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| Viking coach Paul Baranowski uses hydrogen peroxide to clean the floor of blood, apparently from Charlie Gal's pinkie, during the first quarter. (Photo by Ed Piper) |
"What are we doing playing in Division 1?" asked an observer incredulously after La Jolla's 65-55 loss to Patrick Henry at home Fri., Jan. 5.
The observer wasn't attached to the La Jolla High boys basketball program, rather the Henry basketball team.
The remark came at the end of a conversation which went on during the game, in which two of the Western League's non-star-studded teams faced off.
Whereas the Patriots now stand at 2-0 in the newly-Division 1 league (formerly Division 2 and, until three years ago, Division 3, before the creation of the Open Division), the Vikings have dug themselves into an early hole at 0-2.
Neither team has faced the big dogs yet, but they're coming: Henry, which beat lowly Kearny 73-54 Jan. 3, travels to Mission Bay Tues., Jan. 9, then Cathedral and home against St. Augustine the following week.
Meanwhile, on Tues., Jan. 9 La Jolla hosts Cathedral Catholic, which already defeated the Patriots by 20 (69-49) in the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic Dec. 30. In quick order come St. Augustine in its new home-court-advantage facility Fri., Jan. 12, and Mission Bay at home Tues., Jan. 16.
Mission Bay is merely the top-ranked team in San Diego County. The Bucs mangled Lincoln, which just defeated the Vikings this week, by a bad 51-28 margin Fri., Jan. 5. The Saints lost to Mission Bay Jan. 3 narrowly, 60-54. But they're ranked third, and feature a talented lineup of sophomores you don't see everyday.
To return to our initial theme, how did La Jolla, now 6-8 on the season, end up in Division 1? For one thing, leagues are realigned according to success, rather than school enrollment as was done traditionally, every two years. For another, there was a will on the Vikings' side to move up.
As Quinn Rawdin, a senior guard on the team said in a feature article recently, he and the team wanted to move up to higher competition. Playing in Division 1 is an honor.
The competition is tougher. The teams are more skilled. La Jolla has had disciplined, team-oriented squads ever since Kamal Assaf took the coaching reins a decade and a half ago, then present coach Paul Baranowski moved seamlessly into the position after assisting Kamal--but actually being treated as a co-coach in many ways by Assaf in view of Baranowski's now-near-three-decades of head coaching experience--for two years while his son, Jake Baranowski, played for the Vikings.
Scaling the mountain of facing Cathedral, when the Dons had seven-footer Brandon McCoy, or Lincoln, back when present Henry coach Jason Bryant led Norm Powell (now on the Toronto Raptors of the NBA) and Tyree and Tyrell Robinson, twins who played football at Oregon, to the state title, was a big thrill. (Tyree shot baskets at halftime of the Vikings' game at Lincoln Jan. 3.)
But getting plastered by 50 points by the Dons, for instance, two years ago coming off an inactive Winter Break was not exhilarating. It was downright unpleasant, not something you want to go through all the time. There was no thrill in defeat in that game.
Back to the present, had the Vikings managed to split their first two league games, beating either Lincoln, which is very beatable, or Henry, it would have made the present situation a little less dire. You don't want to go weeks without a win. Hopefully, La Jolla won't go through that.
When Reed Farley sustained a high ankle sprain near the end of the Vikings' win at Bishop's in a non-conference rivalry game two years ago--teammate Eddie Parker shoved him in celebratory fashion following his dramatic slam dunk to put La Jolla up by 5 or so--La Jolla went on a death march of six straight losses.
But, knowing the La Jolla program, Baranowski is cooking up a way to free up more of the Vikings' players talents right now to get them back closer in approximation to the flowing, relaxed team that won the Hilltop Invitational title to begin this season.
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