San Diego High School Basketball Roundup : CITY CENTRAL LEAGUE

St. Augustine 66, Christian 62--Charley Applegate scored 40 points, including 16 in the third quarter, to pace St. Augustine (7-4, 15-7) to second place and a playoff berth with a playoff victory over Christian (6-5, 16-9) at San Diego High. St. Augustine outscored Christian, 23-14, in the third quarter to pull away from a one-point halftime lead. Christian closed the gap to 63-60 with 13 seconds remaining in the game. Mike Hausen led Christian with 15 points.

METRO CONFERENCE

Bonita Vista 66, Hilltop 62--Randy Burk scored 27 points and Bonita Vista (7-6, 10-13) rallied from a three-point deficit after three quarters to beat Hilltop (7-6, 14-13) at Bonita Vista. The victory moved Bonita Vista into a second-place tie with Hilltop and Chula Vista in the Metro-Mesa League. Chula Vista lost, 51-46, to Sweetwater. Bonita Vista and Hilltop will play again tonight at 7 at Castle Park to determine the league’s second-place qualifier to the section 3-A playoffs.

Sweetwater 51, Chula Vista 46--Sweetwater (12-1, 15-9) defeated Chula Vista (7-6, 15-11) at Chula Vista to ruin the Spartans’ chances of finishing second in the Mesa League. Since Chula Vista lost twice to Hilltop during the regular season, Hilltop and Bonita Vista will play a playoff game tonight. Chula Vista must hope for one of four section 3-A at-large berths.

Southwest 62, Montgomery 52--Southwest (6-7, 6-16) qualified for the 2-A playoffs as the Metro-South Bay’s second-place team by defeating the Aztecs (3-10, 4-16) at Montgomery.

Castle Park 94, Coronado 40--Vince Bucca scored 17 points as first-place Castle Park (13-0, 20-4) won easily at home against Coronado (2-11, 6-14). Castle Park took a 46-19 lead in the first half. Javier Nunez added 15 points for Castle Park. J. D. Douglas and John Johan led Coronado with 10 points apiece.

PALOMAR LEAGUE

Torrey Pines 41, San Dieguito 40--Kirth Friel made one of two free throws with seven seconds remaining to give No. 5-ranked Torrey Pines (10-3, 20-6) a victory over No. 10-ranked San Dieguito (9-4, 15-9) in a playoff game for the league’s second playoff spot at Palomar College. Mount Carmel had already clinched the league championship. Scot Thompson scored 16 points to lead Torrey Pines. Shawn Caster had 12 for San Dieguito. Torrey Pines automatically qualifies for the 3-A playoffs by way of the victory. San Dieguito will hope for one of four at-large berths to be announced today.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

El Camino (11-1, 21-3), the defending section 2-A champion, won a coin flip against Oceanside (11-1, 17-7) Friday afternoon at San Pasqual to win the league championship. The two teams had split their two regular-season league meetings. “Actually, they lost the flip,” El Camino Coach Ray Johnson said. “They called tails, and it came up heads.” As a result, Oceanside will have to play a first-round game either Tuesday or Wednesday. El Camino will receive a bye into the second round, which starts next Friday or Saturday.