San Diego High Schools : Poway Looks Strong Again, but Coach Takes Things One Win at a Time

Neville Saner isn’t ready to make anything official yet, but it is apparent that the Poway High School boys’ basketball team is back on track after a one-year hiatus.

The Titans, who won San Diego Section 3-A championships in 1984, 1985 and 1986, opened Palomar League play with an 80-53 victory over Mt. Carmel at Mt. Carmel High Wednesday night. Poway is 10-2 overall and has won one more game than last season, when it finished 9-13.

“I said one thing at the beginning of this season, and that was that Poway High would be better than it was a year ago,” Saner said. “And I think that’s the case. As to how far we can go this year, it’s a bit too early to tell.”

Poway, which relied on strong team play to win its three section titles, had a balanced attack against the Sundevils (8-5). Dave Delaney scored 17 points, Gabby Awbrey had 15 and John Culbertson added 14. Ty Nichols had 12 points and Adam Jones 10 for Poway, which outscored Mt. Carmel, 24-9, in the second quarter to open a 41-28 halftime lead.

“You can’t get much better balance that we had in this game,” Saner said. “The kids really put it together.”

Poway, ranked fourth in the county, shot 59% (32 of 57) from the floor and hit two of three three-pointers. Jones led the Titans with nine rebounds and Delaney had six assists. A year ago, Poway won only two league games and finished in a tie for last place. Mt. Carmel was led by Eric Orlander, who had 19 points and Chris Conrad, who added 10.

In other Palomar League openers:

Torrey Pines 83, Orange Glen 49--Courtie Miller scored 21 points and Kevin Flanagan added 18 as the top-ranked Falcons (15-0) won at Orange Glen. Neil Pollard added 10 points for Torrey Pines, which opened a 34-18 halftime lead. Shawn Macklin led Orange Glen (5-8) with 15 points.

Fallbrook 46, Vista 37--Mike West scored 10 points as Fallbrook (8-6) pulled away from a 29-29 tie after three quarters at Vista.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

El Camino 73, San Pasqual 46--Scott Oatsvall scored 19 points and had 8 rebounds to lead No. 8-ranked El Camino (8-3, 1-0) at San Pasqual. Lee Cobb added 15 points and Steve Carr had 14 for the Wildcats, who led, 63-25, after three quarters. Eric Meek scored 34 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, to lead San Pasqual.

Ramona 70, Escondido 51--Jason McClenaghan scored 15 points and three other players were in double figures to lead Ramona (6-8) at home. Nate Hollingsworth had 14 points, Troy Wood 13 and Chad Nelson 12 for Ramona, which pulled away after leading, 46-40, after three quarters. Paul Baldwin scored 13 points to lead Escondido.

METRO CONFERENCE

Sweetwater 60, Mar Vista 53--Charles Starnes scored 17 points and Carlos Campbell added 15 to lead Sweetwater (6-9, 3-1) at home. Melvin Rushing added 13 points for the Red Devils, who trailed, 38-36, after three quarters but outscored Mar Vista, 24-15, in the fourth quarter. Eric Syverson scored 17 points to lead Mar Vista.

Southwest 78, Hilltop 70--Art Balce scored 21 points and Will Tate added 16 to lead visiting Southwest. Alberto Silva added 10 points for Southwest, which outscored Hilltop, 29-22, in the fourth quarter. Jon Moore scored 30 points and Mark Dirksen added 25 for Hilltop.

NONLEAGUE

Kearny 56, San Diego 44--Mike Hutchinson hit five three-point shots and scored 19 points to lead fifth-ranked Kearny at home. Randy Robinson added 16 points for Kearny, which played without starting center John Williamson, who had the flu. Chris Ortiz added 10 for Kearny (12-2), which opened a 13-6 lead after one quarter.