LJ b BB 59, St. Augustine 70

Chibuzo Agbo (big man in purple jersey, middle)
of St. Augustine guards Viking Max Raulston
(salmon-colored shoes) in the post
in the first half.
(Photos by Ed Piper)
 

By Ed Piper

St. Augustine, ranked number one in San Diego County, went on a 13-0 run to open the game at La Jolla Sat., Jan. 12, and ended the first quarter leading 20-5, rendering the eventual outcome, from all appearances, academic.

But the Vikings, out-matched though refusing to throw in the towel, made it interesting by cutting what ballooned to a 33-point lead in the third quarter to 11 in the fourth.

Saints coach Mike Haupt had four starters at the scorer's table, ready to check in with a minute left, before his third-string subs turned back the late challenge.

The final was St. Augustine 70, La Jolla 59.

"Honestly, I don't know how we came back to make it close," said Viking senior Jett Wilson, never one to butter things up.

"Give the credit to Coach (Paul Baranowski). He told us to keep our heads up and play as hard as we could. He kept us in the game."

Chibuzo Agbo, the 6'6" Saint standout who could be this year's CIF Player of the Year, absolutely tore up the much smaller La Jolla defenders. displaying his immense three-point shooting skills and adding a ferocious two-handed slam later on.

"No matter who the opponent is, we try to play at our best level," said Agbo. "We want to work hard to get back to play for the state championship."

The accurate junior, who sank three treys and scored 18 of his team's 20 points in that first period, acknowledged his outside shooting has taken off. "Between my freshman and sophomore years I worked on it a lot," he said. "What you practice, you're going to get better at."

Wilson uncharacteristically made seven of nine free throws in the fourth quarter to lead the Vikings back into relevance after the game got especially out of hand later in the third period. He tangled with Saints guard Tyson Shields repeatedly. The two seemed to take it as a personal challenge in how they played each other.

Though Baranowski's starters were facing Haupt's subs, the Viking players dived after balls and flew around like it was the Final Four--as did the Saint players.

In La Jolla's late rally, Behzad Hashemi scored on a layup, a three, and another jumper. Fellow senior Langston Aron, facing St. Augustine for the first time, took an assist inside from Wilson for a layup. Another senior, Nick Hulquist, put back a miss by Jett.

The margin was 11, with 1:40 to play. But that was the closest the Vikings could get, though Haupt was up off the bench, then ready to reinsert his starters to preserve the win.

Viking captain Behzad Hashemi (far left) and Coach
Paul Baranowski (to his left) take part in the
pregame captains meeting with Saints players
Chibuzo Agbo (far right) and Luke Haupt
(to his right).

Baranowski was asking the referees for foul calls on Agbo, for pushing, and other Saints. At one point in the heated finish, after Hashemi was warned by an official for the second straight game, Baranowski demonstrated to a ref, wrapping his arm around Hashemi's neck, how he said a Saint had fouled his point guard with no call made.

In the Western League, St. Augustine sits atop the standings 5-0. Mission Bay, formerly ranked number one, lost to the Saints 64-55 in their first league meeting. Cathedral lost to Mission Bay in overtime, but defeated Christian 75-70 Fri., Jan. 11.

The Dons are up-and-down. The league race would seem to come down to St. Augustine and Mission Bay, which has playoff aspirations.

Christian, a new addition to the Western League in the "equity" (non-enrollment alignment) era, throws an interesting element into the race, though.

La Jolla stands above Patrick Henry, having edged the Patriots in a less-than-outstanding performance in the first round, with Serra winless at the bottom.