LJ b BB 54, Serra 69

Vikings Daniel McColl (L) and

McClain Thiel (R) pressure

Raequan Wright of Serra in the

first half. (Photos by Ed Piper, Jr.)

By Ed Piper, Jr.

Serra's basketball team came to the La Jolla High campus for the first time in an Eastern League encounter and stuck it to the Vikings, 69-54, Tues., Jan. 24.

The Conquistadors, led by juniors Ryan Flowers and Raequan Wright, led in the contest virtually the whole night as Coach James Carroll's high-achieving squad built a 13-point lead at halftime and never let La Jolla get closer than seven points in the second half.

Both teams were without their big men: Charlie Gal for the Vikings for the third consecutive game, and 6'4" Tate Samuelson for the Q's, who Carroll said is lost for the season with an injury.

The team from Tierrasanta won its first 17 games of the season, gaining a lot of media attention, then lost post player Samuelson and guard Ben Weinberger, going 2-3 in their next five games.

But Weinberger, who suffered an injury to his ACL, returned Tuesday and helped beat up on the host Vikings, who struggled throughout.

La Jolla shot as cold as the frigid air inside the Big Gym, which had its doors open to the winter chill that remained after six days of continued surprising rain in the semiarid climate. From the second quarter on, Coach Paul Baranowski gave point guard Ryan Farley the green light to shoot frequently, and the bogged-down offense without Gal largely became a one-man show--through no fault of the 6'4" captain.

Nick Hammel tries to block

Jamari Brown's (11) shot. Daniel

McColl is already on the floor,

Quinn Rawdin stumbling

over him.

Farley finished with 34 points. The other Viking players could not seem to buy a basket. This played into Serra's speed, which Carroll said the Q's wanted to capitalize on, along with their man defense.

Their other goal: "to try to make it hard for Farley to score." This is a frequent statement from opposing coaches this season, as they look to shut down the La Jolla attack.

The Conquistadors' Jamari Brown showed good quickness. He had 18 points. Flowers, a 6'2" junior, starred in the first half, and finished with 18 points. The 6'4" Wright was effective inside in the second half as Serra recovered from its slim 39-32 advantage midway through the third quarter to pull away by 15 down the stretch.

Baranowski tried to apply three-quarter-court pressure in the closing minutes. But Serra's guards were quick and burned the La Jolla press multiple times to score.

La Jolla suffers its first defeat in Eastern League play, falling to 3-1 after relatively easily dispatching Henry last Thursday without Gal. This was one of the black-and-red's least artistic outings this season, if not the least artistic. It was ugly ball at its worst.

The Vikings' first outing without the 6'5" forward went badly at Orange Glen last week, when Farley was held out as well and the visitors suffered a 32-point loss on the road.