LJ b BB: The blitz

The Vikings participate in a pregame team huddle
before their convincing 61-42 win over RBV in the
Hilltop Invitational Tournament.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

A traditional strength of La Jolla High basketball came through in the Vikings' 17-point blitz of Rancho Buena Vista in the last six minutes to break open a close game, 61-42.

The guard strength of Coach Paul Baranowski's squad made the difference in the closing minutes: Nick Hulquist, Quinn Rawdin, Jacob Ohara, and Behzad Hashemi either sank key free throws or made baskets during the spurt, which blew the Longhorns' short-lived lead at 41-39 at the six-minute point of the fourth quarter in the Hilltop Invitational Dec. 1.

La Jolla, with three roster players injured and two sitting out the first half due to a late arrival, led 17-15 after one quarter. The red-and-black earned a seven-point lead at halftime, 28-21, through hard work and big man Charlie Gal's pair of threes.

The Vikings' third quarter lead peaked at nine points, 39-30, before RBV came back to tie early in the fourth quarter, 39-all, before taking the slim lead at 41-39 on Nathaniel Romero's layup.

After Hashemi's three-pointer from just to the right of the top of the circle, Hulquist then drove and earned two free throws by drawing a foul, making both charity tosses for a three-point lead with 5:07 to play.

Hashemi's driving layup was smacked down before Ohara, showing even more quickness than last year as a junior, was fouled on a shot attempt. He sank both free throws.

Then, on a spectacular play showing Ohara's development, the slender 6'1" senior went up for a rebound on a miscue under the Vikings' hoop and used his arm and shoulder to clear an RBV rebounder back from the basket. Jacob, securing the rebound, then gathered himself to score and put his team in the lead, 48-41. It was an impressive play that showed aggressiveness and confidence, though little noticed at the time.

After Gal rebounded a Longhorn missed free throw, Ohara drove through the RBV man-to-man defense, mincing it into pieces, and scored.

Hulquist missed on a drive attempt, then Hashemi, getting his feet after cooling his heels on the Viking bench the entire first half along with freshman Diego Solis, drove to the basket and scored on his first layup of the young season. It was 52-41.

Rawdin put in a basket at the two-minute mark, and when Ohara drove from the right baseline to score again, with La Jolla now up by 15, Baranowski put the offense into a spread to use up time and the Longhorns were forced to foul to stop the clock.

Hulquist, an atypical guard at 6'4", made the second of two free throws. Gal, breaking into the dominance of the guard corps, delivered on two free throws, and finally Ohara fittingly made another layup just before the final buzzer to top things off.

It was a spectacular, take-no-prisoners skein in which RBV made one point on a free throw, the Vikings 22 in the final three-fourths of the closing period.