No. 1 Torrey Pines Shows Its Talents, Rolls Past Poway

Neville Saner, Poway High School’s basketball coach, had just been asked to compare his teams of 1984-86 to top-ranked Torrey Pines of 1987-88. Saner hesitated and looked off to a basket in Torrey Pines’ gym. He managed a slight smile.

“We were good back then,” Saner said, still staring at the basket. “You would have to make your own comparison on that one.”

Such a comparison may be impossible, but chances are that Saner was thinking how nice it would have been to have some help from Jud Buechler, Dominick Johnson or John Colborne--the players who carried Poway during its dominating seasons.

Any assistance would have been appreciated Friday night as Torrey Pines defeated No. 6 Poway, 86-70, in a Palomar League game at Torrey Pines.

Torrey Pines (21-0 overall and 6-0 in league play) proved just how balanced it is, opening the game with back-to-back three-pointers and closing with a succession of hard-driving layups and slam dunks.

The front lines--Neal Pollard (7-feet), Kevin Flanagan (6-9) and Courtie Miller (6-7)--is beginning to gain the same kind of respect Buechler and company earned. In fact, the Torrey Pines front line was the topic of a brief article in Friday’s USA Today.

“It’s rough,” said Saner as he described playing against them. “It’s tough to stop them. We tried, but we’re just not good enough.”

Poway (12-4, 3-2) made its only serious threat in the second period, tying the score, 29-29, with 3:28 remaining. Torrey Pines had opened a 10-2 lead, but the Titans’ defense produced five turnovers during the comeback.

Poway fell apart immediately after that, allowing Torrey Pines to score 12 consecutive points to take a 41-29 lead at the half.

“The end of the first half really killed us,” Saner said.

Said Torrey Pines Coach John Farrell: “They were shooting the ball, and it was just going in (during the comeback). We expected them to shoot well. It just goes in spurts. I’m just happy we had the best spurts when it counted.”

Torrey Pines certainly did. Midway through the second half, Poway attempted a rally after trailing, 60-40. The Titans eventually cut the lead to 62-52 before Torrey Pines scored on four consecutive fast breaks.

“We lost our composure a few times and got out of our flow,” said Miller, the Torrey Pines forward. “We can never relax like that again, because a team like Poway can take us out if we play soft ball like that.

“Nothing will be easy for us now, because everybody will want a shot at us since we are undefeated.”

Pollard led Torrey Pines with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Miller added 17 points. Poway was led by Dave Delaney’s 25 points. The most damaging statistic, however, was Torrey Pines dominance in rebounding, 46-23.

“Their inside (play) is awfully tough,” Saner said. “They really hurt us inside.”