San Diego Prep Basketball : No. 4 Serra Slowed, but Still Wins

Fourth-ranked Serra High School was slowed but not stopped by La Jolla Tuesday in a nonleague basketball game.

The Conquistadors were held to 55 points, but their zone defense stifled La Jolla even more as Serra came away with a 55-40 victory.

“La Jolla got us into their type of game for a while there,” Serra Coach Tom Williams said after his team moved to 12-1. “They slowed it down and, with our kids, we have to get the fast break and press going.”

Serra did unleash its quick attack briefly in the third quarter. After the slowly paced first half ended with Serra ahead, 24-16, La Jolla (5-3) scored the first two baskets of the second half. Mike McLachlan’s basket pulled the Vikings within 24-20 with 6:29 left in the period.

But Serra forced 2 turnovers with the press and scored 6 points in the next 32 seconds. Steve Smith scored the first two baskets, then made a steal that led to the third.

By quarter’s end, Serra led, 40-26.

The Conquistadors’ margin expanded to 20 points, 46-26, on an 18-foot jump shot by Deven Moran early in the fourth quarter. A driving layup by Smith gave Serra its biggest lead, 52-30, with 4:55 to play.

Smith led Serra with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Moran scored 8, well below his average of 18.6, but contributed 7 assists. Anthony Moore added 12 points.

La Jolla was led by Yancy Brown’s 20 point.

League play begins Friday for both teams. Serra will play at Point Loma in the City Eastern League; La Jolla open at Kearny in the City Western League.

In other nonleague action:

Point Loma 77, University 67--Dale Bryant scored 27 points to lead the Pointers (9-6) to their second win of the season over the visiting Dons (8-6) and their sixth win in a row. Point Loma, which earlier beat University, 57-48, in the Peninsula Classic, took an early lead and was never headed. The Pointers had a 37-26 lead at halftime, and expanded it to 53-40 entering the fourth quarter. Richard Clark scored 15 for Point Loma. University was led by James Wilson with 18, and Sean Giles with 16.

Mira Mesa 79, Clairemont 42--The score was tied, 17-17, after one quarter, but the fifth-ranked Marauders (10-4) outscored the Chieftains (1-11), 18-4, in the second period and went on to win easily at Mira Mesa. Thirteen Mira Mesa players scored, led by Scott Cummings with 12, and Mike Eicher with 11. Clairemont’s Jason Deal led all players with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

In the Grossmont League:

Mt. Miguel 64, Monte Vista 39--The Matadors (6-1, 9-5) remained a half game ahead of Grossmont and El Capitan in the league standings with their rout of the Monarchs (4-2, 5-7) at Mt. Miguel. The Matadors led, 18-8, after one quarter and 35-17 at halftime. James Hanna of Mt. Miguel led all players with 22 points, and Laron Reis added 10. James Gotell and Melvin McFarlin scored 10 points apiece for Monte Vista.

Grossmont 54, El Cajon 45--Grossmont (5-1, 8-2) jumped out to a 13-2 lead and was never headed in a game played at El Cajon. Kerry McIntyre scored 18 and Darryl Ransom added 11 for the Foothillers. Craige Walker scored 16 and Theo Noel added 14 for El Cajon (2-4, 5-8).

El Capitan 56, Helix 55 (OT)--Greg Hauet, a 6-8 senior center, made two free throws with 20 seconds left in overtime to give the Vaqueros (5-1, 9-3) the win over Helix (3-3, 5-7) at El Capitan. Hauet sealed the win when he came up with a loose ball in the final seconds.

Granite Hills 50, Valhalla 38--The Eagles (1-6, 1-13) trailed, 33-25, after three quarters, but outscored the Norsemen, 25-5, in the fourth quarter at Granite Hills to gain their first win of the season. Jon Tenney paced Granite Hills’ comeback with 31 points. Tenney was 17 of 21 from the foul line, 14 of 15 in the fourth quarter. Vernie Weutzke added 14 points for the Eagles. Valhalla fell to 0-6 in league play and 4-9 overall.