SAN DIEGO PREP REVIEW : Norsemen Learn the Lessons of the Road : Valhalla High Team Finds Out How the Other Half Lives--and Plays

Valhalla High School had a case of culture shock--on and off the court--when it traveled to Texas and Louisiana the week after Christmas.

The Norsemen played games in West Orange, Tex., and Lake Charles, La. The trip was arranged by Matt Dillon, a Valhalla booster who owns an interest in a Lake Charles television station. The president of the station, Gary Hardesty, went to West Orange Stark High and arranged for Valhalla to play against his alma mater.

Valhalla found that the game is not the same in all parts of the country. Against Stark, Valhalla was assessed a technical foul because player Carlos Estrella did not raise his hand after a foul was called.

Valhalla trailed by only three at the time. But Stark made the two free throws after the foul and two more because of the technical, then scored a basket after retaining possession. Valhalla lost, 72-56.

“It was kind of a weird situation,” Valhalla Coach Manny Silva said. “I guess it’s a national rule that you have to raise your hand after a foul, but it’s never enforced in California. They didn’t enforce it the rest of the game. I don’t know why they chose to start with only 4:20 left in the game.”

In Lake Charles, Valhalla lost, 90-61, to defending Louisiana 3-A champion Washington-Marion, which Silva called “the best team I’ve ever seen.”

But Valhalla’s players received a bigger shock when they went to a small restaurant outside Baton Rouge and were served Cajun delicacies: alligator and crawfish.

“They liked it,” Silva said. “I think.”

The team was in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve, but Silva was careful to keep his players away from the raucous French Quarter that night. On New Year’s Day, they walked down Bourbon Street through the trash and rubble from the night before.

Some went to the Superdome and bought cut-rate leftover Sugar Bowl tickets for $5.

Granite Hills and Sweetwater also had out-of-state games. Both beat two Canadian teams in the eight-team Burnaby tournament in Vancouver, Canada, last week, then met in the final.

Granite Hills won, 77-72, as Quentin Hollis scored 32 points. He was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Sweetwater’s Joe McDowell made first team all-tournament and Scott Catlin was given an award for being the tournament’s best defensive player.

Sweetwater Coach David Ybarra said the best aspect of the trip was the cultural experience. Players stayed with the families of players from Killarney and Burnaby.

“It was just a great experience,” said Ybarra, whose team also played in Burnaby last season. “The kids got to meet the players from other schools, and they really hit it off. My kids didn’t want to come back.”

Each of Sweetwater’s nine players raised the $300 air fare through car washes and selling ads in a basketball program.

Another San Diego team, Kearny, beat two top teams from Arizona in a Phoenix tournament earlier in December but lost in the final to Phoenix’s Arcadia High. Forward Randy Robinson made the all-tournament team.

High School Notes

Six players from the San Diego Section were named to the all-state team picked by California Football magazine. Tackle Lincoln Kennedy of Morse, running back Marc Jones of Vista and linebacker Haywood Mathis from Mount Miguel were named to the first team. Fallbrook wide receiver Darrow Nelson, running back Darrin Wagner of Lincoln (The Times’ San Diego County back of the year) and linebacker Israel Stanley from Point Loma were on the second team. Section 3-A champion Point Loma (13-0) was ranked No. 7 in the state.