By Ed Piper
University City's Dylan Griffin put on a show, as he and the Centurions dominated visiting La Jolla from start to finish, 74-49, Tues., Jan. 28.
The 6'4" senior, who is the Eastern League's Athlete of the Year from UC's league championship team a year ago, rained threes, adeptly cleaned the boards, and--with 2:26 left in the second quarter--slammed home a basket with two hands.
It was an awesome display, and one that was barely affected by the powerless Vikings, who were no match on this night, especially with big man Lance Braga on the bench again with a knee issue.
Coach Paul Baranowski's white-and-red had their effective moments: Guard Leo Hawkinson hit a fall-away jumper from the right side to start the fourth quarter. Fellow back-court defender Cole Hein sank some nice shots. 6'2" Carson Diehl continued on his quick-learning curve over the past month, grabbing some rebounds under the boards and generally looking comfortable--outside of Griffin's experienced intrusions inside.
Even Seigo Lavinsky, kind of the "forgotten man" from December as La Jolla's roster filled out up top after Diehl came over from football and Hein completed his transfer sit-out period, showed an adept touch.
"I had a good first quarter," allowed the senior after the thorough thumping by their area rivals. "We couldn't find a combination" that could compete with the Centurions. Lavinsky, a likeable unifier popular among his teammates, also said, "We were slow."
What the wide margin did afford was minutes of playing time for some reserves. Conlan Rute, a 6'1" junior, especially, took advantage of the opportunity to sink three nice shots, one a shot from outside the lane on the right side. He stayed mostly under control.
Joining him after Baranowski cleared the bench with 6:31 in the fourth quarter, the Vikings trailing, 65-39, were Mike Mahmoudi, a 6'3" big, and Richie Liou, a 5'8" guard, who handled the ball well, bringing it into the front court effectively.
Mahmoudi, the nicest of guys, tried a shot. Liou, whose dad managed the snack table in December, didn't look too wide-eyed in his playing minutes.
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