LJ b BB: Look ahead

Langston Aron (left), counted on for
rebounding this year, at the Viking
football game Oct. 20.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

La Jolla High's boys basketball team has not faced a situation in recent years like the one it does now: Younger players will be pushed into prominent roles, beginning with the Vikings' involvement in the Aztec Tip-off Challenge Nov. 15-16-17, to an unprecedented level.

With the collarbone fractures suffered by football players Evan Brown Oct. 5, and Gabe and Diego Solis Oct. 20, three of La Jolla's expected starters for the coming season face recoveries of an estimated four to eight weeks.

That means feature player Nick Hulquist, who starred in spring and summer league play for Coach Paul Baranowski's basketball team, would be counted on for even more production. especially on the offensive end.

Meanwhile, Max Raulston, a promising freshman football receiver, would likely see much more action with the absence of Brown, also a receiver, who plays in the front court, at the start of the hoops season.

Returners alongside the 6'4" Hulquist, who has outside range to go with his abilities off the dribble, include guard Jacob Duffy and forward Langston Aron, the latter the sole varsity football player of the four who has not sustained a fracture to his clavicle.

Behzad Hashemi, a speedy 5'10" guard who teamed with the graduated Jacob Ohara in the backcourt last year, will be free to lead and push the Vikings down the floor with both Solis brothers out in November and most likely at least part of December. Gabe, a senior, missed a large part of last season with a back injury from football and never got into a full rhythm in basketball. Diego rounded into a regular member of Baranowski's rotation as a freshman, also in the backcourt.

Aron, who is playing football for the first time this fall as a senior, is athletic and can jump and rebound. His offensive skills are still latent. Otto Lenz, a 6'1" returner, is ready and available as a frontcourt player with a nice touch from midrange.