San Diego High School Basketball : Valhalla Beaten by Monte Vista

The Monte Vista High basketball team on Thursday night earned itself a shot at the Grossmont League title with a 72-61 victory over Valhalla at Valhalla.

Coupled with Mount Miguel’s victory over Grossmont, Monte Vista and Mount Miguel finish regular-season play tied atop the league with 13-3 records. The teams will decide the league champion and the top Grossmont League seed in the playoffs tonight at 7 at Grossmont High.

Against Valhalla (11-5, 15-7), Monte Vista took an early 10 point lead and Valhalla couldn’t get closer. James Gotell had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Wayne Hallman added 18 points and 16 rebounds for Monte Vista. Valhalla was led by Rafid Kiti’s 14 points.

Elsewhere in the Grossmont League:

El Capitan 60, Santana 58--Danny Curtis’ corner jumper with 38 seconds left proved to be the game-winner at Santana. Curtis totaled 16 points as did Eric Lozoya for El Capitan (6-11, 9-13). Tim Barry scored 22 points for Santana (6-10, 10-13) and Matt Panebianco added 15.

Briefly--Mount Miguel 62, Grossmont 46.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

Oceanside 66, Carlsbad 46-- Junior Seau, who earlier in the day signed a letter of intent to play football at USC, scored 30 points at Carlsbad. Sai Niu added 15 points for Oceanside (11-1, 17-7), which tied El Camino for the league title. The top seed in the playoffs will be determined by a coin flip. Shaun Stoll scored 13 points for Carlsbad (3-9, 5-16) and Luke Pettorini added 10 points and 8 rebounds.

El Camino 71, San Pasqual 61--Edmond Johnson scored 38 points at San Pasqual. Johnson also had three assists to bring his season total to 187, which tied the school record set by Randy Hale in 1984. Lee Cobb added 11 points and 11 rebounds for El Camino (11-1, 21-3).

Escondido 53, Ramona 42--Escondido took a 10-point halftime lead and host Ramona could not get closer. Escondido (6-6, 9-12), which has an outside chance at receiving a playoff berth, was led by John Lovette’s 17 points. John Liechty scored 12 for Ramona (4-8, 11-12).

PALOMAR LEAGUE

San Dieguito 59, Vista 40--Paul Chan scored 17 points and Chris Bahr had 15 points and 9 rebounds at San Dieguito. Jack Minger also had 15 points for San Dieguito (9-3, 15-8), which tied Torrey Pines for second place in the league. Those two teams will have a playoff tonight at 7 at Palomar College to determine the second-place team for the playoffs. Brian Haley scored 18 for Vista (5-7, 10-13).

Orange Glen 63, Poway 61--Steve Clinger scored 22 points to lead Orange Glen (4-8, 8-17). Jason Jones paced Poway (2-10, 9-13). Orange Glen led by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter.

Briefly--Mt. Carmel 59, Fallbrook 47.

GIRLS

GROSSMONT LEAGUE

Santana 68, El Capitan 28--Leslie Ellis scored 27 points and Barbara Bennett added 19 as Santana clinched the league title. The Sultans (15-1, 19-4) finished one game ahead of second-place Helix (14-2 in league).