LJ b BB: From the RBV side

By Ed Piper

Before La Jolla's opening game in the Hilltop Invitational, RBV coach Aaron Abrams, in his second year as head coach at the school, said, "Defense is where we're going to win the game."

Abrams, with three returning starters, also said, "We're going to come out to compete with a lot of energy."

His Longhorns lost the opening tip, but then taking the ball away from the Vikings on the initial possession of the game, RBV's Ricky Reyes hit a bucket and the North County team led, 2-0.

After La Jolla's Charlie Gal missed a jumper, RBV's Jamaul Bell scored on a layup and RBV led 4-0. His and-one free throw made it 5-0 with only 47 seconds elapsed.

Nick Hulquist hit a jump shot from the top of the key to put LJHS on the board. The Longhorns held leads of 7-2, then 10-5, before the Vikings caught up and took the lead on Evan Brown's layup on an assist from Jacob Ohara. The clock read 4:01.

Did Abrams' defense do the work he wanted it to do? RBV scaled its way back from a nine-point deficit, 39-30, with 1:34 left in the third quarter. The Longhorns were scrappy, hard-working, taking the ball into the paint and trying to scratch out a basket.

The defense that was effective against La Jolla was a zone that stifled Jacob Ohara from driving, though he did anyway with some effectiveness. The Vikings chose or were forced to put up 20 of their 49 shots from behind the three-point line, which seems like a lot. But they hit seven of the 20, a decent 35 percent.

But, in the end, La Jolla scored 17 points in a row and blew out the Longhorns, 61-42.

The boys in red-and-black shot 21 for 49 for 43 percent overall, which isn't glorious. But it was enough in this game. Within two-point range, 14 of 29 shots dropped, 48 percent.

A marvelous statistic is 12 of 14 from the free throw line. Now, that's excellent. Many of those, in addition, came down the stretch when the Vikings were fighting for the final result. Gal was a perfect 6 for 6, Ohara 2 for 2, Hulquist 3 of 4, Behzad Hashemi 1 of 2.

Senior guard Quinn Rawdin, who opened the season with a stat line of 7 points on 3 of 8 shooting, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, with 2 turnovers, on trailing by two with six minutes to play before the final spurt: "I knew we had to play harder, outwork RBV. I noticed they were getting tired and losing focus. We just played smarter, out-ran them, and finished strong."

Hulquist, before the season opener: "I'm very excited to see how the team plays and looking to get our first win."

Hashemi before the game: "Coming off knee surgery, this is my first game in a long time. My shots will come, but it's important for me to come out and get my teammates involved from the start. Most important thing is to go out and just have fun because when I'm doing that, I'm at my best. This is a very under-rated team, and we're gonna shock a lot of people this year."