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| The Vikings' Christian Gamboa (25) moves toward a screen by teammate Max Raulston in the first quarter against Patrick Henry. It was both teams' Western League opener. (Photo by Ed Piper) |
La Jolla's basketball team played like a team that hadn't practiced for 10 days.
In trailing visiting Patrick Henry throughout the second and third quarters Thurs., Jan. 3, the Vikings made the woeful Patriots look good.
Henry, coached by Kenny Caesar, the former Mater Dei coach, came into the Western League opener with a 3-11 record.
But with basically everyone wearing black and red out of rhythm, 6'5" Dexter Stratton scored nine points in the opening period and 12 in the second--21 of the Pats' 37 points in the first half.
Viking coach Paul Baranowski made adjustments at halftime, and Henry's forward failed to score a bucket in the third quarter while canning four free throws.
Finally, using a formula that has worked several times this season, La Jolla forged a lead halfway through the fourth quarter as sharpshooter Behzad Hashemi heated up from the three-point arc, then put the ball in the point guard's hands down the stretch to preserve the lead.
The Vikings, behind Hashemi's 20 points, including three treys in the second half, eked out a narrow 64-60 win in the end.
"We've been practicing everyday," said a Henry person after hearing of the hosts' layoff since before Christmas.
"The players were winded in practice yesterday," commented a La Jolla person.
Stratton scored 31 points on the night, but he couldn't hit a basket when his team needed one in crunch time. None of the Patriot players could down the stretch, and that was La Jolla's saving grace.
It was Behzad's bomb from near the sideline, a Curry-like shot of 30 or more feet, that catapulted the Vikings into their first lead since the opening quarter, 56-54, with 4:59 left.
Jett Wilson, the other half of La Jolla's "grudge brothers", took a turnover to score a layup in open court half a minute later for a four-point lead.
Baranowski's squad then scored on a beautiful give-and-go from Langston Aron to Jacob Duffy, laying the ball up with his off (left) hand, and a pair of free throws by Hashemi for a six-point lead with a minute left.
Henry (0-1 in the Western League, 3-12 overall) couldn't get closer than five points until Wilson's ill-advised foul of Stratton with four seconds left, giving the Pats' leader two free throws to close out the scoring.
Gamboa added 16 points for the winners.
It was Caesar, Henry's new coach, who was involved in the unusual switch of coaches with Mater Dei Catholic. Jason Bryant, the former Lincoln coach who led the Hornets to a state title and coached the Raptors' Norman Powell and the Robinson brothers, Tyree and Tyrell, was hired away from Henry after last season by Mater Dei.
With Caesar now the displaced Mater Dei coach, Bryant recommended him for his former job at Henry. So the two, in effect, traded jobs.
La Jolla (1-0 in the Western League, 8-7 overall) will have to look alive better than they did Thursday night when they travel to rival Bishop's Friday, Jan. 4, for a non-league contest. Coach Nick Levine's Knights are 11-4 after playing in the Mayors Division of the Torrey Pines Holiday Classic, with games at Sage Creek, last week.
Several things are wrong with this story. Fist of all, Dexter Stratton had 23pts at halftime...35pts for the game. Pretty impressive for a 15 year old sophomore on a team that he is currently the only real offensive threat. That’s what you should be reporting about. In her third quarter, LaJolla was double teaming Dexter Stratton by roughing him up from from front and back but he still managed to score. LaJolla came back in the third quarter by capitalizing on Patrick Henry turn overs, a problem that has plagued this team throughout. Also, Patrick Henry had taken the holidays off from practice as well.
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