LJ b BB 41, Cathedral Catholic 83 - Western League opener

The mammoth Beon Riley (10) of Cathedral
Catholic, all 6'6", 230 pounds of him.
And he plays guard.
(Photo by Ed Piper)

By Ed Piper

Take a glimpse of La Jolla's diminutive Diego Solis and Transformer-sized Beon Riley of Cathedral Catholic and you have a vivid depiction of the Lilliputian-Brobdingnagian contrast of the Western League opener Friday night, Jan. 10.

Solis, listed at 5'10" though in the woods of the Dons' giants he looked smaller, guarded the behemoth Beon, who has displayed his considerable basketball wares at two of the county's stellar private Catholic schools in his 247Sports-ranked high school playing days. Riley, a big, big boy at 6'6" and 230 pounds, deployed in Coach Will Cunningham's backcourt as a combo guard, has a body type that makes one think football, rugby--not the frequent Kevin Durant skinniness of a lot of young, tall hoopsters.

Anyway, from a perch at the end of the visitors bleacher area, down the way from a fabulous though not packed Viking student section, the view of Solis giving up at least eight inches defending the Hawaii commit in the second half, the Dons leading by 40 points--yes, I reported that correctly--also brought home the determination and excellent play of Diego and his teammates under the adverse circumstances.

As one sideline observer (partisan to the lowly Vikings) commented to a photographer for Cathedral, "For the La Jolla players, this is like the Super Bowl."

On the offensive end, Solis off the dribble several times sneaked past a primary defender, then faced 6'7" Obinna Anyanwu or 6'9" Dillon Wilhite to try to get a shot off. He successfully did so more than once, but the Little Train That Could of the host La Jollans found themselves in quicksand the harder they worked, losing ground to the number-three ranked Dons at the end of the first quarter, 20-9, then 42-24 at halftime.

The warmed-up pizza at the snack bar was good and flowing, ASB and LJHS Athletic Director Paula Conway had done a good job of promoting the league opener, the Viking cheerleaders made their first appearance of 2020. The Big Gym throbbed with activity and presence.

Only, the Viking rooter section, holding up giant cutouts of their boys' visages on sticks, didn't have a lot to vocalize their approval for when Cunningham's troops, after halftime adjustments in the visitors' team room upstairs, unleashed a sirocco-wind hurricane in the third quarter. In five minutes, by the 2:58 mark, the Dons doubled the lead from 18 to 40 points and there was nothing the hard-working hosts could do.

In the scalding streak, Anyanwu and Riley each had eight points. Willhite burned the Vikings for another three baskets.

How in the era of "competitive equity", instituted five years ago by CIF, two teams so unevenly matched could both reside in the Western League, with schools' placement no longer determined by enrollment but by the records of the two preceding seasons, is beyond this writer's comprehension (apprehension?) and appropriate for a separate blog entry.

What stood out from a La Jolla perspective were highlights like the 6'2" Max Raulston's finger roll in the lane against his much-taller defenders, a like-sized Christian Gamboa's drive down the middle of the paint drawing a foul by a frustrated Don who couldn't fully stop him, and, of course, Solis' short, sweet jump shot from the left side of the basket to softly deposit the basketball in the netting over multiple outstretched arms of hostile rim protectors.

Diego led the Vikings with 16 points. Raulston had 10, all in the first half. Gamboa was limited to six points, four of those free throws.

Alex Wade, the Don's 6-foot junior point guard, led all scorers with 17 points on five three-pointers, all in the first half. He averages 10 points and 6.5 assists a game.

Riley and Anyanwu each had 14, all in the first three quarters as Cunningham called off the horses in the final period. Riley is averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds per game. Anyanwu averages 13 points and 9 rebounds a game.

Thomas Notarainni, Cathedral's shooting guard who averages 14 points a game, had 10, with a pair of three-pointers in the first quarter. The 6'9" Wilhite had eight points. Dillon carries averages of 11 points and 8 rebounds per game.