San Diego Prep Basketball : El Capitan Plays Bump and Run to Defeat Helix

Helix High School Coach John Singer would not be surprised if the El Capitan basketball team began playing “Let’s Get Physical” as its pregame song.

The ninth-ranked Vaqueros (10-3, 6-0) have enjoyed success this season with their physical style and it worked again Tuesday night as they defeated the host Highlanders, 68-58, in Grossmont League play.

“El Cap played their game,” Singer said. “They’re much more physical than us. The refs let them bump bodies, and when they can bump bodies they’re going to win. That’s the football team they had out there.”

One El Capitan player fouled out of the game, three others finished with four fouls and another had three. Some of the fouls were the result of the El Capitan’s aggressive play under the basket and others were called because of the team’s effective zone press.

“We wanted to press whatever type of defense we were in,” El Capitan Coach Ross Furrow said. “We started pressing in the first quarter when we were in a man-to-man. We went to the zone press and that worked well for us so we stayed with it.”

Helix (9-5, 4-2) had a one-point lead after the first quarter and led 26-21 in the second quarter before the El Capitan zone began taking its toll. The zone helped the Vaqueros force some Helix turnovers and allowed the team to score 13 of the final 16 points for a 34-29 halftime lead.

The third quarter was one of streaks -- El Capitan scoring the first 14 points and Helix the final 15. Steve Burroughs, who scored a game-high 23 points for the Vaqueros, had an 11-point streak within the El Capitan streak. Four of those points came from free throws after two technicals were called on Singer. Singer said the technicals “fired up” the Highlanders, who didn’t score until 4:37 remained in the third quarter. Jimmy Ybarra scored six points, Doug Renert five and Dan Seymour four to account for the third-quarter scoring.

El Capitan led, 48-44, entering the fourth quarter and the Vaqueros’ free throw shooting prevented Helix from getting any closer. The Highlanders were forced to foul late in the game, but El Capitan made 8 of 10 free throws.

In other Grossmont League games:

Valhalla 63, Granite Hills 50--The Norsemen’s trapping zone defense helped the team overcome a poor shooting night (36%) against Granite Hills at Valhalla. Mike Pellieter scored 22 points and Todd Christiansen added 14 to lead Valhalla (5-9, 3-3). Christiansen also had seven assists and six steals in the game. The Norsemen led, 22-17, at halftime. Tom Shawcroft was the only player in double figures for Granite Hills (3-10, 2-4) with a game-high 34 points. Shawcroft made all 14 of his free throws.

Monte Vista 63, Mt. Miguel 31--Fourth-ranked Monte Vista (6-0, 12-1) remained tied with El Capitan for first place in the Grossmont League as Demetrius Laffitte led the way with 19 points. Devin Johnson scored 15 points for the Monarchs, while David Burgess and Barney Laffitte scored 10 apiece.

El Cajon 65, Grossmont 46--Robert Jones scored a game-high 31 points for El Cajon (4-2, 7-5). Matt Tisdale had 16 points for Grossmont (1-5, 3-9), which has lost eight straight.

In Avocado League games:

El Camino 62, Escondido 58--Kenny Crawford scored 19 points and Kevin Taylor 14 for eighth-ranked El Camino (10-1, 1-0) in the league opener for both teams.

Oceanside 42, San Pasqual 32--Tony Quinters led the way for Oceanside (7-4, 1-0) with 13 points and Tim Prim scored 12.

Carlsbad 60, San Marcos 51--Carlsbad used the fast break to run away from the Knights in the second half at San Marcos. Carlsbad (8-4, 1-0) had a 23-20 halftime lead. Rick White scored 18 points and Eric Bodman 15 to lead Carlsbad (8-4, 1-0). Greg Helm’s 18 points led San Marcos (3-7, 0-1).

In nonleague games:

Christian 54, University City 44--Bill Donley’s game-high 26 points helped the Patriots to the win played at Christian. Sam Attisha and Tom Weist each had 10 points for Christian (9-3). Brett Darensbourg scored 18 points to lead University City (0-10).

Serra 92, Mt. Carmel 72--Deven Moran scored 34 points for Serra (9-3)--14 in the third quarter. Steve Smith scored 16 points for the Conquistadors. Mt. Carmel (5-9) was led by Ted Cohen with 24 points.

Patrick Henry 92, Clairemont 29--The game was so lopsided Patrick Henry Coach Fritz Ziegenfuss played his substitutes in the second half. The second-ranked Patriots improved their record to 13-0 while Clairemont fell to 0-11.