By Ed Piper, Jr.
Told that Canyon Crest coach Brian Baum indicated he didn't know much about La Jolla for their upcoming playoff game, La Jolla coach Paul Baranowski responded, "Don't believe him. He knows all about us. Don't let him fool you. He's a good coach, and he knows what he's doing."
As for his stable of talent following the Vikings' 44-41 overtime first-round win over Valhalla Wed., Feb. 22, the coach was blunt: "I think (Charlie Gal) needs to work harder. I don't think he's working enough.
"I think he's being careful since coming back from his injury (high ankle sprain a month ago).
"He's not a guy to bounce the ball and pound it in. He isn't doing the things he was doing before," said Baranowski, when earlier in the season Gal was averaging 17 points a game.
With Reed Farley out, "Everybody is trying to fill the vacuum," said Baranowski, in his 37th year of coaching, fifth at the helm at La Jolla. "The guy who did that last night was Nick Hammel.
"We need everyone to fill the vacuum every night, not one guy, then another guy.
"Daniel McColl needs to score more for us, since Charlie isn't scoring." The senior forward pulled down multiple key rebounds and sank clutch free throws at the end of overtime.
"Quinn (Rawdin) needs to be a playmaker for us."
Baranowski talked about Hammel's steadiness: "He doesn't get too excited. He doesn't celebrate too much when things go well. He doesn't get discouraged when we get down.
"If everyone was like that, we'd be in great shape."
Regarding Rawdin, who hit some threes from outside, "If he had half the confidence in himself that his teammates have in him, he'd be taking 20 to 30 shots a game."
Looking ahead to the CCA matchup Sat., Feb. 25, at CCA at 7 p.m., the coach opined, "We got our hands full. We'll have a plan for us. We'll disguise some things so they don't know everything we're doing. We'll adjust according to what happens in the game."
La Jolla is the eighth seed, CCA the top seed in the CIF Division II playoffs.
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