LJ b BB: How they did it

By Ed Piper

With 4:08 left in the game, Lincoln's Rayquan Everett made a layup. That put the Hornets in the lead by eight, 38-30.

At the other end, La Jolla's Charlie Gal, stifled much of the game, drove for the basket. Everett, like his Viking counterpoint about 6'6", fouled him.

Gal missed both free throws, but La Jolla got the rebound and point guard Behzad Hashemi fired a three-pointer. It missed.

Fellow senior Jacob Ohara put the ball back up for a basket. 38-32. 3:45 on the clock.

Lincoln missed a shot, La Jolla committed a turnover.

2:26: The Hornets couldn't get off an attempt before the shot clock ran out.

Diego Solis was fouled. He made both free throws in a one-and-one. 38-34. 2:12 left.

Pressing, the Vikings jarred a ball loose but couldn't complete the steal. 

1:43: Ohara stole the ball past midcourt, then for some reason, the official called traveling. LJHS coach Paul Baranowski asked for an explanation, but none was forthcoming. The swift senior, in his path across the half-court line, swooped low near the floor. But this observer didn't see a violation.

LJ b BB: Aftermath

By Ed Piper

Coach Paul Baranowski inserted guard Diego Solis into the game at the 2:13 mark of the first quarter. The 5'7" freshman (he thinks he's taller) proceeded to slash, dash, and fly onto the Big Gym hardwood multiple times over the next 29 minutes and 47 seconds--at least, during the time that he was in the game over that span.

The tiny lefty repeatedly drove to the basket against much taller defenders from Lincoln and ended up on the floor a lot.

It was fun to watch, and the comparably tiny Viking student body section--not unusual for a weekday afternoon start--was enjoying it, holding up their giant cutouts of La Jolla players' faces.

Then, the younger Solis--whose older brother, Gabe, sizzled for the Viking football team in the fall as an acrobatic wide receiver--found himself at the free throw line with 3.3 seconds left in the pivotal role of having two free throws to help decide the game, knotted at 39-39.

He bounced the first a little off target, hitting on the rim and bounding helplessly away.

It seemed, looking into his face from a chair at the corner of the court, that he was, not flushed, but energized by the moment.

He cleanly made the second.

La Jolla up, 40-39.

Solis said after the team circle in the corner of the gym, "It was very nerve-wracking."

The Hornet nearest the ball then leaped out of bounds and flung a pass toward midcourt, in front of the scorer's table.  But Jeff Harper Harris, Lincoln's coach, had already gotten the referee's attention near the other end of the floor, and called timeout.

There was a little gnashing of teeth by the visitors, because at one point, the green and white had led by as many as nine points. They had an eight-point lead with 4:08 left in the game, and the Vikings hadn't impressed too much--either this game, or in their loss to the Hornets at Lincoln High two weeks ago.

After the timeout, Harris' team had to go the full length of the court, and it was too much in 3.3 seconds.

"We just tried to get back and prevent the long pass, in case they tried it," was what senior Jacob Ohara, a mentor--if not by word, then by action--to the ninth-grade Solis, said.

Though wins have been as rare as cheap gas for his team lately, with only four wins in the last 14 games, Diego Solis already has a Google album full of memories this season. He has been in the team rotation since early in the season. He has played significant minutes, and been one of the first reserves off the bench for Baranowski.

It's got to be hard for his brother, who enjoyed such a breakout season on the football team. Gabe was the go-to receiver for Tyler Roach's squad, getting open over the middle when others couldn't and leaping for spectacular grabs several times throughout the season.

A back injury suffered in the final playoff game was slow to heal, and after trying to transition immediately to the basketball team with his brother, and the pain lingering, Gabe had to sit out. That set him back to the point where he wasn't getting the reps, and ended up not in Baranowski's rotation. When he did play spare minutes, his timing was off, just from the fact he hadn't handled a basketball since summer league.

Next year should be Gabe's year. But right now, Diego is having a heck of a time, and it's still good the two can travel to and from school and practice together. Like Diego said, "We ride together in my brother's car. I really enjoy it."

By Gabe's senior year next season, we should be seeing both the Solis brothers in the backcourt a lot.

LJ b BB 40, Lincoln 39

A dedicated remnant support the Vikings
at the weekday late afternoon game.
(Photos by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla erased an eight-point Lincoln lead in the last four minutes and took a much-needed Western League victory, 40-39, on freshman Diego Solis' free throw with 3.3 seconds left Tues., Jan. 30 at home.

Solis' decisive free throw, the second after he missed the first of a two-shot double bonus, was set up by teammate Jacob Ohara's rare three-pointer from the right base line to tie the game at 39-all with 37.4 seconds left.

Lincoln's Rayquan Everett, who made the Vikings pay in a 10-point loss in the two teams' previous meeting at Lincoln, missed an attempt from behind the arc with 5.1 seconds left, enabling La Jolla to grab the rebound and cause the Hornets to foul Solis as he headed upcourt.

"It was very nerve-wracking, but then again, it's always fun to have the game on the line," said Solis of his free throws. "I was luckily enough able to make the second one."

The Vikings (now 3-5 in league, 10-11 overall) trailed Lincoln through the final three quarters, having led only in the opening minutes of the game. Suffering a disappointing loss at Patrick Henry, another middle-of-the-pack team, in their last game Jan. 26, they sorely wanted also to avenge the earlier loss in the Hornets' gym, when they were without the services of point guard Behzad Hashemi for the first half.

The LJ cheerleaders do their stunting
between quarters.

But Everett was prevented from playing a dominant role, as he had in the previous matchup. And Ohara burned Lincoln repeatedly on quick, transition layups ahead of the defense, much to the chagrin of Hornets coach Jeff Harper Harris, who voiced his displeasure to his guards loudly.

The senior guard led all scorers with 18 points.

Of his three-pointer with 37.4 on the clock to bring the Vikings into a tie for the first time since the end of the first quarter, Ohara said, "We were down three, so I thought we needed something quick and I was pretty open there, so I went for it."

Lincoln, as a result of the loss, falls to a lowly 2-6 in the tough Western League, which has not afforded either team any gratuitous wins. The Hornets are now 10-9 overall.

The battle between teams coming in 2-5 was a low-scoring affair, with the halftime score only 17-15 in favor of the visitors. Ohara slipped in for four baskets in the initial half, scoring at least a pair of shots in every quarter but the second.

Getting the win "was really nice," averred Ohara, "especially after Patrick Henry."

Looking ahead to a return game against St. Augustine Fri., Feb. 2, Jacob said, "It's a home game, so hopefully it'll be different from last time" (when La Jolla lost decisively).

LJ baseball: Last four head coaches to throw out first ball at Alumni Game

By Ed Piper

The last four La Jolla High baseball coaches--Al Lamotte, Dick Huddleston, Bob Allen, and Gary Frank--will each throw out an opening ball before the 25th Annual Alumni Game Sat., March 3, at Ronnie Spelman Field on the Muirlands Middle School campus.

"These four coaches cover the past 50 years of Viking baseball," said Howard Frank, Gary's father and a long-time booster of the La Jolla program.

The significance of the 25th annual event, in which some of the 19 former Vikings to play pro ball and the 93 former Vikings to play at the collegiate level will participate, is not lost on the elder Frank.

"The Alumni Game illustrates the rich history and tradition of La Jolla baseball," he said. "It not only unites former players, but also the families of former players who, in effect, have a reunion each year at this event."

Lamotte guided the Vikings baseball program from 1968-81. Huddleston was at the helm from 1982-84 and 1986-89. Allen, the former athletic director and current teacher on campus, was head coach in 1985 and 1990-2003. Finally, Gary Frank enters his 15th year as head coach, having begun in 2004, and his 22nd year coaching the varsity as an assistant or head coach.

The affair is an informal one, with Frank's new varsity unit for 2018 facing off against the alumni, some of them old-timers who have participated in several of the annual games.

LJ g VB: The rest of the story

By Ed Piper

There's often more to the story, whether it's a report in sports or one from general news. That was the case with Viking alumnus Madeleine Gates being named a Second Team All-American in volleyball at UCLA in her sophomore season.

Her father, Michael Gates, shared the fact that his daughter, a 6' 2 1/2" middle hitter-blocker, played a chunk of the season with a pulled abdominal muscle. He placed his right hand on the left side of his abdomen to demonstrate where the injury occurred.

Madeleine developed the injury because, in spiking the volleyball with considerable force, as she does, while she leaps high above the net, she is causing considerable strain in that area.

The pulled muscle was significant enough, according to the elder Gates, that the team staff restricted her practice time. She was being held out of practices during the week, then being inserted into the Bruins' lineup for matches.

And yet, missing lots of practice time, while nursing the injury, Madeleine Gates played effectively enough to be named All-Pac 12, All-Regional, as well as All-American Second Team in her first year starting at UCLA. Now, the awards themselves are quite a feat, even with full participation in team practices.

The younger Gates, according to her father, is taking an Applied Math major. This enables her to still be on track for preparation for engineering, without all her remaining courses being taken up by required courses toward an Engineering degree.

In a conversation about NCAA student-athletes' restrictions from receiving money, food, or anything else from sports boosters, Michael Gates said that Madeleine receives $300 to $400 a month as a stipend for her expenses outside of tuition and housing, which are part of her full athletic scholarship at UCLA. The stipend enables her to buy meals and pay for other living expenses that are not quite covered otherwise.

"Some conferences do it, and some don't," was his comment on the athletic stipend. The Pac 12 does it.

In August, before the school year begins in September, volleyball players are required to be on campus for preseason team practice. In that case, said Mr. Gates, the university provides for her housing, an expense which otherwise would fall to the family.

Michael Gates said that he and his wife, Amy, drive to Los Angeles from San Diego for each UCLA home volleyball match. "If you don't leave before 2 p.m., you pretty much will be sitting in traffic for four hours," he said of the grueling route from here north through traffic in North County, Orange County, then Greater Los Angeles.

Matches were sometimes scheduled Wednesday and Friday, or Thursday and Saturday, during the women's fall season.

Under NCAA regulations, there are restrictions on how much time the team can require an athlete on scholarship to devote to training, as well as travel, each week. There are technicalities on how many days are devoted to "travel" when the team goes to out-of-town matches. For example, when UCLA travels to Washington, and matches are on Thursday and Saturday, there isn't time between matches to return to Los Angeles. So the team stays at the away location over the three days, and Madeleine would be studying and completing assignments during her off time between matches and practice.

Dad, obviously extremely proud about his daughter's accomplishments on and off the volleyball court (she is a stellar student in the classroom), though not a boaster, said his daughter has grown quite a bit personally from the tall, shy girl who used to move about the La Jolla High campus. "She's much more outgoing now," he indicated.

A memory a sportswriter has of the former, reticent Madeleine Gates is of a time at a Viking football game when the sports facility was being renovated and football games were being held at Mission Bay High. After volleyball practice, Gates arrived at the game with a talkative teammate, Savannah Guy, who initiated the conversation. Gates chimed in--a little--but it was mostly the gregarious Guy who propelled the interchange.

The two girls were quite a sight: both measuring a long, lanky 6'2" or more. I think Madeleine even managed a smile, though even as a senior she still could be pretty shy with people she didn't know closely.

LJ wrestling: Growing

Viking Chase Maisel (in black singlet),
at 128 pounds, in the grips on day one
of the 55th annual Holtville tourney.
(Photo by Ed Piper) 
 

By Ed Piper

"You really get to know our wrestlers' personalities when you spend all day with them at a tournament," remarked Kellen Delaney, head wrestling coach at La Jolla High, on the first day of the two-day 55th Annual Holtville Rotary Invitational Fri.-Sat., Jan. 26-27.

Here are comments on the Viking wrestlers who competed at the tournament by coaches Delaney and Chuck Pieritz, an assistant.

Chase Maisel, freshman, 128 pounds, in his first year wrestling at LJHS (Delaney): "He's scrappy" (after his first bout Friday, which he lost but in which he was active and aggressive).

In a Hard Luck Bracket bout Saturday, day two, after Maisel was eliminated from the championship bracket Friday, he just went for it. He was aggressive, didn't hold back from fear of making a mistake, and, though he lost the bout, he showed strides. It was noticeable to observers.

Pieritz: "Chase has had the mentality of battling. He's been smoking guys on runs (when the Vikings hold voluntary 6 a.m. early-morning training workouts). Whether up or down, it doesn't matter what the score is. He's a battler."

Isaiah Torres, junior, 222, a returning wrestler (Pieritz): "He shows up everyday. He's respectful to everyone. You never hear bad things about him from other people. He was down versus the Saints, getting blasted, and he didn't give up. He keeps working. We have some awesome kids. I'm grateful to be part of it."

Torres was head-butted, then hit with a forearm by an opponent Friday. The referee warned the opponent on the first instance, then disqualified him on the second, moving Torres into Saturday's second-day action on the DQ. He had slight swelling above the right eyebrow as a result of the head butt.

Hunter Gilbert, sophomore, 134, a returner from last year (Pieritz): "We only have the wrestlers two hours a day. If you can teach them discipline... Hunter is growing in that. Wrestling saved me. I lost my dad when I was 12. Wrestling gave me an avenue. I don't know what I would have done without wrestling."

Gilbert continued on the Vikings this year after gaining coaching and experience last year as a freshman.

Justin Close, sophomore, 140 (Pieritz): "He's a good teammate. He's there everyday. He doesn't shy away from a challenge. He has the mentality for it. He's in the room. He's battling. That's why he's getting better quick."

Joshua Jasso, sophomore, 197, a returning wrestler (Pieritz): "Jasso's just coming into his stuff now. He's coming in (to workouts) everyday. I think it's a thing where he has to realize he can't shut it on and off. He's learning combinations. He takes criticism well. That's hard to do. He's got the skill set to do well."

Asked to elaborate on the elements that make up the "skill set" to succeed, Pieritz said: "Perseverance, an intangible. Work ethic. The intangibles. The techniques come if you have the intangibles. Are you doing your school work at school and at home? Are you eating the right foods? (and so forth)."

LJ wrestling: 128-pounder against the world

Elliot Austin (in black singlet, center right) faces off
against opponent under domed Holtville High
ceiling Friday on day one.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

La Jolla assistant Chuck Pieritz had an interesting observation about the training regimen of the Vikings' top wrestler, senior Elliot Austin at 128 pounds.

"He (Austin) doesn't have any partner to go against in practice," commented Pieritz, himself a former high school and college standout, as team members stood in the staging room inside the Holtville High School gymnasium complex, at midday Sat., Jan. 27, of a two-day tournament. "He has to go against the coaches, because there isn't somebody who can compete with him."

"If he had a teammate to practice against everyday, he'd beat the whole lot of them," the barrel-chested Viking coach said. "A lot of these other guys (surveying athletes from other schools in the room) have someone else to work with."

It's not a sad commentary, it's just a fact, as head coach Kellen Delaney commented over the weekend: "It's the ebb-and-flow of a program," where some years there are more wrestlers and more talent, and other years less. Wrestlers don't transfer into La Jolla, and, as the saying goes, it is what it is.

But Delaney also told his team after a recent dual meet at Cathedral Catholic High: "There's not a team getting a higher technical level of training from its coaches." In other words, nothing in the regimen the LJHS coaching staff is providing falls short of what each individual wrestler needs to learn to excel. The only thing to add: practice and mental toughness.

The Viking wrestling program reached its most recent pinnacle with Western League championships five years ago behind present JV assistant Harry Wilson, Timmy Cundiff, and others. But since then, it has been a rebuild project, many of those stalwarts seniors who graduated.

"He could go on to wrestle in college, definitely," Delaney said of his star 128-pounder earlier this season. Said Pietritz Saturday, "College coaches will be looking at him. He has the work ethic, the mentality."

But in being a standout with no peers near him, Austin labors against a handicap, and that is the lack of in-practice rivals who can help him anticipate new challenges and work to fill any blind spots in his overall game.

One of the qualities Pieritz considers an essential for a wrestler to succeed is teachability. "That is hard to accept criticism," he said. "Not everyone can do it." But Austin has it, and has maximized his growth since he entered the Viking wrestling program as a sophomore, with six years experience in karate.

Some of the skills transferred over from martial arts. The rest was a growth process. A comment he made after losing a narrow 4-1 match to Ivan Miramontes in the consolation semifinals at Holtville was, "When I'm behind like that, I have to learn how not to react" and think negatively. Replied Pieritz, "Find a way to overcome that."

It makes one think of cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is practical: Identify a need, find a changed behavior to take care of it, and practice the new behavior. This sounds like the exchange between wrestler and coach in the staging room right after the bout: Area of need identified. Find a solution. Use it.

"At his level," said Pieritz during the Holtville weekend of Austin, "it's all what's in his head. The physical is all there. The technique is there. It's what he believes about himself."

LJ wrestling: Holtville 8

A smiling Keegan Leonard (R), a freshman at
122 pounds, gets some post-bout wisdom from
Viking head coach Kellen Delaney on day two.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

Three wrestlers made it to the second day of the 55th Holtville Rotary Invitational, and eight in all competed for La Jolla High over the two days as Coach Kellen Delaney's squad continued a long tradition of participation in the prestigious annual meet in Imperial County Fri., Jan. 26 and Sat., Jan. 27.

Junior Isaiah Torres, wrestling at 222 pounds, sophomore Joshua Jasso (197), and senior Elliot Austin, who earned fifth place at 128 pounds (see separate entry), all continued in the competitive bracket into Sat., Jan. 27 of the big meet, which drew 366 athletes from 41 schools, including one school in Arizona (Kofa High of Yuma).

Torres, Jasso, and Austin were all returnees from previous Holtville meets. The other Vikings filling out the octet making the 260-mile round-trip trek over the Laguna Mountains on the last weekend of January included sophomores Hunter Gilbert (134) and Justin Close (140), and freshmen Keegan Leonard (122), Chase Maisel (128), and Tanner Shimp (154).

"That's the first time I've ever shot in a real match," said Shimp with obvious enthusiasm after a match Saturday afternoon, despite losing. Shooting involves lunging for the opponent's legs from a standing position. Tanner is one of the young La Jollans just learning his chops since last fall. The Holtville meet, which enables those losing their first two matches to wrestle in additional bouts in a so-called "Hard Luck Bracket", is an incubator for novices like Shimp.

The La Jolla student-athletes were housed for the second year in a row by Jimmy and Christina Toten of Holtville, who have a son, Michael, who competes on the Holtville High Vikings wrestling team. "We slept on air mattresses and couches," said Torres. "They served us a dinner of chicken and carne asada, with beans and rice," reported Leonard Saturday morning, after the overnight stay.

A humorous comment came from the Totens' niece, Julia, who met the team. Told that Austin is British and has kept his British accent even after living here for several years, Julia said, "Oh, I thought he was faking it."

The Totens, with Julia, cheered Elliot on in his path through the consolation bracket Saturday back into contention for third place, after losing a quarterfinal match Friday night. He was able to ascend to fifth place on a total of four pins over the two-day event.

At the traditional team lunch at picnic tables on the quad of the Holtville High campus Saturday afternoon, Shimp showed his originality off the mat by scraping together the cream from several Oreo cookies, then downing the mound of filling on one cracker.

LJ wrestling: Austin blazes way to 5th in Holtville tourney

Elliot Austin, at 128 pounds, has his hand raised
after the first of his four pins on the way
to 5th place of the 366-wrestler
Holtville Rotary Invitational.

By Ed Piper

La Jolla's Elliot Austin blazed his way to fifth place in the prestigious 55th Annual Holtville Rotary Invitational Tournament at 128 pounds Jan. 26-27, continuing his torrid wrestling this season.

The senior from England, who was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the lighter weight classes at the El Cajon Invitational last month, pinned four of his first five opponents--including a 33-second gem overpowering Matthew Castro of Kofa, Arizona, in the fifth round.

Austin, a veteran of martial arts who didn't wrestle as a freshman, also submitted Ralph Magsino of Olympian in 57 seconds in the fourth round, as he had to work his way back through the consolation bracket after falling to Ivan Miramontes of Steele Canyon, 9-6, in a heartbreaker quarterfinals match late Friday night in the first day of the two-day tourney.

Austin operates with surgical precision
in pin of his first opponent, Elias Gracia
of Helix, in one minute, 40 seconds.

LJ wrestling: Photos 1/24 vs. UC

By Ed Piper

LJ g water polo - More photos 1/20

By Ed Piper