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.