Roundup : Castle Park Wins 12th Straight, Easily

Castle Park High School’s boys’ basketball team has been winning easily in recent weeks. Perhaps too easily. The Times’ fourth-ranked team isn’t getting any competition in the weak Metro-South Bay League, and Coach Forest Partch is hoping his team will be ready for the playoffs, which begin in a week and a half.

The Trojans (11-0, 20-1) won their 12th straight game Tuesday night by beating Southwest, 89-57, at Castle Park. But Partch is having trouble getting his team up for every game, especially since it clinched the league title nearly two weeks ago. The Trojans also are the only team in the league with a winning record.

“We played pretty well in the second half,” Partch said, “but we didn’t do much the first half. We really haven’t played that well in recent weeks, but it’s hard to tell the kids they have to be up for every game--especially when we’re winning games, 89-57.”

Javier Nunez led a balanced scoring attack with 16 points as all five Trojan starters hit double figures. Steve Kane, Antwon Lincoln and Eddie Moreno each scored 14 and John Stanton had 12.

Southwest’s Johnny Walker led all scorers with 25. Jorge Silva scored 19 and Mario Zarvia 10 for the Raiders (2-9, 2-19).

Castle Park led, 38-30, at halftime, then outscored Southwest, 29-12, in the third quarter to turn the game into a rout.

In other Metro-South Bay games:

Marian 71, Coronado 68--The Crusaders (3-8, 6-14) gained a tie for second place in the league with Mar Vista by beating the host Islanders (2-9, 4-16). Marian led by one at halftime, but outscored Coronado, 17-7, in the third quarter to go ahead for good. Mark Cisneros had 27 points for Marian. J.D. Douglas had 24 for the Islanders.

METRO-MESA Sweetwater 93, Bonita Vista 64--Matt Simmons and Mahlon Williams each scored 32 points as No. 6 Sweetwater (10-1, 16-6) clinched the league title with an easy win at Bonita Vista. Sweewater jumped out to a 28-12 lead in the first quarter and was never threatened. Troy Cox and Don Gil each scored 12 for Bonita Vista (5-6, 9-11) and Kip Korzep added 11.

Chula Vista 59, Montgomery 58 (Overtime)--Jeff Knight’s basket in the final minute of overtime lifted the Spartans (6-5, 12-12) past the Aztecs (7-4, 11-8) at Chula Vista. Montgomery had a chance to win the game, but Ken Thompson, the Aztecs’ leading scorer with 19 points, missed two free throws after time had run out in the extra session. Joe Klanchar led Chula Vista with 19 points and Tony Hyner added 16. Montgomery, besides Thompson’s 19 points, got 18 points from Rudy Rodriguez and 10 from Daryl Crawford. The win put Chula Vista back into the playoff race and eliminated Montgomery from the title chase.

METRO CONFERENCE Hilltop 55, Mar Vista 40--Hilltop (6-5, 12-13) held Mar Vista (3-8, 5-15) to four points in the second quarter and shut out the Mariners in the third quarter to win easily at home. The Lancers trailed, 19-13, after one period, but were up at halftime, 30-23. They pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring the Mariners, 15-0. David Mossman led Hilltop in scoring with 18 points and Judd Rachow had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 9 blocked shots. Brian Blocker also had 11 rebounds for Hilltop. Ricardo de la Torre led Mar Vista with 17 points and Jim McClusky had 13.

AVOCADO Carlsbad 66, Escondido 54--The score was tied, 31-31 at halftime, but the Lancers (4-6, 7-13) outscored the host Cougars (2-7, 8-12), 16-8, in the third quarter to take control. Sean Stoll scored 18 points and Bruce Campbell had 16 for Carlsbad, which made 24 of 35 free throws. Escondido hit only 6 of 11 free throws. Kevin Ahern led the Cougars with 18, and Carlsbad’s Karl Molinar had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

PALOMAR Mt. Carmel 74, Vista 48--Jim Tejcek and John Krainock each scored 14 points and Scott Boggins added 10 to lead the Sundevils (8-1, 15-6) at home. Sal Aunese led Vista (2-8, 4-16) with 11 points.

Fallbrook 74, Torry Pines 53--Fallbrook (3-6, 6-13) outscored Torrey Pines (3-7, 8-14), 25-12, in the second quarter to turn a close game into a rout. Chris Hansen led the winners with 15 points and Jeff Work and Mark Ringcamp each scored 10. Scot Thompson scored 13 for Torrey Pines.

San Dieguito 62, Orange Glen 58, (2 Overtimes)--The host Mustangs (3-7, 10-12) outscored the Patriots (5-4, 9-13), 11-7, in the second overtime for the win. With the score tied 49-49, San Dieguito held the ball for the final three minutes, hoping to make the last shot. The Mustangs missed. Will Moselle had 19 points for the Mustangs, and teammate Tony Archer had 19 rebounds.