Division II Boys’ Basketball Playoffs : No Playoff Jitters for San Diego : Cavers’ Fast Start Sparks Upset of La Jolla, 59-49

While San Diego High School was beating Mar Vista, 69-34, in the first round of the Division II boys’ basketball playoffs Tuesday, sixth-seeded La Jolla sat idle with a bye.

The experience San Diego gained proved useful Thursday night in the second round as the Cavers jolted the Vikings, 59-49, at La Jolla.

“I’m really happy we had that first-round game,” said Dennis Kane, the San Diego coach. “Against Mar Vista, we had jitters in the first half. Tonight we didn’t have any jitters.”

The Cavers (15-8) play Saturday against third-seeded El Camino, a 63-58 winner Thursday over Mission Bay. La Jolla finished the year at 17-9.

San Diego jumped on top quickly, 8-0, and never looked back. La Jolla pulled to within a point, 10-9, but the Cavers then scored six straight to take a 16-9 lead after one quarter.

They opened it up in the second quarter, thanks mainly to 7 points by Raynard Wells, and led by 13 at the half, 35-22.

Most of La Jolla’s problem was simply poor shooting. The Vikings shot just 30% in the first half.

But they rallied in the third quarter as San Diego went cold and scored just three points. With Sean Rodgers and David Berteaux leading the way, La Jolla pulled to within three points, 38-35, going into the fourth quarter.

“We went dead in the third,” Kane said, “but Anthony Wines really came through for us in the fourth.”

Wines nailed two three-pointers to spark a run of 12 consecutive points to give San Diego a 50-37 lead with 4:12 remaining.

Rodgers scored four straight to narrow the gap to eight points. But Wines’ three-point play with 2:15 to play gave San Diego a 56-45 lead and iced the game.

Wines scored 12 of his team-leading 14 points in the fourth quarter. Wells had 12 points and Andy Swindall and Tim Mitchell each scored 10 for San Diego.

Rodgers led all scorers with 24 points. Berteaux added 11.