Roundup : Orange Glen Continues Its Rebound

Before the start of the Palomar League season, Orange Glen High School lost three of its best players. Two of the players, forward Brett Salisbury and guard Tony Ybarra suffered injuries, and forward Scott Harper quit the team.

The loss of those players figured to put Patriot Coach Dana Ernest in quite a bind.

“We had to all of a sudden switch gears right before the games that really counted,” he said.

Despite the dilemma, Orange Glen is playing well. The Patriots defeated Torrey Pines Wednesday night, 63-52, to improve their to 4-2 and 8-11, and pull within one game of second place Mt. Carmel, which lost to No. 1-ranked Poway Wednesday.

Steve Clinger scored 18 points and Kory Kelly added 16 to help Orange Glen expand its 44-42 lead after three quarters.

“Things have worked out pretty well for us,” Ernest said. “The kids have a lot of confidence right now.”

Scott Carlovsky and Clinger each had 11 rebounds against Torrey Pines as the Patriot’s small three-guard lineup did a good job of rebounding. Carlovsky also played an important role on defense, limiting the Falcons’ top scorer, Scot Thompson, to 16 points.

Torrey Pines, which also received 11 points from center Jeff Steffen, fell to 2-4 and 7-11.

The Patriots will play host to Mt. Carmel next Tuesday in a game that could decide the league’s second CIF playoff spot along with Poway. When the teams first met, Mt. Carmel beat Orange Glen by a point at Mt. Carmel.

Vista 54, Fallbrook 52--Blake Risner scored 17 points to lead the Panthers (3-3, 7-9) past the Warriors (1-5, 4-13) at Vista. Vista trailed 29-23 at halftime before rallying for the win. Fallbrook was led by Jeff Work, who scored 18 points.

In the Avocado League:

San Pasqual 53, Escondido 49--Rich Prusinski scored a season-high 30 points and added 12 rebounds to lead the Eagles (4-2, 9-6) past the Cougars (1-5, 7-10) at Escondido. Jeff Baglio added 12 points for San Pasqual which moved into a three-way tie for second place in the league with Oceanside and Ramona, two games behind El Camino. Kevin Ahern led Escondido with 16 points.

Ramona 70, Carlsbad 63--John Monetta scored 18 points, had six steals and passed out six assists to lead the Bulldogs (4-2, 10-6) past the Lancers (2-4, 5-11) at Carlsbad. Robert Cronic added 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting from the floor and Mike Pendell added 13 points to help Ramona. Scott Porter scored 22 points and Shaun Stoll had 16 to lead Carlsbad.

El Camino 95, San Marcos 53--Randy Hale scored 19 points and Kenny Crawford added 17 to lead the No. 2-ranked Wildcats (6-0, 17-2) rolled past the Knights (0-6, 1-13) at El Camino. El Camino, which had three other players in double figures, opened a 44-30 lead at halftime and cruised to the win.