San Diego Prep Basketball : Poway Remains Undefeated--But Just Barely

The Poway High School basketball team held on in the closing seconds to keep its undefeated record intact with a 62-59 win over Vista Friday night in a Palomar League game at Poway High. Vista had the control of the ball with 14 seconds, trailing by two points, but Poway forced a turnover to preserve the win.

“The reason the game was so close was Vista played an exceptionally well game,” Poway Coach Neville Saner said. “Poway played a decent game, but Vista was exceptional.”

Vista had a four-point lead in the second quarter before Poway ran off seven-straight points to take a 30-24 lead at halftime. Dominick Johnson led the top-rated Titans (7-0, 17-0) with 30 points and 7 rebounds and Jud Buechler added 14 points. Poway’s All-County center John Colbourne, returning from an ankle injury, scored four points and had nine rebounds in limited action. Ronnie Howard led Vista (3-4, 8-10) with 26 points.

In other Palomar League games:

Torrey Pines 70, Mount Carmel 52--The Falcons (5-2, 9-9) moved into sole possession of second place with the win at Torrey Pines High. Torrey Pines’ Scott Kennedy led all scorers with 20 points and teammates Dave Jenny added 14 and Scott Thompson had 13.

Mount Carmel (4-3, 8-11) led, 11-8, after the first quarter, but Torrey Pines outscored the Sundevils, 47-20, over the next two quarters. Torrey Pines outrebounded its opponent, 13-2, in a 24-6 third quarter.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

Carlsbad 57, San Marcos 48--The Lancers (3-4, 9-8) broke a three-game losing streak at Carlsbad High. John Mullen and Rick White scored 16 points each for Carlsbad. Scott Porter had 11 points and Tim Smith added 10 points and 8 assists. Eric Windsor led San Marcos (0-7, 3-13) with 13 points. Carlsbad led at halftime, 30-23.

CITY CENTRAL LEAGUE

Lincoln 62, San Diego 49--The Hornets (3-2, 7-9) outscored the Cavers (1-4, 4-12), 24-12, in the fourth quarter to break open a close game at Lincoln High. Omar McDade led Lincoln with 21 points and Lamont Horne had 11. Adam McKinney had 21 points for San Diego. The Hornets made 20-of-29 free throw attempts.

Hoover 103, St. Augustine 68--Sam Aguirre and Keith Williams scored 23 points each and Ken Matthews added 22 to lead the No. 6 Cardinals (5-0, 17-2) to the win at Hoover High. All 10 Hoover players scored in the game. Hoover led at halftime, 57-37. The Saints dropped to 2-3, 7-9.

Crawford 61, Christian 49--Crawford (3-2, 7-9) had four men in double figures, led by Mark Wheaton with 14 points. Kevin Williams scored 13 points for the Colts, Cliff Sullivan 12 and Mark Hayes 11. Bill Donley had a game-high 15 points for Christian (1-4, 10-7).

CITY EASTERN LEAGUE

Morse 81, Point Loma 60--David Hardin scored a game-high 22 points for No. 5 Morse (4-1, 10-4). Paul Bryant scored 18 points for the Tigers and Deshang Weaver scored 12. Point Loma (2-3, 13-5) was led by Joe Griffin with 16 points and Darryl Jackson with 10 points.

Patrick Henry 81, Madison--The No. 2 Patriots improved their record to 5-0, 18-0 with the win at Patrick Henry High. Madison dropped to 2-3, 8-8.

CITY WESTERN LEAGUE

Mission Bay 58, Kearny 55--Jon Cheatham scored a game-high 19 points for Mission Bay. Brent Chandler scored 14 points and John Hemmerly 12 for the Bucs. Steve Daley led Kearny with 12 points.

Mission Bay (4-1, 12-5) took a 31-20 halftime lead, but it was outscored in the third quarter, 21-13. Kearny (4-1, 13-6) was unable to take the lead in the fourth quarter.

University 62, University City 46--A weak third quarter (only four points) helped the winless Centurians stay that way. By the end of the third period, the Dons had built an insurmountable 49-27 lead. Matt Miller and James Wilson scored 13 points each for University (4-1, 12-8).

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

Monte Vista 56, Helix 45--The No. 4 Monarchs remained undefeated in league play with a win over the Highlanders in a game played at Monte Vista High. Monte Vista (11-0, 17-1) was led by David Burgess, who scored 18 points. Demetrius Laffitte scored 11 points and had 11 rebounds and Barney Laffitte had 10 points. Helix (7-3, 11-6) was led by Eric Mobley, who had 15 points.

El Capitan 74, Grossmont 44--The No. 7 Vaqueros jumped out to a 25-14 lead in the first quarter and easily held on for the win against the Foothillers, a team that has only one conference win. Four players scored in double figures for El Capitan (10-1, 14-4). Steve Burroughs led the Vaqueros with 18 points, Brian Paradowski had 14, Matt Schmidt had 12 and Aaron Johnson had 10. Grossmont (1-9, 3-13) was led by Matt Tisdale with 12 points, and Bill Cook, 11.

Santana 73, Granite Hills 54--The county’s leading scorer, Jim Tatum, scored 25 points and Brian Heacock added 19 points and 9 rebounds to lead Santana (5-6, 11-7) to the win at Granite Hills High. Santana guard Jeff Barry added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Tom Shawcroft led Granite Hills (3-8, 4-14) with 28 points and Dan Barnes added 10. The Sultans led at halftime, 30-21.

Valhalla 66, Mt. Miguel 57--Mike Pellieter had 24 points in leading Valhalla (6-5, 8-11). Eric Loyoza had 17 points and 9 steals for the Norsemen, while Todd Christensen had 12 points and 11 assists. Mt. Miguel (1-10, 3-15) was paced by Lewis Holloway with 28 points and Chris Penman with 13 points.

METRO CONFERENCE

Sweetwater 97, Bonita Vista 86--Sweetwater (7-0, 18-2) extended its league winning streak to 46 games, but it wasn’t that easy. Bonita Vista (5-2, 9-7) came closer than any league opponent this season.

“Bonita Vista played a great game against us,” Sweetwater Coach Gary Zarecky said. “They probably played the best game that has been played against us in league for four or five years.”

Mahlon Williams of Sweetwater had a game-high 31 points. Larry Willson scored 22 points for the Red Devils, while Matt Simmons and Howard Scott scored 16 points apiece. David Fulmer led Bonita Vista with 26 points.

Chula Vista 95, Southwest 44--The No. 10 Spartans improved their record to 7-0, 13-5 with the win at Chula Vista High. Southwest is 3-4, 4-11.

Castle Park 65, Mar Vista 57--Kip Korzep scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Trojans over the Mariners. Castle Park (4-3, 6-9) also got scoring help from Scott Caltin, 16 and David Cagney, 13. Mar Vista (1-7, 3-13) was led by Jim McCluskey, who scored 17 points and had 19 rebounds. Teammates Freddie Brambilia and David Acero had 12 points apiece.