San Diego High School Basketball : Torrey Pines’ Offense Beats San Dieguito’s Defense, 44-35

The Palomar League matchup Wednesday night between San Dieguito High and Torrey Pines at San Dieguito was a contradiction in terms.

Torrey Pines is the county’s fourth-highest scoring team, averaging 70.9 points a game, and San Dieguito is the county’s best defensive team, allowing only 44.3 points a game.

San Dieguito allowed only 44 points but, on 14-for-40 shooting, scored only 35 points itself in the loss.

The victory left Torrey Pines (7-3, 17-6) 1 1/2 games behind first-place Mount Carmel, which was idle, and a half-game behind second-place San Dieguito (7-2, 13-7) with three remaining.

“San Dieguito controlled the tempo tonight but missed their shots,” San Dieguito Coach Brian Daly said.

Torrey Pines led, 19-15, at the half and 28-24 after three quarters; San Dieguito couldn’t get closer.

“It was a close game,” Daly said. “We got (6-foot 8-inch Kevin) Flanagan and (6-6 Scot) Thompson to pick up their fourth foul. We just missed our shots.”

Courtie Miller led all scorers with 16 for Torrey Pines and Jack Minger scored 10 points to lead San Dieguito.

Elsewhere in the Palomar League:

Poway 49, Fallbrook 48--Leading 47-46 with 20 seconds left, Poway’s Dave Delaney stole the ball, dribbled downcourt, got fouled and made both free throws at Poway. Fallbrook (2-8, 9-11) was out of timeouts and couldn’t stop the clock after scoring an open layup with five seconds left. Delaney had 17 points to lead all scorers. Jason Jones added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Poway (2-8, 9-11). Mark Ringkamp scored 16 points for Fallbrook (2-8, 8-14) and Mike West added 14.

Vista 51, Orange Glen 45--Budy Webb scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds and Mike Flemming added 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead Vista (5-5, 10-11) at home. Orange Glen (2-7, 6-16) was paced by Dan Early’s 19 points.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

El Camino 89, Carlsbad 47--Edmond Johnson, the county’s leading scorer, led four players in double figures with 31 points at Carlsbad. Lee Cobb scored 20 points, Garrett Crayton 12 and Buster Evans 10 for El Camino (8-1, 19-3). Shaun Stoll, the county’s third-leading scorer, led Carlsbad (2-8, 5-14) with 22 points and Karl Molinar added 17.

Ramona 55, San Pasqual 42--John Schweitzer scored 15 points and had 13 rebounds and Jason McClenaghan added 15 points to lead Ramona (4-5, 11-9) past San Pasqual at home. John Liechty added 14 points for the Bulldogs, who pulled away from a 25-18 halftime lead. Todd Brose scored 12 points to lead San Pasqual (0-10, 2-18).

Oceanside 56, San Marcos 50--Junior Seau sat out nearly half the game at Oceanside with foul trouble but the No. 4-ranked Pirates (9-0, 15-6) still won. Seau, the county’s second-leading scorer, sat out the entire second quarter and four minutes of the second half but still finished with 23 points. Sai Niu added 10 for Oceanside, which snapped a 25-25 halftime tie by outscoring San Marcos (5-5, 14-10), 16-10, in the third quarter.

METRO CONFERENCE

Sweetwater 78, Montgomery 43--Mahlon Williams scored 26 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Red Devils. Sweetwater took a 25-12 lead after the first quarter and held a 46-25 advantage at the half. Brent Lawrence had 12 points and George Rhoden added 10 for Sweetwater (9-1, 12-9), which is 11-2 since Christmas. John Guebara paced Montgomery (3-6, 4-12) with 16 points and Kevin Crawford added 10.

Castle Park 64, Bonita Vista 62--Vince Bucca hit both ends of a one-and-one with 15 seconds remaining to give Castle Park a 63-60 lead and the Trojans held on for the victory. John Stanton led Castle Park (10-0, 17-4) with 17 points and Javier Nunez added 15 points and 11 assists. Bucca finished the game with 15 points. Randy Burk led Bonita Vista (6-4, 9-11) with 16 points.

Hilltop 59, Chula Vista 50--Scott Wallace scored 20 points and Bryan Brooker added 16 to lead Hilltop (5-5, 12-12) to the victory at Chula Vista. The Lancers pulled away to a 16-9 lead after one quarter before hanging on for the victory. Scott Matney scored 14 points and Tony Hyner added 13 to lead Chula Vista, (5-5, 13-10).

Mar Vista 51, Coronado 39--Despite 7-for-26 free-throw shooting, including 0 for 6 on six first-quarter technicals, Mar Vista won at home. Todd Habel had 18 points and 6 assists for Mar Vista (3-7, 6-14). Coronado (1-8, 5-11) closed to 40-36 in the third quarter but scored only three points the rest of the game.

Southwest 69, Marian 55--Johnny Walker, who earlier in the day signed a letter of intent to play football at San Diego State, had 31 points and 10 rebounds at Southwest. Southwest (4-6, 5-13) moved into a second-place tie with Marian (4-6, 8-10) for the last playoff spot in the Metro-South Bay League. Will Tate added 18 points for Southwest. Chris Hazeltine scored 19 and Paul Laudenslager 14 for Marian.