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| Gabe Solis goes to the team room at halftime. The junior guard later appeared in his first game this season, following injury. (Photos by Ed Piper) |
Images of La Jolla's basketball game against Foothills Christian:
Langston Aron, playing only for the second time this season due to a knee injury, leaping high at 6'2" against opponents 6'5" and 6'10" to bat a bounding ball...Jacob Ohara, ditto--leaping the highest I've seen him for another ball in the key...
Bodies splayed all over the floor, diving for loose balls in the fourth quarter of a long-decided contest: Diego Solis, the freshman, among them...Evan Brown, a junior forward in a reserve role, slipping down the baseline from the left to drive to the basket and score on the Foothills behemoths...
Team mainstay Charlie Gal, 6'6" himself but battling big men on the number-one-ranked team in the county, bombing from outside to hit some threes and maintain a little pride even though the game is out of reach...the Solis brothers, Gabe and Diego, on the floor together for the first time as high school teammates the last 1:40 of the game before a small home crowd in the Grossmont Winter Classic. Gabe tried a nifty left-handed layup (he's a natural right-hander) that fell off the rim but looked pretty good considering it was his first game appearance of the season due to injury. Diego hit a lefty jump shot from 12 feet on the left edge of the lane that indicated his skills...
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Despite the Vikings going down to defeat by a large margin (91-51), junior swingman Nick Hulquist made all five of his free throws in the charged atmosphere.
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| Vikes' Nick Hulquist in pregame warm-ups. |
You could see and feel the energy and animation on the La Jolla side. Playing Foothills was like their NBA Finals in a way. As Brown's dad, Eric, said as he took photos of the game, "I wanted photos of him (Evan) playing against players who could end up in the NBA (particularly Taeshon Cherry, CIF Player of the Year last year), so he could look back."
Sure, there's nothing demeaning or against a desire to win when we cherish moments like these against highly-talented opponents. In high school, my brother Steve and I played Jamaal (then Keith) Wilkes in his last regular-season prep game before his home crowd. Wilkes was the CIF Southern Section Player of the Year. He went on to star for UCLA and the Lakers, and was inducted into the Lakers' Hall of Fame. The Santa Barbara High gym was packed. After the game, which the Dons won easily against us, Wilkes came and shook the hands of each of us players on the opposing side. It seemed genuine, as he was known as a good person. (His dad was a minister.) It's a fun memory of our high school days.
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D.J. Carter, the Knights' 6'5" junior forward who pommeled the Vikings along with Cherry, when asked after the game about how his team's cohesiveness has been developing, said, "We've actually done pretty well. We started really badly, losing three straight games (against highly-ranked opponents up north). But then we've put it together."
Carter, 16, gracious and polite, added, "I felt a brothership out there with my teammates tonight. A brotherhood. We passed well. We moved the ball. We did a lot of things well."
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Brown, seeing lots of playing time in the rout, which touched 20 points near the end of the second quarter, grabbed eight rebounds, four on each end of the court. Hulquist had five, all defensive. Diminutive Diego Solis had four rebounds and three steals, as well as a turnover.
Behzad Hashemi, though cold as a cucumber from the field (1 for 7), dished out seven assists. Quinn Rawdin had four.
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