By Ed Piper
Soccer players and basketball enthusiasts Pablo Jativa and Emiliano Godinez each gave a key word for La Jolla's basketball team before the game Wednesday night, Dec. 12: Ritmo (rhythm, or pace) from Pablo, and fuego (fire) from Emiliano.
The Vikings, coming out smoking in the first quarter, showed the "fuego" early, jumping out to a 15-4 lead over visiting Mater Dei Catholic. Forward Langston Aron was juiced on adrenaline, hitting the floor three times in the opening minutes to fight for loose balls. His teammates played with a like spirit.
But after the hosts came back to earth and the Crusaders found their bearings, the early lead dissipated in the second quarter, and Pablo's idea of ritmo was going to be key for the rest of the game--the first for each team in the Grossmont Winter Invitational, with La Jolla High acting as an alternate site.
In the end, a couple of threes by Viking point guard Behzad Hashemi weren't quite enough, and Mater Dei's Nico Meza and Jake Tawhiao, who were stone-cold in the early going, got more accurate.
Coach Paul Baranowski's black-and-red, despite a fight, fell 46-41. His team dropped to 4-6 on the young season, though now they are never boring to watch.
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