LJ b BB 69, Torrey Pines 66

'The shot heard round the world':

Daniel McColl hits a three with

10 seconds left to upset

Torrey Pines.

(Photo by Ed Piper, Jr.)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

In by far the biggest moment of their season to this point, the La Jolla Vikings gave their fans an early Christmas present with an upset of third-ranked Torrey Pines, 69-66, on a three-pointer by Daniel McColl with 10 seconds left Thurs., Dec. 22.

La Jolla, which led the taller Falcons by 10 points at halftime, trailed for the first time in the game when Torrey Pines pulled ahead 60-59 with just under four minutes left. The Vikings (now 9-1) came into the contest ranked ninth in CIF.

With the score knotted at 66, McColl, on a play drawn up by Coach Paul Baranowski, found himself open just beyond the arc at the top of the key. He cleanly hit the long-range shot, his fourth in four attempts from the three-point line on the night, and the Falcons were unable to score in closing seconds.

"I'd been picking and popping (the whole game)," said a reserved McColl of his successful shooting. "I got the pass from Reed (Farley). That was the game plan."

The Vikings, who had been looking forward to this matchup in the Grossmont Invitational, battled the talented Falcons from the opening tip, leading after an early 7-7 tie in the first quarter until junior Finn Sullivan's three with 3:52 left in the game. That gave Torrey Pines Coach John Olive's team the lead for the first time.

The two teams were knotted with 1:08 left, 66-all, leading to McColl's dramatic shot in the final seconds. La Jolla forced a five-second violation when the Falcons couldn't inbound the ball with 39.1 seconds on the clock.

Said Olive, "I saw a La Jolla team that was well-coached, knew their personnel, was very focused. I was very impressed."

Farley, the team captain whose hot outside shooting helped the Vikings construct the first-half lead, explained the final play, "Every time I came off a screen, the defender came with me. Lo and behold, I came off the screen and both my defender and Daniel's defender came to me." That left McColl open at the top of the key for his final shot.