LJ b BB: Gabe Solis

The Vikings' Gabe Solis (in 33 gray
jersey) puts a ball up inside in the first
half against El Capitan in summer
league play June 15.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

 

By Ed Piper

Gabe Solis moved with freedom and showed a renewed enthusiasm for the game of basketball in La Jolla's summer league game against El Capitan at Grossmont High Fri., June 15.

"I can feel it a little," but it doesn't affect him, was what the rising senior guard reported on the back injury--never diagnosed--that hindered him last year as a junior. The receiver for the Vikings' football team took a blow to his back in the last game of the fall season, a playoff game, that was slow to heal into the winter sports season.

The timing of the nagging injury was unfortunate, because the 5'8" guard came over to Coach Paul Baranowski's basketball team on a late transition because of football. He tried practicing with the hoop team, then took time out to let the injury heal when pain lingered.

Solis went from the heights of a stellar season as Coach Tyler Roach's top receiver, acrobatic in making leaping catches, to the depths of seeing only minutes of play in basketball, often when games were already decided.

But all of that seems behind him now, and he is fit and ready to help contribute to the Viking hoop effort in tandem with his younger brother Diego, a left-hander who also plays in the back court.

The elder Solis sibling agreed prior to Friday's contest that the injury had thrown his junior season out of whack. When he did come into games, he didn't have the rhythm and muscle memory that come with regular play.

Then, against the young Vaqueros, his layup attempts reminded one of his fluidity as a sophomore and freshman on the JV and freshman teams. He had balance, and he retains his "hops" that give him his explosiveness as a receiver to go up for receptions.

His expression and body language seemed to indicate a level of satisfaction, too, that this is a good time leading up to his senior and final year in high school. Solis continues to bear the dual challenge of concentrating on offseason football--Roach's squad participated in the annual San Diego State 7-on-7 tournament last weekend--while honing his skills with the round ball.

One didn't get a sense, as there was during last winter's difficult season, that Gabe was filling a role as a bit of his younger brother's shadow. Diego played far more minutes as his role in Baranowski's rotation blossomed.

One also didn't get a sense, in the Vikings' 57-43 win, that the sport has to be endured. It looked like fun again, and it wasn't just because La Jolla came out on the winning end.