LJ BB: Western League

A huge UC crowd cheered their

boys. Unfortunately, LJ students

don't see it as much of a rivalry.

(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

No wonder University City's students were so excited on Senior Night Feb. 11 and wanted a win by their Centurion boys basketball team.

One, the girls team had just defeated La Jolla by four points in the first game of the evening doubleheader. And two, defeats like the one only two days earlier--also on their home court--at the hands of St. Augustine's boys team, an 85-30 thrashing.

The Saints, no doubt, wanted to exorcise the bad thoughts from losing to Cathedral Catholic, their arch nemesis, for the second time only four days earlier. So they took it to UC, outscoring their hosts 30-5 in the second quarter.

Here, St. Augustine had been riding high in early December after winning the Rose City and Santa Margarita tournaments, ranked number one in San Diego County. Cathedral Catholic, traveling to Chicago and trying to gel transfer seven-footer Brandon McCoy with returning players, was nowhere to be heard of.

Then the Saints came crashing down to earth with a 22-point loss to eventual number-one Foothills Christian in the Under Armour Tournament at Torrey Pines High in late December, and they've never been the same since.

Don't tell that to La Jolla--who enjoyed its own 8-2 December, playing well in the Hilltop and Grossmont tourneys--who, after being off for 11 days, stumbled badly at Cathedral January 5 and has faced its own identity crisis.

The Vikings travel to St. Augustine's tiny band box of a home court advantage in North Park Tues., Feb. 16--not a Valentine's Day gift--after losing their first match 61-49 while being down 30 points at one point.

Memories of a valiant effort against then-number-five Torrey Pines, and a 68-59 upset of Grossmont in its own tourney, ranked number seven at the time, still play in the Vikings' minds when they're allowed to dream of what if.