Junior Quinn Rawdin looks in as the Vikings
go through their offense in the first quarter
Friday night at Hilltop.
(Photos by Ed Piper, Jr.)
By Ed Piper, Jr.
Quinn Rawdin was like the proverbial "gym rat" this past spring and summer as he moved about from spring league playing for La Jolla in the Hoover basketball league, to the Maccabee Games in St. Louis via Coach Paul Baranowski's work at the Jewish Community Center in University City.
When Baranowski included the then-young lefty on last year's varsity roster, there was some question as to how appropriate the placement was. At times, Rawdin seemed overwhelmed by the increased speed of varsity level of play. Things were moving too fast for him.
Added to that, with his specialty from his guard position being outside shooting, the sophomore went through stretches where he wasn't hitting his shot consistently. He looked like, rather than a gym rat making the grade, more like a bull in a china shop--he didn't completely fit.
Employ time-lapse photography here to illustrate Quinn's constant and hard work over the offseason, combining a similar work ethic to point guard Reed Farley's and forward Charlie Gal's, and you see the development the maturing young man has made.
He's never very effusive. A pretty quiet guy, it seems. But his quiet man aura played really well in the Vikings' season opener in the Hilltop Invitational, in which he repeatedly went down court and lofted on-target threes, and shared ball duties with Farley and reserve Francisco Ramos.
Rawdin, now a junior, hit a three outside the arc at the top of the key for a 16-6 lead against the Lancers, pushing the early lead to 10 points.
Rawdin looks for a teammate as
La Jolla stays to a disciplined,
multi-pass set offense in the
first half.
He banged in another three a short time later, after Daniel McColl scored, to make it 21-6. The Vikings' lead was widening, now to 15. Hilltop's cheering section quieted at times as La Jolla continued to blow by by first-year coach Luke Kelley's troops.
Things got out of hand in the third quarter, during which Quinn bombed another three with the score 48-21, a 27-point lead on the way to 42 by the end of the game. A reporter wrote "wow" in his notebook at that shot. Rawdin had a hot hand.
He showed evidence that his offensive game is expanding, when he drove to the basket midway through the second quarter for a score. "Quick, confident--He looks good" are the notations the reporter made at that point.
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