LJ b BB 55, Patrick Henry 65

The LJHS school band and flag team perform
during the first half of the Vikings'
game against Henry. (Photos by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

Division 1 is hell.

And the Vikings haven't even faced the big boys yet.

La Jolla's boys are now 0-2 in a rough return to the Western League, reconfigured as a Division 1 conference this year. They dropped a 65-55 decision at home to Patrick Henry Fri., Jan. 5.

Looming in the Vikes' next three games are Cathedral Catholic, St. Augustine, which is ranked third in the county, then number-one Mission Bay.

Yikes.

Before a crowd that included their school band, flag team, and cheerleaders, Coach Paul Baranowski's beleaguered squad--coming in having lost six of their last seven games--played the Patriots to a 41-41 tie through three quarters.

But then senior Jayden Holloway scored four baskets as Henry pulled away to their second victory in the first week of league play. La Jolla had no rejoinder, as the team's defense sputtered, yielding eight straight points at one point.

Junior forward Langston Aron has seen
a lot of playing time as a reserve
since being activated following
a knee injury the first month
of the season.

The Vikings' Evan Brown fought the good fight, canning six points in the period.

But a three-pointer by lefty Aiden Alfino, a sophomore, to put the Patriots up 60-47 with 1:12 remaining was pretty much the dagger that ended chances for the hosts.

For La Jolla, lifted by the energy in a loud gym at home for the first time this season, Behzad Hashemi led with 14 points, including a trey of three-pointers--unfortunately, none in the final period--with backcourt mate Jacob Ohara scoring 11 points, all in the first half.

Ohara, until Henry coach Jason Bryant's team made a halftime adjustment, was able to slip behind the defense for four baskets in transition.

Freshman Diego Solis provided the home crowd some excitement in closing moments with a pair of three's. The 5'7" lefthander totaled eight points. Brown finished with seven points in a performance that showed the junior extending himself, despite missing some layups underneath.

"We got back on defense" to stop Ohara, said Holloway, who had 16 points for Henry. Asked how it feels to be 2-0 in league play, the 6'2" Patriot captain replied, "It feels good."

Said Bryant, "Defensively, we got good stops. That led to transition buckets." Bryant, who coached Lincoln to the state title in a previous stint, highlighted senior Zach La, a reserve who scored 10 points, besides Alfino, the sophomore. "That's two guys who came in off the bench," Bryant commented.

Alfino led all scorers with 17 points, which included five baskets from beyond the arc.

As the Henry coach stood in the visitors' team room off the upper deck of the Big Gym, with his team seated in the tiny cubicle after their victory, he was asked what he was going to impart to his team to prepare them for their game Tues., Jan. 9, at top-ranked Mission Bay. He replied, "Toughness. Get the 50-50 balls."