's way for her back post run.
McCall-Delgado was asked if she had had a more exciting goal. "Not recently," she said. She mentioned a goal against Clairemont, but said this one was much more important, considering it won a playoff game.
Goalie Vanessa Shaffer recorded the shutout for the Vikings.
La Jolla was awarded the 11th seed in the bracket off its low power ranking, the Barons the sixth seed. With the upset, the Vikings now earn the right to face Point Loma, the three seed which had a first-round bye, on the Pointers' home field Fri., Feb. 26.
In their previous encounter, the Vikings lost 1-0 to Point Loma in a Western League game Dec. 17.
The game in Bonita was La Jolla's first one all season on natural grass, "the first time in a couple of years," according to Jones. She voiced some concern before the game about "the playing conditions", as she termed them. The Bonita Vista field is uneven and hard-packed, causing some high bounces in the game. "If we can get through the first 10 minutes, with the nerves and the playing conditions, we'll be fine," she said.
In addition, though Riley has now played the last three weeks, midfielder Trisha Turner was going through the concussion protocol after sustaining one Thursday at Coronado and has not been released to play. "We're optimistic about (her playing) Friday," said her coach.
"We're a little weak in the midfield," said Jones of Turner's inactive status. Also unavailable to play was defender Grace Dessert.
Penner did not play, though Jones said before the game she might insert the tall veteran defender as the game progressed.
McCall-Delgado's shot, a right-footer from close range rising as it arched into the middle of the net, was a "golden ball"--the first goal scored in the overtime, making it the game-ender.
If neither team had scored in the overtime, it would then have moved to a "FIFA shootout", as the lead official called it, with five players from each team alternating kicks until a conclusion.
Memo
By Ed Piper
I noticed the Costco checker's name on his badge and it was Guillermo, so I asked, "Are you Memo?" and we got to talking about Mexico.
Memo, my Spanish tutor while I lived a year in Mexico City after college, has nothing to do with sports. But I will tie him in with the basketball I played there while I was teaching English at a private secondary school, then ESL to adults in corporations around Mexico City.
Memo, by the way, is the normal nickname for Guillermo, if you're wondering. Just as my nickname in Spanish, Lalo, is a common nickname for Eduardo (though I'm an Edwin--but nobody recognized that, nor Eduviges, which is the Spanish counterpart for Edwin and can be male or female--so everyone would laugh when I tried that).
He was an engineer who taught at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) in Mexico City, the brother of my boss when I taught adult ESL. A real nice guy, he would come to my room (I'd say apartment, but it wasn't) every Tuesday and Thursday morning after I returned from teaching a 7 a.m. ESL class at a corporation (KFC, or Sandoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, or GTE Sylvania, etc.).
Memo, a short guy who remarked on my then-startling appearance (a long beard and hair, when I had hair, on my 6'5" height), picked out a grammar book in Spanish at my request and that became our textbook for our one-hour tutoring sessions. I love grammar, got good at it in English (taught it later in high school), then learned quite a bit from Memo and the grammar book about Spanish grammar.
We would speak in Spanish the entire hour, so I was getting a ton of Spanish--including technical terms I would use--in a short time.
Meanwhile, I was playing basketball for an adult club team, unaffiliated with any school or college. We were Los Brujos (the Wizards, long before the Washington Wizards were named), and we were the only men's team coached by a woman. Her name was Yula Moguel Viveros, and unfortunately she already had a boy friend, Marco, who was a reserve guard on the team. (They never did get married, from what I can tell.) This is 20 years before I met my wife.
Yula had played on the national junior basketball team for Mexico, and she was a strict taskmaster who, though she didn't speak a word of English, had the latest offenses and defenses from the U.S. by looking at the diagrams in books and translating the words one-by-one: "wing" is ala, "forward" is delantero, stuff like that.
What was pretty funny was her pressing me into duty as translator early in my year in Mexico City when I still didn't know much Spanish (I took a class and practiced and memorized quite a bit) when she invited two American coaches for a chat after a clinic. She kept saying Dile, Dile, which means "Tell him" whatever she wanted to communicate to one of them--I didn't know this, so I would just ignore the Dile and try to get the rest of what she told me to tell the two gringos.
I don't know if they were college coaches or what in the U.S., but I would imagine. They were astounded at her employing the latest patterns during a segment she taught at the coaches clinic that they had met her at. (I wasn't invited to the clinic.)
I think what happened is that she invited them to a Sunday evening practice we had--she worked us hard--and they observed what she was running with us.
So they told me to ask her how she knew these patterns. She said she just took a book by a U.S. coach and translated ala for "wing", etc. They were quite impressed.
Yula drilled us. Like I said, she was a taskmaster. Our practices, since we were all adults in our early 20's who worked during the day, were from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday. She would run us, too, during most of the practice--we were in far better condition than our opponents. We employed a full-court press. She put me on the ball so that the inbounder had trouble seeing past me. Then our guards would scamper about and steal the ball quite frequently.
We won a lot of games off conditioning and the press. Other teams got flustered, and tired, and turned the ball over.
One time I met my match in a 6'5" center who was a captain in the Mexican army. I don't remember his name. He was good, and he had me in foul trouble early on. We got blown out. But another thing I learned was that he owned the refs. I learned that if you make comments but the refs don't understand you (as I was doing in English), it has no psychological effect on the refs. So I learned some key words in Spanish to use when needed.
One Sunday morning, after I had spent Friday night and all day Saturday in bed in agony with la turista (the trots), Yula sent Marco (who was Marco Antonio, Mark Anthony, a common male name) into my room to get me up and go to El Desierto de los Leones ("The Desert of the Lions"), a sprawling park outside Mexico City. I had never been there.
She ran all of us on the team, me included, over rock formations, down dirt paths, in a winding route in the park. Later she told me that because I was willing to run hard and take part in these workouts, she could push the other members of our team: "Look at Edwin (she's about the only person that called me Edwin), he's doing it. So should you."
The dream came to an end when, after the Mexican peso was devalued twice in two months, a friend of the family who was the editor of a small newspaper in Goleta, next to Santa Barbara, asked my mother for my contact number and called next door to my neighbor in Mexico City.
Bob Lauffer, who I had done an internship for during my senior year at Chico State, offered me the job of being his sports editor. I said, "No, I can't do it," but by the next morning I had planned my exit to the Goleta Today (the name of the now-defunct newspaper). I just could not keep living in Mexico City with my ESL income halved in value, then halved again. This was in the election year of 1976, when Jose Lopez Portillo became president. Corruption was rampant, and inflation was in the triple or quadruple digits--something we never experience here (other than during the Great Depression).
I crushed my coach Yula's basketball heart by waiting till after practice on a Friday night, near the end of October in 1976, asking Marco to drop off the other team members before me. Then, in his car, I told her I was leaving to go back to California. That meant the end of our team, which didn't win another game, I believe, since the press and our offense centered around a big 6'5" gringo who, though not great, was effective in that league. She started crying and never stopped. I had to go take the Metro (subway) on foot.
Yula did forgive me, later visiting Southern California with her mother, Lucila. We had a good visit. She even got to attend a girls basketball game at Westlake High School in Westlake Village, where I substitute-taught and announced the girls games. She sat next to me, and we conversed (in Spanish) in between times when I had to announce a foul or substitution (in English). I lost my voice as a result.
That is the story of Memo, my tutor, and Los Brujos, my basketball team.
I noticed the Costco checker's name on his badge and it was Guillermo, so I asked, "Are you Memo?" and we got to talking about Mexico.
Memo, my Spanish tutor while I lived a year in Mexico City after college, has nothing to do with sports. But I will tie him in with the basketball I played there while I was teaching English at a private secondary school, then ESL to adults in corporations around Mexico City.
Memo, by the way, is the normal nickname for Guillermo, if you're wondering. Just as my nickname in Spanish, Lalo, is a common nickname for Eduardo (though I'm an Edwin--but nobody recognized that, nor Eduviges, which is the Spanish counterpart for Edwin and can be male or female--so everyone would laugh when I tried that).
He was an engineer who taught at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (UAM) in Mexico City, the brother of my boss when I taught adult ESL. A real nice guy, he would come to my room (I'd say apartment, but it wasn't) every Tuesday and Thursday morning after I returned from teaching a 7 a.m. ESL class at a corporation (KFC, or Sandoz, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, or GTE Sylvania, etc.).
Memo, a short guy who remarked on my then-startling appearance (a long beard and hair, when I had hair, on my 6'5" height), picked out a grammar book in Spanish at my request and that became our textbook for our one-hour tutoring sessions. I love grammar, got good at it in English (taught it later in high school), then learned quite a bit from Memo and the grammar book about Spanish grammar.
We would speak in Spanish the entire hour, so I was getting a ton of Spanish--including technical terms I would use--in a short time.
Meanwhile, I was playing basketball for an adult club team, unaffiliated with any school or college. We were Los Brujos (the Wizards, long before the Washington Wizards were named), and we were the only men's team coached by a woman. Her name was Yula Moguel Viveros, and unfortunately she already had a boy friend, Marco, who was a reserve guard on the team. (They never did get married, from what I can tell.) This is 20 years before I met my wife.
Yula had played on the national junior basketball team for Mexico, and she was a strict taskmaster who, though she didn't speak a word of English, had the latest offenses and defenses from the U.S. by looking at the diagrams in books and translating the words one-by-one: "wing" is ala, "forward" is delantero, stuff like that.
What was pretty funny was her pressing me into duty as translator early in my year in Mexico City when I still didn't know much Spanish (I took a class and practiced and memorized quite a bit) when she invited two American coaches for a chat after a clinic. She kept saying Dile, Dile, which means "Tell him" whatever she wanted to communicate to one of them--I didn't know this, so I would just ignore the Dile and try to get the rest of what she told me to tell the two gringos.
I don't know if they were college coaches or what in the U.S., but I would imagine. They were astounded at her employing the latest patterns during a segment she taught at the coaches clinic that they had met her at. (I wasn't invited to the clinic.)
I think what happened is that she invited them to a Sunday evening practice we had--she worked us hard--and they observed what she was running with us.
So they told me to ask her how she knew these patterns. She said she just took a book by a U.S. coach and translated ala for "wing", etc. They were quite impressed.
Yula drilled us. Like I said, she was a taskmaster. Our practices, since we were all adults in our early 20's who worked during the day, were from 9 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday. She would run us, too, during most of the practice--we were in far better condition than our opponents. We employed a full-court press. She put me on the ball so that the inbounder had trouble seeing past me. Then our guards would scamper about and steal the ball quite frequently.
We won a lot of games off conditioning and the press. Other teams got flustered, and tired, and turned the ball over.
One time I met my match in a 6'5" center who was a captain in the Mexican army. I don't remember his name. He was good, and he had me in foul trouble early on. We got blown out. But another thing I learned was that he owned the refs. I learned that if you make comments but the refs don't understand you (as I was doing in English), it has no psychological effect on the refs. So I learned some key words in Spanish to use when needed.
One Sunday morning, after I had spent Friday night and all day Saturday in bed in agony with la turista (the trots), Yula sent Marco (who was Marco Antonio, Mark Anthony, a common male name) into my room to get me up and go to El Desierto de los Leones ("The Desert of the Lions"), a sprawling park outside Mexico City. I had never been there.
She ran all of us on the team, me included, over rock formations, down dirt paths, in a winding route in the park. Later she told me that because I was willing to run hard and take part in these workouts, she could push the other members of our team: "Look at Edwin (she's about the only person that called me Edwin), he's doing it. So should you."
The dream came to an end when, after the Mexican peso was devalued twice in two months, a friend of the family who was the editor of a small newspaper in Goleta, next to Santa Barbara, asked my mother for my contact number and called next door to my neighbor in Mexico City.
Bob Lauffer, who I had done an internship for during my senior year at Chico State, offered me the job of being his sports editor. I said, "No, I can't do it," but by the next morning I had planned my exit to the Goleta Today (the name of the now-defunct newspaper). I just could not keep living in Mexico City with my ESL income halved in value, then halved again. This was in the election year of 1976, when Jose Lopez Portillo became president. Corruption was rampant, and inflation was in the triple or quadruple digits--something we never experience here (other than during the Great Depression).
I crushed my coach Yula's basketball heart by waiting till after practice on a Friday night, near the end of October in 1976, asking Marco to drop off the other team members before me. Then, in his car, I told her I was leaving to go back to California. That meant the end of our team, which didn't win another game, I believe, since the press and our offense centered around a big 6'5" gringo who, though not great, was effective in that league. She started crying and never stopped. I had to go take the Metro (subway) on foot.
Yula did forgive me, later visiting Southern California with her mother, Lucila. We had a good visit. She even got to attend a girls basketball game at Westlake High School in Westlake Village, where I substitute-taught and announced the girls games. She sat next to me, and we conversed (in Spanish) in between times when I had to announce a foul or substitution (in English). I lost my voice as a result.
That is the story of Memo, my tutor, and Los Brujos, my basketball team.
Monday, February 22, 2016
LJ b BB: A look ahead
By Ed Piper
Along with La Jolla's first-round game in the CIF Division 2 playoffs at home Wed., Feb. 24, there is lots of excitement about what lies ahead in the boys basketball program.
Next year the Vikings return point guard Reed Farley, and fellow guards Nick Hammel and Quinn Rawdin, as well as forwards Daniel McColl and Charlie Gal. Farley, Hammel, and McColl will be seniors next year. Rawdin and Gal will be juniors.
All things being equal, without someone transferring in from out of the area unexpectedly, you would think these would be your five starters for December 2016.
An intriguing possibility--the way Farley started as a freshman, and Gal and Rawdin ascended to the varsity as sophomores--is that 6'5" (or taller) Nathaniel Gates from the stellar freshman team would make varsity and play significant minutes.
He is certainly tall enough, probably taking the place as the tallest Viking. He showed in the freshman championship game against St. Augustine last week that he is aggressive, unafraid to mix it up, and he has the athleticism, jumping ability, and ability to run the floor that can equip him to be an immediate success.
In his favor is the fact McColl and Gal, in their own right, reintroduced a physicality in the front court that has not been seen since the days of Peter Sefton back in 2006-08, when at 6'5" Sefton wasn't extremely tall but took up a lot of room and used his body inside to gain position and defend.
Sefton ended up being named the Western League Player of the Year as La Jolla won the CIF Divison III title, the first of two in a row and three years in a row playing in the championship game.
Gates would ride in McColl and Gal's "draft", so to speak, if Coach Paul Baranowski were to include him on the varsity roster next year. I'm not privy to any inside details. I am just one voice, but a person who follows the basketball program regularly. There is a lot of time between the end of this season, whenever it comes with the playoffs, and next season--with spring, summer, and fall leagues providing a lot of minutes on the court for eager beavers.
Gal, especially, took advantage of that period last year to develop into what he has become later in the Vikings' 2015-16 season, a regular contributor. He was an unknown to people outside the program when the summer league at Montgomery High started. He looked like he was headed for the junior varsity, the logical landing place for a sophomore like him.
Instead, off the way he played with confidence and mixed it up inside--as McColl was doing-- Baranowski elevated him to his select 10-man squad, along with Rawdin, who has provided some outside shooting.
You would think Gabe Solis, the playmaker for the freshman team, would be in charge of the offense on the junior varsity next season. It would seem pointless to sit him behind Farley when he could be playing full-time on the JV's.
There are, obviously, key people on the junior varsity who will fill out the varsity roster next year. But I have not watched them play, and I wouldn't be able to comment on them.
Along with La Jolla's first-round game in the CIF Division 2 playoffs at home Wed., Feb. 24, there is lots of excitement about what lies ahead in the boys basketball program.
Next year the Vikings return point guard Reed Farley, and fellow guards Nick Hammel and Quinn Rawdin, as well as forwards Daniel McColl and Charlie Gal. Farley, Hammel, and McColl will be seniors next year. Rawdin and Gal will be juniors.
All things being equal, without someone transferring in from out of the area unexpectedly, you would think these would be your five starters for December 2016.
An intriguing possibility--the way Farley started as a freshman, and Gal and Rawdin ascended to the varsity as sophomores--is that 6'5" (or taller) Nathaniel Gates from the stellar freshman team would make varsity and play significant minutes.
He is certainly tall enough, probably taking the place as the tallest Viking. He showed in the freshman championship game against St. Augustine last week that he is aggressive, unafraid to mix it up, and he has the athleticism, jumping ability, and ability to run the floor that can equip him to be an immediate success.
In his favor is the fact McColl and Gal, in their own right, reintroduced a physicality in the front court that has not been seen since the days of Peter Sefton back in 2006-08, when at 6'5" Sefton wasn't extremely tall but took up a lot of room and used his body inside to gain position and defend.
Sefton ended up being named the Western League Player of the Year as La Jolla won the CIF Divison III title, the first of two in a row and three years in a row playing in the championship game.
Gates would ride in McColl and Gal's "draft", so to speak, if Coach Paul Baranowski were to include him on the varsity roster next year. I'm not privy to any inside details. I am just one voice, but a person who follows the basketball program regularly. There is a lot of time between the end of this season, whenever it comes with the playoffs, and next season--with spring, summer, and fall leagues providing a lot of minutes on the court for eager beavers.
Gal, especially, took advantage of that period last year to develop into what he has become later in the Vikings' 2015-16 season, a regular contributor. He was an unknown to people outside the program when the summer league at Montgomery High started. He looked like he was headed for the junior varsity, the logical landing place for a sophomore like him.
Instead, off the way he played with confidence and mixed it up inside--as McColl was doing-- Baranowski elevated him to his select 10-man squad, along with Rawdin, who has provided some outside shooting.
You would think Gabe Solis, the playmaker for the freshman team, would be in charge of the offense on the junior varsity next season. It would seem pointless to sit him behind Farley when he could be playing full-time on the JV's.
There are, obviously, key people on the junior varsity who will fill out the varsity roster next year. But I have not watched them play, and I wouldn't be able to comment on them.
LJ g soccer 2, Coronado 2
Vike defender Sydney Davey (18) contests a ball
against Islanders' Trudie Nixon in the first half.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
La Jolla overcame a 1-nil deficit in the first half to pull into a draw with host Coronado, 2-2, in the two teams' Western League finale Thurs., Feb. 18.
The Vikings, playing much of the season without their offensive leader, Phoebe Riley, salvaged a berth in the CIF Division 1 playoffs beginning Tues., Feb. 2 with the tie.
After the hosts scored with 16:42 left in the first half to take a 1-nil lead, Riley came back two minutes later to punch the ball with her right foot into the far right side of the goal and bring La Jolla even. The half ended 1-1.
Earlier, the senior missed with another right-footed kick in the eighth minute of the game that went wide left.
The forward took another ball in the 11th minute out front of the offense but was called offside. Phoebe had a clear path to the goal.
Viking coach Kristin Jones wanted her team to gain the offensive early by attacking and getting corner kicks.
At 26:59 left on the scoreboard in the half, La Jolla goalie Vanessa Shaffer knelt to secure a Coronado shot with both arms.
Riley said her right ankle, while still having some tenderness, feels "better" after an injury she suffered in mid-2015. She was active and played most of the half, as she usually does when she is healthy.
Midfielder Trisha Turner was involved in a collision in the first half and walked off the field on her own power, accompanied by the Coronado trainer.
Turner went to the hospital before the end of the game and said she sustained a concussion, missing school the next day, Friday. During the weekend, she said that her headaches had gotten better, though she was still considering staying home from school Monday.
Left defender Sydney Davey, before the game, attributed La Jolla's good play recently to confidence and familiarity among the players. "I think our confidence went up," said the senior, who plans to enroll at USD and play soccer next year. "Plus we've been playing together for a while."
When asked about this being her last regular season game in high school, the defender said, "Oh, I'm going to play in college." She didn't miss a beat. She was taking a breather to answer a reporter's questions while her teammates continued pregame warm-ups.
What does she try to keep in mind while playing her position on defense? "When I don't have the ball, I do a lot of talking," she said, communicating with teammates to coordinate play.
What does she consider a strong point of her game individually? "I can see the whole field. I feel like I'll play the best ball" (getting it to the teammate in the best position).
Meanwhile, Harrison Riley, 10, Phoebe and Olivia Riley's brother, helped Jones on the sideline. Their mother, Charlotte, laughing, said of her son, "He really feels he has an important position on the team."
LJ g water polo 11, El Camino 4
Viking Karli Canale, the team's scoring leader,
takes her first shot in 11-4 carving of El Camino.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
As expected, La Jolla handily defeated El Camino, its first-round opponent in the Open Division of the CIF girls water polo playoffs, taking away a dominating 11-4 win at Coggan Pool Saturday afternoon, Feb. 20.
The Vikings played like the top-ranked team that they are in San Diego County from the beginning, sprinting out to a 6-0 first quarter lead and 8-1 at halftime to put the eighth-seed Wildcats away.
Though scoring leader Karli Canale's first shot was blocked after La Jolla took initial possession of the ball, teammate Lexi Atwell scored on the Vikings' next time down the pool, driving to the cage just over a minute into the game.
Then, after an El Camino turnover under suffocating defensive pressure, two-meter Ciara Franke scored on a one-on-one against Wildcat goalie Kara Irwin from point-blank range for a 2-0 lead.
Canale soon scored the first of her three goals during the first-half eight-goal barrage, taking aim from her favorite one-position as she surged out of the water to fire. El Camino called a timeout. There was 2:41 left on the clock in the opening period.
With no let-up in Coach Keller Felt's attack, Franke quickly netted her second goal on a backhand shot from her two-meter position in the offense. It was Franke's 63rd goal on the season, second only to Canale's 83.
Franke fed fellow junior Sydney Boland for a 5-0 lead. Captain Kira Bruno missed on a penalty shot with 38 seconds left, one of the few misses for La Jolla in the quarter. El Camino's bench had fallen stone quiet in the onslaught. Canale scored again just before the buzzer.
The Wildcats, after regrouping at the quarter break, finally scored to open the second quarter behind Bella Souza. But Atwell quickly scored again, taking a Canale pass on a six-on-five.
Meanwhile, goalie Summer Broekema showed some excellent play, blocking a five-meter penalty shot with three and a half minutes left in the half.
Canale, focused and ruthless on offense, put in her third shot of the half and La Jolla was leading 8-1 with two minutes still remaining.
The Vikings (24-4) play in the Open Division semifinals Thurs., Feb. 25, at 5:45 p.m.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
LJ b BB 58, Scripps Ranch 36
Senior Alex Pitrofsky makes a strong move
toward the basket from the wing early in
the runaway win over Scripps Ranch.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
La Jolla got its motor running and burned out some of the carbon and other sludge that had built up to fine-tune a 58-36 runaway win over Scripps Ranch in boys basketball on Senior Night Fri., Feb. 19.
After a little test run in the second quarter before a good student crowd, with the large Viking band loudly punctuating every home basket with notes from "Star Wars" from the upper level of the gym--running off nine points in a row--La Jolla got down to business in the third quarter to burn the Falcons in the two teams' Western League and regular season finale.
In the period, the Vikings (5-7 in the Western League, 16-10 overall) outscored their visitors 23-13 in a replay of the best LJHS basketball, a combination of pressure defense yielding turnovers and quick, aggressive moves to the basket to score.
Guard Nick Hamel hit two threes and a layup, center Alex Pitrofsky sank three free throws, and fellow senior Eddie Parker got in a groove with his second three of the night as the hosts built up a 42-25 lead by the end of the quarter.
They ran away and hid in the final period by unleashing Pitrofsky for baskets underneath. Point guard Reed Farley celebrated with a three-pointer of his own with six minutes left in the game, as the Vikings surged to a 20-point lead, 47-27.
"I'm glad the win came when it did," said Farley. "We got things going, and it was good timing for playoffs next week."
Earlier in the game, it looked like the Vikings might never hit the right notes. In fact, neither team could score the first four and a half minutes of the game, as La Jolla coach Paul Baranowski started his five seniors and they fought gamely but got off to a bumpy start.
Reserve guard Bijan Hashemi got a rare chance to direct the offense in the opening minutes. Alongside him in the backcourt was Tony Coan. While struggling to score themselves, the Vikings kept the Falcons' regular starting lineup from scoring until 3:22 left in the first quarter on a layup by freshman Michael Barcia.
Baranowski then inserted Farley, Daniel McColl, and Hamel half a minute later. Fittingly, it was senior Pitrofsky who broke the scoreless spell for the Vikings on a pass from Reed with just over two minutes left. The two connected again for a basket at the buzzer for a 4-4 tie.
Scripps Ranch finishes the Western League 4-8, 14-13 overall.
Cathedral Catholic secured the Western League crown by devastating Lincoln at home, 86-45. The Dons had extra motivation after being upset by Mission Bay by 20 points the week prior.
St. Augustine (10-2) squeaked out a 56-49 win at home over a motivated Mission Bay team to take second place, dropping the Buccaneers (9-3) to third place.
The Vikings, as a result, finish fourth behind the big three. La Jolla wasn't able to win any of their games against the Dons, Saints, or Bucs, dropping all six.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
LJ g water polo: Stats
By Ed Piper
Karli Canale, a junior powerhouse for the La Jolla water polo team (23-4) that takes a number-one seed into the Open Division playoffs Sat., Feb. 20 against eighth-ranked El Camino, has been putting up some incredible numbers this season.
Through the Vikings' 27 games in the regular season, Canale, who shoots from the two position to the left of the goal, has 80 goals, by far the most by any player on her team. But along with her offensive potency, Karli leads her team in steals with 48 in a tie with teammate and fellow junior Sydney Boland.
This is a remarkable pair of skills she's carrying. One can understand her high number of assists, 22, since she handles the ball a lot on offense. But goals and steals are not an automatic combination.
Plus Canale is very efficient with her shots, scoring on 49 percent of her 164 attempts, the latter which are far more than any other Viking. The nearest is two-meter Ciara Franke, yet another talented junior, with 127 attempts and almost as high a success ratio at 48 percent for the Western League second-place finishers.
Franke has 61 goals (second on the team to Canale) and 37 steals (fourth on the team).
In addition, Karli doesn't turn the ball over much: 14 times all season, which is quite low among the regulars. Some have almost twice as many turnovers as Canale--Lexi Atwell and Franke, with 25 each.
Now, pointing out these impressive numbers goes against the grain of the traditional culture in water polo, which fights to hide individual statistics. There is an ethos of anti-bragging, which can be great for team spirit.
But these stats are notable. Canale, Franke, and Boland aren't the only Vikings on a stellar top-ranked squad this year with standout numbers. The aforementioned Atwell, a senior, owns 43 steals (third on the team), 24 assists (second), and 28 drawn ejections (first).
Senior Claire Andrews leads the Vikings in assists with 36, far and away the highest total. She also has 23 steals (fifth).
Boland, tied for the team lead in steals, also has 42 goals (third), and 14 assists (tied for fourth).
Kira Bruno, a senior, shows 28 goals, 14 assists, and 20 steals during the regular season.
Utility player Nicole Bertrand has 12 steals and 10 assists.
La Jolla, as a team, has outscored opponents 303 to 147. The first three quarters, when games were still in the balance, show the Vikings outscoring their opponents by whopping margins: 89-42, 80-34, and 71-32 in the first, second, and third quarters, respectively.
Their team shooting percentage is 44 percent. That's probably pretty darn good in comparison to other teams.
Goalies Bennett Bugelli and Summer Broekema have made 133 and 71 saves, respectively. Bugelli has given up 88 goals, Broekema 59. Those numbers figure out to Bugelli allowing opponents to shoot only 40 percent when she is in goal, Broekema 45 percent.
Karli Canale, a junior powerhouse for the La Jolla water polo team (23-4) that takes a number-one seed into the Open Division playoffs Sat., Feb. 20 against eighth-ranked El Camino, has been putting up some incredible numbers this season.
Through the Vikings' 27 games in the regular season, Canale, who shoots from the two position to the left of the goal, has 80 goals, by far the most by any player on her team. But along with her offensive potency, Karli leads her team in steals with 48 in a tie with teammate and fellow junior Sydney Boland.
This is a remarkable pair of skills she's carrying. One can understand her high number of assists, 22, since she handles the ball a lot on offense. But goals and steals are not an automatic combination.
Plus Canale is very efficient with her shots, scoring on 49 percent of her 164 attempts, the latter which are far more than any other Viking. The nearest is two-meter Ciara Franke, yet another talented junior, with 127 attempts and almost as high a success ratio at 48 percent for the Western League second-place finishers.
Franke has 61 goals (second on the team to Canale) and 37 steals (fourth on the team).
In addition, Karli doesn't turn the ball over much: 14 times all season, which is quite low among the regulars. Some have almost twice as many turnovers as Canale--Lexi Atwell and Franke, with 25 each.
Now, pointing out these impressive numbers goes against the grain of the traditional culture in water polo, which fights to hide individual statistics. There is an ethos of anti-bragging, which can be great for team spirit.
But these stats are notable. Canale, Franke, and Boland aren't the only Vikings on a stellar top-ranked squad this year with standout numbers. The aforementioned Atwell, a senior, owns 43 steals (third on the team), 24 assists (second), and 28 drawn ejections (first).
Senior Claire Andrews leads the Vikings in assists with 36, far and away the highest total. She also has 23 steals (fifth).
Boland, tied for the team lead in steals, also has 42 goals (third), and 14 assists (tied for fourth).
Kira Bruno, a senior, shows 28 goals, 14 assists, and 20 steals during the regular season.
Utility player Nicole Bertrand has 12 steals and 10 assists.
La Jolla, as a team, has outscored opponents 303 to 147. The first three quarters, when games were still in the balance, show the Vikings outscoring their opponents by whopping margins: 89-42, 80-34, and 71-32 in the first, second, and third quarters, respectively.
Their team shooting percentage is 44 percent. That's probably pretty darn good in comparison to other teams.
Goalies Bennett Bugelli and Summer Broekema have made 133 and 71 saves, respectively. Bugelli has given up 88 goals, Broekema 59. Those numbers figure out to Bugelli allowing opponents to shoot only 40 percent when she is in goal, Broekema 45 percent.
LJ b BB: Western League
By Ed Piper
It's either feast or famine in boys basketball in the Western League, where La Jolla holds a 4-7 record with one game left, looking up with the other humble teams in the league at the three giants way above them: Cathedral Catholic, St. Augustine, and Mission Bay, all of whom are ranked in the top five of the CIF Division I power rankings.
There is no middle ground in the final season of a traditional Western League alignment. The lower teams have less than half the number of wins of the elite three: While Cathedral is the likely league champ, owning a 10-1 record and facing Lincoln at home in the finale Fri., Feb. 19, the Saints and Bucs are each 9-2.
From the upper echelon and the winning percentages they own, at .909, .818, and .818 respectively, it is quite a drop to the .364 of the Vikings and Scripps Ranch (also 4-7). Lincoln, which is likely to finish the season below La Jolla, is 3-8. Poor University City finishes 0-12.
Long-time watchers of the Vikings have to relish their standing above the Hornets, who have made life difficult for many years for the La Jollans.
Scripps Ranch used to carry on a great rivalry with the Vikings, with large student crowds attending away games at Scripps. But that ended when the Falcons' long-time coach stepped down to serve as Athletic Director only, and the program suffered a big drop in quality.
Next season the three leagues in the City Conference--the Eastern and Central, as well as the Western--will be realigned according to power rankings. School enrollment, the traditional method of determining leagues that has endured for decades, will go by the wayside.
Not all coaches are happy with parity. Terry Stonebraker, UC's coach, laments the change. "I wish we'd keep the traditional alignments," he said recently to this reporter before a La Jolla game at UC. He ticked off the names of the schools that the Centurions have played for years.
Gary Frank, baseball coach at La Jolla, feels the same way. Different sport, but power rankings will determine who plays whom. "I don't want to lose the traditional rivalries," Frank told me at a recent LJHS basketball game. He doesn't want those to get lost in the numbers.
It makes me think of in the major leagues, when the Houston Astros were moved from the National League to the American League. How can that happen, in the traditional view? The Milwaukee Brewers, years before, were switched the opposite direction, American to National. It breaks down the traditional alignments that are such a part of baseball heritage.
For long-time San Diegans, traditional rivalries between local schools hold a lot of meaning.
It's either feast or famine in boys basketball in the Western League, where La Jolla holds a 4-7 record with one game left, looking up with the other humble teams in the league at the three giants way above them: Cathedral Catholic, St. Augustine, and Mission Bay, all of whom are ranked in the top five of the CIF Division I power rankings.
There is no middle ground in the final season of a traditional Western League alignment. The lower teams have less than half the number of wins of the elite three: While Cathedral is the likely league champ, owning a 10-1 record and facing Lincoln at home in the finale Fri., Feb. 19, the Saints and Bucs are each 9-2.
From the upper echelon and the winning percentages they own, at .909, .818, and .818 respectively, it is quite a drop to the .364 of the Vikings and Scripps Ranch (also 4-7). Lincoln, which is likely to finish the season below La Jolla, is 3-8. Poor University City finishes 0-12.
Long-time watchers of the Vikings have to relish their standing above the Hornets, who have made life difficult for many years for the La Jollans.
Scripps Ranch used to carry on a great rivalry with the Vikings, with large student crowds attending away games at Scripps. But that ended when the Falcons' long-time coach stepped down to serve as Athletic Director only, and the program suffered a big drop in quality.
Next season the three leagues in the City Conference--the Eastern and Central, as well as the Western--will be realigned according to power rankings. School enrollment, the traditional method of determining leagues that has endured for decades, will go by the wayside.
Not all coaches are happy with parity. Terry Stonebraker, UC's coach, laments the change. "I wish we'd keep the traditional alignments," he said recently to this reporter before a La Jolla game at UC. He ticked off the names of the schools that the Centurions have played for years.
Gary Frank, baseball coach at La Jolla, feels the same way. Different sport, but power rankings will determine who plays whom. "I don't want to lose the traditional rivalries," Frank told me at a recent LJHS basketball game. He doesn't want those to get lost in the numbers.
It makes me think of in the major leagues, when the Houston Astros were moved from the National League to the American League. How can that happen, in the traditional view? The Milwaukee Brewers, years before, were switched the opposite direction, American to National. It breaks down the traditional alignments that are such a part of baseball heritage.
For long-time San Diegans, traditional rivalries between local schools hold a lot of meaning.
LJ b BB: Seniors
Senior Morgan Albers looks to pass
under Saints' heavy pressure.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper
On the eve of the final regular season game of La Jolla's four senior regulars, it is fitting to look back over their careers and make some observations.
Let me start with Tony Coan. He has been kind of the quiet one career-wise. He came in as a guard who could shoot from the outside. Tony is such an outwardly-calm person on the court that you don't see him react or rant and rave much. St. Augustine's gym was a madhouse Tues., Feb. 16, but from looking at Tony's face, you wouldn't have been able to read that.
We would have liked to see Tony blossom more, with more outside shooting chances in probably more playing time his senior year. He may have played a little more as a junior. This isn't a knock on Coach Paul Baranowski. It's just the role that Coan has helped carve out for himself.
Maybe in the Senior Night game Fri., Feb. 19 against Scripps Ranch he'll have some chances to loft some of his trademark line-drive shots from the outside. He has never been anything but a good citizen in the LJHS program.
On the line-drive trajectory of his shots, I remember exchanging comments with his mother earlier this season. We agreed Tony shoots the ball on a line, which isn't necessarily bad. He just doesn't put as much arc on his outside shots as some other shooters. Well, his mother said, "I told him the same thing but he ignored it. If you told him he might listen more." Something like that. I never took it upon myself to advise Tony on his shot.
I remember one student in the Cathedral Catholic student section in last month's game at Cathedral. He had picked up on Tony's first name and was loudly calling him by name to try to rattle him. I had taken a break from taking photos in the second half, was sitting up in the stands opposite the Don cheering section, and I was getting really ticked at the student calling "Tony, Tony" over and over.
I was mostly ticked because the Vikings, who you feel so attached to after watching so many of their games, were getting trounced by Cathedral and its darn seven-footer, Brandon McCoy, and they weren't playing that well after such a sparkling December.
LJHS Principal Chuck Podhorsky was sitting not too far away from me, and we made eye contact and seemed to acknowledge to each other this one student was kind of getting under our skin.
I mentioned it subsequently to Dr. Podhorsky on another day, and he said something like, "Yeah, that student was kind of irritating."
When Tony took the ball out of bounds right in front of the Don cheering section, said student, only a foot or two away behind and to the side of Tony, loudly called to him, "Tony." Just so chafing to a La Jolla fan, probably not a bother to a Cathedral fan.
Morgan Albers remained a hard worker throughout his La Jolla basketball career. He started at times, but mostly this year he has come in as a reserve in Baranowski's rotation. He had to contend for playing time with newcomers Daniel McColl and Charlie Gal, who play a different kind of game, bumping and pushing.
I think Morgan's main contribution has been his good attitude and work ethic. He told me this season he has tried to be more of an offensive threat. A natural right-hander, he has used his left-handed shot not infrequently this year. His 6'4" height has enabled him to help defend and rebound. His big challenge has always been to try to take the ball under the basket up strongly and finish. I think he has put in a lot of work to improve.
Eddie Parker moved into a full-time starting role this year after playing a lot last year. I remember in summer league, before Eddie's junior year, when I commented to Baranowski that I didn't know who Eddie was. He said, "He's got some ability." In other words, I better keep my eyes open. I'll see something.
Eddie enjoyed a fabulous December this season. In an early game in the Hilltop Tournament, he was running by people. Just leaving them flat-footed with his ability to drive from the wing. "A quickness," my former students might have said.
Eddie started out the opening game, the special outdoors game at Petco Park under the lights, with two three-pointers. That shocked poor Helix, who was already showing up short-handed with four of their football players from their talented football team still in the football playoffs. Helix never recovered from that start, and La Jolla blew the poor team out of the box. It was a glorious start to the season for La Jolla, and quite an honor to play Bill Walton's alma mater, as Walton was the host of the week-long event at the Padres' home.
Alex Pitrofsky. Now this is a guy who is long and lanky, 6'6", can jump well, runs well. In the Montgomery summer league last year, things were too easy for him. He was dropping in buckets left and right, and the opposing teams didn't have anyone his height to neutralize him.
Alex told me earlier this season that he was working on "not talking to the officials", a bad habit of his that left him at one end of the floor jawing while the rest of his team was hurrying back on defense to try to contain their opponent. Alex made a lot of headway. In fact, he no longer makes comments to the refs. Credit Coach Baranowski with helping Pitrofsky get on the straight and narrow in this area. It shows a lot of maturity.
Where Alex has been a force unleashed is like in the loss to the Saints Tuesday, when he scored three baskets in the third quarter and one in the fourth--the guards finding him near the basket with zip passes. Reed Farley has been the primary feeder of Alex in that regard, but others have done it, too. In some games, it was just pitiful how the opposing team--often in cases where it lacked a big man to defend Alex--could not figure out a way to stop his bank shots inside, and he would quickly pile up points.
His consistent 12 points a game have been a tonic for the Vikings.
I sat by his dad Joe during one game, and I remember Joe rattling off the baskets his son was making. It was getting ridiculous.
If Alex keeps playing basketball after high school, and, honestly, I don't know what any of the Viking seniors' plans are for next year, he is only limited by his continuing development and maturity as the person he is. He has the height, he runs the floor, he jumps well. As his basketball I.Q. and self-control increase, so will his effectiveness.
Thank you, you guys, for the years I've been able to watch you from up close on the baseline, taking photos of each of you over the past couple of school seasons and spring and summer leagues. Before the season started, I didn't have a plan for covering the team so extensively on my blog, in addition to the photos. But when retirement came, so did more energy and suddenly the stories starting popping out beginning with the first tournament back at the start of December.
It would be fun to have a little run in the CIF playoffs starting Wed., Feb. 24. My motto is "the more basketball, the better". I know some of my readers are befuddled by some of my comments, but it is the sport I know best from my years playing it in high school and community college, and that I could spend hours on end watching without getting tired of--like in the annual Under Armour Tournament at Torrey Pines High each December.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
LJ b BB: Two rallies II
By Ed Piper
La Jolla, trailing host St. Augustine by an embarrassing 59-31 with 2:20 left in the third quarter, battled back to cut the final margin to 15 points, 75-60.
Here's how.
Alex Pitrofsky, who would eventually be removed after impulsively pushing a Saints player with both forearms in front of his chest--though he didn't harm the player--and Morgan Albers scored the bulk of the points under the direction of point guard Reed Farley.
Pitro, who only scored two points in the first half, netted 10 in the third quarter and two more in the fourth. Albers, coming off the bench as a reserve in his usual role in Coach Paul Baranowski's eight-man rotation, scored nine in the fourth quarter, including a rare three-pointer. That's 19 of the 29 points the Vikings scored in their rally to leave the building with their dignity intact.
The 6'6" Alex connected on four baskets and made four of eight free throws.
Albers, like Pitrofsky a senior nearing the end of his high school career at La Jolla, had three field goals in addition to his bucket beyond the arc from the left baseline.
The other points were distributed among reserve guard Tony Coan, who hit a basket, a three-pointer, and two free throws, Nick Hammel, who had a basket in each of the third and fourth quarters (plus a free throw in the third), and Farley, who sank two of four free throws.
La Jolla, trailing host St. Augustine by an embarrassing 59-31 with 2:20 left in the third quarter, battled back to cut the final margin to 15 points, 75-60.
Here's how.
Alex Pitrofsky, who would eventually be removed after impulsively pushing a Saints player with both forearms in front of his chest--though he didn't harm the player--and Morgan Albers scored the bulk of the points under the direction of point guard Reed Farley.
Pitro, who only scored two points in the first half, netted 10 in the third quarter and two more in the fourth. Albers, coming off the bench as a reserve in his usual role in Coach Paul Baranowski's eight-man rotation, scored nine in the fourth quarter, including a rare three-pointer. That's 19 of the 29 points the Vikings scored in their rally to leave the building with their dignity intact.
The 6'6" Alex connected on four baskets and made four of eight free throws.
Albers, like Pitrofsky a senior nearing the end of his high school career at La Jolla, had three field goals in addition to his bucket beyond the arc from the left baseline.
The other points were distributed among reserve guard Tony Coan, who hit a basket, a three-pointer, and two free throws, Nick Hammel, who had a basket in each of the third and fourth quarters (plus a free throw in the third), and Farley, who sank two of four free throws.
LJ b BB: Two rallies
By Ed Piper
Here's how La Jolla did it, when the Vikings outscored St. Augustine 13-11 in the second quarter after falling behind 25-7 at the end of the first quarter:
Junior Reed Farley was a house afire in the quarter. The point guard, averaging 15 points a game, first drove on defender Tariq Thompson, no slouch, and made an acrobatic basket. Starting near the top of the key, he dribbled with his left hand to penetrate the key. He turned multiple directions before finishing with the right hand over the front of the rim. This was with 4:00 left in the period.
After St. Augustine's Taeshon Cherry missed a dunk, Farley motored the length of the court to make a two-handed slam dunk at La Jolla's end. At the time, La Jolla was trailing by 20 points. So it was a bit odd under the circumstances. Usually, when your team is getting blown out by that many points, it is partly because your team doesn't have anybody who can make an athletic play like that. But Farley doesn't fit into the usual picture. People didn't quite know how to react, but it got their attention.
The crowd was fairly sparse, since the two teams were playing a 5 p.m. game and many parents haven't gotten off work or been able to get to the game at that early starting time. But the tiny gym on Palm Street in North Park was relatively noisy considering the size of the crowd. A vocal bunch supporting St. Augustine was behind the home team bunch.
Then, with the game in free form and the action moving quickly, Reed came down following a hard tomahawk dunk by Cherry and made a three-pointer with 2:20 left. You could tell the players were emotional. The play was physical, with players on both teams pushing and playing close defense with their bodies. Farley has had his troubles shooting from outside lately, so this three was nice for him. The score was 34-14. It wasn't pretty.
Farley wasn't playing alone, though he was playing with a determined look on his face. Teammate Nick Hammel, who hadn't scored until then, came down after a turnover by Cherry and laid the ball up. The ball went high up off the backboard and fell in. Hammel was knocked to the floor on the play. The assist was to Eddie Parker on the pass. Hammel, getting a free throw for being fouled, made the free throw. There was 1:31 left in the quarter.
Late in the half, Farley was fouled and made both free throws. 36-18. A short while later, the 6'4" guard pushed the accelerator to the floor just before the ending buzzer, drove and was trying to put the ball up left-handed when he was fouled again. He was awarded two shots.
The floor cleared of everyone but Farley and one referee, as the teams retreated toward their benches. But players stayed on the edge of the floor, watching as the free throws were taken. The gym was quiet. Farley coolly sank both. Halftime score: 36-20. Not pretty, but the Vikings had outscored their nemeses 13-11 in the stanza. It was a piece of pride pie to take with them into the halftime locker room.
Farley hadn't scored during the first quarter blitz by the Saints, so there was added motivation. He scored 11 of the Vikings' 13 points in the quarter. Hammel scored the other two.
Here's how La Jolla did it, when the Vikings outscored St. Augustine 13-11 in the second quarter after falling behind 25-7 at the end of the first quarter:
Junior Reed Farley was a house afire in the quarter. The point guard, averaging 15 points a game, first drove on defender Tariq Thompson, no slouch, and made an acrobatic basket. Starting near the top of the key, he dribbled with his left hand to penetrate the key. He turned multiple directions before finishing with the right hand over the front of the rim. This was with 4:00 left in the period.
After St. Augustine's Taeshon Cherry missed a dunk, Farley motored the length of the court to make a two-handed slam dunk at La Jolla's end. At the time, La Jolla was trailing by 20 points. So it was a bit odd under the circumstances. Usually, when your team is getting blown out by that many points, it is partly because your team doesn't have anybody who can make an athletic play like that. But Farley doesn't fit into the usual picture. People didn't quite know how to react, but it got their attention.
The crowd was fairly sparse, since the two teams were playing a 5 p.m. game and many parents haven't gotten off work or been able to get to the game at that early starting time. But the tiny gym on Palm Street in North Park was relatively noisy considering the size of the crowd. A vocal bunch supporting St. Augustine was behind the home team bunch.
Then, with the game in free form and the action moving quickly, Reed came down following a hard tomahawk dunk by Cherry and made a three-pointer with 2:20 left. You could tell the players were emotional. The play was physical, with players on both teams pushing and playing close defense with their bodies. Farley has had his troubles shooting from outside lately, so this three was nice for him. The score was 34-14. It wasn't pretty.
Farley wasn't playing alone, though he was playing with a determined look on his face. Teammate Nick Hammel, who hadn't scored until then, came down after a turnover by Cherry and laid the ball up. The ball went high up off the backboard and fell in. Hammel was knocked to the floor on the play. The assist was to Eddie Parker on the pass. Hammel, getting a free throw for being fouled, made the free throw. There was 1:31 left in the quarter.
Late in the half, Farley was fouled and made both free throws. 36-18. A short while later, the 6'4" guard pushed the accelerator to the floor just before the ending buzzer, drove and was trying to put the ball up left-handed when he was fouled again. He was awarded two shots.
The floor cleared of everyone but Farley and one referee, as the teams retreated toward their benches. But players stayed on the edge of the floor, watching as the free throws were taken. The gym was quiet. Farley coolly sank both. Halftime score: 36-20. Not pretty, but the Vikings had outscored their nemeses 13-11 in the stanza. It was a piece of pride pie to take with them into the halftime locker room.
Farley hadn't scored during the first quarter blitz by the Saints, so there was added motivation. He scored 11 of the Vikings' 13 points in the quarter. Hammel scored the other two.
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