LJ b BB 55, Madison 46

The Vikings' Charlie Gal shoots a free throw

in the first half.

By Ed Piper, Jr.

La Jolla stayed pretty much to form in defeating Madison 55-46 on the Warhawks' home court Sat., Feb. 11, but the win didn't come without its challenges.

The Vikings (now 5-3 in the Eastern League, 17-6 overall) built a 15-point lead, 27-12, midway through the second quarter on a balanced attack and solid defense. Forward Charlie Gal led the way underneath, while guard Quinn Rawdin hit a three for the 15-point advantage. Even reserve Garrett Brown got into the act with a basket.

But Madison (dropping to 1-7, 7-19) quickly made up ground the last part of the half to trail by only eight at halftime.

The lowly Warhawks, aroused, continued their push after halftime until being down only 32-30 with 3:27 left in the third quarter.

The visitors, showing their experience and discipline, then put on their final spurt to move out to a 14-point lead late in the game.

In that streak, the Vikings outscored Madison 14-2 over six minutes spanning the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth.

A heart-filled play came on Rawdin's gutsy basket over a leaping defender from the left side of the hoop at 41-32. The junior southpaw wasn't able to convert the free throw after the foul.

Another key basket during the final push came as La Jolla's five deftly cut through the Warhawk full-court press and found forward Daniel McColl open for a layup. That made the score 45-34.

Soon after, Madison had to begin fouling to stop the clock, and that was all she wrote, as the Vikings held on to win by nine.

While La Jolla played without Reed Farley, Madison has lost its lead scorer, at 17 points per game, who was removed from school, according to Coach Mike Stutz. He also kept one of his most athletic players, Terrell Carter, the football team's All-CIF quarterback, on the bench until the third quarter due to disciplinary reasons.

La Jolla, after Patrick Henry's (7-1) win over Hoover (0-8) Saturday night, trails the first-place Patriots by two games in the standings.

Serra, after defeating Scripps Ranch Saturday night, now sits alone in second place at 6-2. Scripps Ranch (5-3) drops into third place with the Vikings, with two games left in Eastern League play for each team.