LJ b BB 56, UC 47

Reed Farley hangs to draw a

foul. He made two free throws

with 1:19 left for an 8-point

lead. (Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

In this age of Steph Curry and the three-point bomb, University City made 12 three's but only four two's on the Centurions' Senior Night, and La Jolla was able to pull out a 56-47 win before the partisan crowd Thurs., Feb. 11.

Alex Pitrofsky led the Vikings with 19 points and Reed Farley had 18. La Jolla surged to an advantage of 12 points with two minutes left in the third quarter, but an aroused UC unit behind Anil Tangirala and Jason Anderson closed the gap to only four with four minutes left in nail-biter time.

While the visitors didn't hit a single three-pointer the entire game, Tangirala and Anderson had four each, including Anil's pair in the fourth quarter to the delight of the home crowd.

La Jolla's victory was aided by a technical foul called on the Centurions for Tangirala failing to check in at the officials' table before re-entering the game from the huddle following UC's timeout with 12.5 seconds left and the Vikings leading 52-47.

La Jolla got the ball out of bounds for the "T" after Farley made one of two free throws on a separate foul call, by now the clock down to 8.3 seconds. The Vikings could have gotten free throws for the "six men on the court" call, but the referees apparently ruled that the "T" came before the foul on Reed and awarded no free throws.

With LJHS up by six, Daniel McColl coolly made both free throws on the double bonus that UC was now in with 7.5 seconds left, and the Vikings had disappointed the large home crowd.

UC was the Little Engine that Tried but Couldn't. The Centurions, the doormat of the Western League, are now 0-11, 2-21 overall. La Jolla is 4-6 in league, 15-9 for the season. Thankfully, to save face, the Vikings didn't become UC's first victim in league play.

At the outset of the game, La Jolla quickly fell behind 6-0 on three-pointers by the fortuitous Centurions. The crowd was rocking, the seniors from the UC boys and girls basketball, cheer, and dance squads had just been recognized, and the UC girls had just squeaked out their four-point victory over pesky La Jolla.

Tangirala, a six-foot senior, dropped a bomb after Nick Hammel's opening miss for the Vikings. Then, following Farley's missed shot, the 6'2" Anderson, a junior, threw in his shot from beyond the arc. It was 6-0.

La Jolla then reeled off 14 unanswered points to close the first quarter and lead 14-6. Reed, having just missed a three, drove in and made a backhanded layup. After several errant shots by both teams, Eddie Parker canned two free throws after being fouled on a putback with 3:33 left in the period.

UC, falling back into their natural abilities as the gang who couldn't shoot straight, misfired before Pitrofsky was the recipient of a McColl assist underneath. Al missed his free throw. The score was tied, 6-6.

LJHS coach Paul Baranowski, subbing three at a time in the wild atmosphere, saw Daniel hit a jump shot. After another Centurion miss, the 6'6" Pitrofsky took a pass, this time from Parker, for a basket. La Jolla 10, UC 6. Timeout, UC.

After the two teams traded missed shots, Parker sank two free throws. Finally, Pitrofsky hit a rare jump shot and La Jolla led, 14-6.

In the second quarter, the Vikings built leads of 18-12 and 22-14 before going into the halftime locker room ahead 24-17.

In that period, for the Centurions, Alex Bruce had a three, as did Anderson and Tangirala. UC's shooting percentage wasn't good, but it was good enough to keep them within range.

These were all a prelude to the visitors' rise to a 31-23 lead in the third quarter, then 33-25, before losing most of it through ineffective play. UC closed to 37-35 with 30 seconds left in the stanza. The
margin was 39-35 at the end of the quarter.

Through UC's lower moments, the home student crowd fell silent, content to watch their cheerleaders and a student running up and down the sideline waving an American flag. Another student wore the Stars and Stripes as a cape, which is an interesting usage considering usual flag protocol.