San Diego High School Basketball : Granite Hills Gets Overtime Win

The Mount Miguel High boys’ basketball team was supposed to be the power in the Grossmont League this season, but two weeks into league play the Matadors have a 1-2 league record and are 3-3 overall after Tuesday’s 49-46 loss in overtime to Granite Hills at Mount Miguel in Spring Valley.

The Matadors have been slowed this season by the late addition of several players from the school’s football team, which had advanced to the San Diego Section 3-A semifinal.

“(The football) players are still trying to adjust to basketball and they are still trying to find the right touch shooting,” said Mount Miguel Coach Art Edge. “They are still out there trying to tackle people and we are getting beat at the foul line.”

Granite Hills (1-2, 2-4) hit 15 of 22 shots from the foul line Tuesday. Three of its five points in overtime were came from free throws. Mount Miguel was 1-7 from the line.

“That’s the second game in a row that we have lost because of free throws,” Edge said. Valhalla was 16 of 26 from the line in last Friday’s 66-55 victory over the Matadors, who again made one of seven.

Granite Hills’ Shawn Ruff led all scorers with 14 points.

In other Grossmont League action:

Monte Vista 60, El Cajon 49--Scott Winne had 19 points to pace Monte Vista (3-0, 5-0) past visiting El Cajon (1-1, 3-2). El Cajon trailed by two points at halftime and was down by five with four minutes remaining in the game, but could not close the gap. Monte Vista, which dominated in rebounding, was led by James Gotell with nine and Wayne Hallman with eight. El Cajon’s P.J. Panebianco made 9 of 11 shots from the floor to lead his team with 18 points.

Valhalla 65, Grossmont 51--Donnie Moore scored 16 points for Valhalla (2-1, 3-1) at Grossmont. Greg Berman paced Grossmont (1-1, 3-2) with 14 points.

METRO CONFERENCE

Sweetwater 65, Coronado 45--Brent Lawrence scored 21 points to lead the Red Devils (1-0, 2-5) past the Islanders in a conference-opener for both teams at Coronado. Sweetwater, defending league champions, pulled away steadily after opening a 33-25 halftime lead.

Castle Park 83, Hilltop 62--John Stanton scored 22 and Javier Nunez added 11 for Castle Park, which never trailed. Bryan Booker and Judd Rachow each scored 15 for Hilltop (3-4).

NONLEAGUE

Torrey Pines 85, Mar Vista 63--The Falcons, under second-year coach John Farrell, are 6-0 after their victory over Mar Vista at Torrey Pines. Mike Radcliffe scored 17 points and Scot Thompson and Courtie Miller added 15 apiece for Torrey Pines.

The Falcons broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Mariners, 25-10, to take a 45-26 halftime lead. “We took care of the boards and our point guard Tom Underwood put on a great show,” Farrell said. “Our players filled the lanes on the break and he hit them.” Underwood had six assists in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Torrey Pines’ young front-line of 6-8 sophomore Kevin Flanagan and Miller, a 6-6 sophomore, kept the Falcons in control underneath. Flanagan had 13 rebounds.

Kearny 48, Serra 37--Tim Garlin scored 14 points and John Williams had 13 as Kearny won at Serra (1-4), which led at the half, 23-22. Todd Knight had 22 points for Serra.

El Camino 78, San Dieguito 57--Lee Cobb scored 27 points to pace host El Camino, which dominated from the start. Edmond Johnson scored 24 points and David Hill added 18 for El Camino (4-1). Poor shooting by San Dieguito (4-2) enabled El Camino to take a 38-22 lead at the half.

Poway 47, USDHS 45--Gary Anderson and Adam Jones scored 14 points apiece to lead the three-time defending 3-A champion Titans to a road victory at USDHS. Harlan Carroll expanded a one-point Poway lead to two with a free throw with 24 seconds left and the Titans held on to improve their record to 4-0.

“We’re winning the close ones,” Poway Coach Neville Saner said. “It’s not like the old days, it’s a little different.” Poway led by three at the end of the first quarter and never by much more than that the rest of the way.

Hoover 73, La Jolla 50--Michael Walker, in his first basketball game this season after injuring his rotator cuff playing football, scored 27 points in three quarters of play to lead Hoover (1-7) over visiting La Jolla (4-3). Sean Rogers had 19 points for La Jolla, while teammate Dennis Doxey had 13. Tyrone Bell scored 12 for Hoover.

GIRLS

Santana 39, Helix 34--Rita Schack had only seven points, but she scored them all in the game’s final minutes to key a come-from-behind Grossmont League win by Santana (3-0, 5-1) at Helix (2-1, 3-1). Schack had two steals and was fouled three times, making five of six free throws. Santana’s Barb Bennett led all scorers with 15 points and 8 rebounds.