Player of the Week : With Colborne Sidelined, Johnson Carries Burden

Poway High School basketball player Dominick Johnson says he loves challenges.

When Poway’s 6-foot 7-inch center John Colborne injured his ankle last week, Johnson was presented with one.

The burden of the Titans’ inside scoring punch--a job normally shared by Johnson and Colborne--was placed squarely on Johnson’s shoulders.

And the 6-6 junior came through. He scored 42 points in two games and led Poway to victories over Orange Glen, 80-65, and Torrey Pines, 65-47.

The victories allowed the Titans to remain unbeaten (15-0) and ranked No. 1 in The Times’ Top 10. The effort earned Johnson The Times’ Player of the Week honors.

“I try to do the best I can all the time,” Johnson said, “especially when I’m challenged. I love to feel the pressure. When John’s in there, we share the inside duties. Without him, I was it inside. I had to let the game come to me and make the best of the situation.”

Johnson had his best game of the season last Tuesday, scoring 28 points and grabbing 18 rebounds against Orange Glen.

“He’s our power player on the court,” Poway Coach Neville Saner said. “He has tremendous ability to score inside. We had to look for him last week, and he was really on against Orange Glen.”

Johnson, averaging 16.1 points per game this season, averaged 15 a game last year. His offense has never been a question mark. This year, however, his defense is improving.

“His forte is offense, but he wasn’t as sharp on defense,” Saner said. “Now, he’s working harder there. If he plays well on defense, he has a good game.”

Said Johnson: “Coach Saner has taught me to become a more complete player. He has made me work on defense and that will help me in the future.”

In Poway’s man-to-man defense, Johnson has played against guards and forwards, a situation that he says has made him pay more attention to defense.

“I have to style my game after the people I play against,” Johnson said. “Now defense comes first for me.”

Of course he’s not forgetting about offense.

Saner says when the ball goes into Johnson, chances are it won’t come out again. He wants his forward to shoot.

“He’s really helped me in the post,” Johnson said. “He’s told me to always be aggressive going up for the shot and to look for the three-point play. If I get it blocked, he wants me to go right after it again.”

As he does on defense, Johnson adjusts his offensive game to the player who is guarding him.

“Against a taller man, I will try to use the quickness I have to beat him to the ball,” Johnson said. “Against a smaller man, I will go to my power game.”

Said Saner: “Dominick is responding well. His offense is very consistent. He has good hand-eye coordination to catch the ball and get the shot off.

“Our offense is designed to look inside first. We try to exploit what the defense gives us inside. Dominick is excellent at taking advantage of what he can get.”

It’s no wonder that Johnson has competitive instinct. His father, Deron Johnson, played first base and the outfield in the major leagues for 15 seasons, mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I’ve been around baseball all of my life,” said Johnson, who also is a pitcher for the Poway baseball team. “That’s helped me a lot. I think if I were to continue with sports, I would go with basketball. Maybe that’s just because it’s basketball season now, but I mainly like basketball.”

Along with his natural talents, Johnson attributes much of his success to his family’s support.

“My family has never put any pressure on me to do well,” he said. “If I have a bad game, they tell me not to think about the past. They always tell me to look in the future.”

And ahead to the next challenge.