San Diego High School Roundup : Poway Makes Its Free Throws, Defeats Lincoln

The Poway High School boys’ basketball team has played only three games this season, but it’s already proving to be one of the better teams in San Diego County.

Poway helped emphasize the point Tuesday night, slowing down previously unbeaten Lincoln, 65-56.

“I knew it would be real tough,” Poway Coach Neville Saner said. “We played them tough. We went right after them. We got some easy shots off the break against their full court pressure.”

Poway (3-0) led, 22-10, after the first quarter and 37-22 at halftime before Lincoln (5-1) made runs in the second half. Lincoln closed to within 4 points with a little more than 3 minutes to play, and Poway began to waver.

“We were in trouble,” Saner said. “Lincoln came at us hard. We started to succumb to their pressure a little bit.”

It got to the point where Lincoln had to foul to get the ball. But the Hornets kept fouling Poway guard Jay Blankenbeckler, who made all 10 of his fourth-quarter free throws. Poway made 10 of its 12 free throws in the period and 13 of 15 for the game. Lincoln made 10 of 25.

Blankenbeckler led Poway with 22 points, Gabby Awbrey had 14, and Adam Jones had 10.

Aaron Wilhite and Joe Temple scored 15 points each for Lincoln, and Victor Dean had 12.

In other nonleague games:

Clairemont 69, Ramona 68--Clairemont’s John Matthews hit a 3-pointer with 2 seconds remaining to tie the score at 68 at Clairemont. The clock ran to zero, but Ramona Coach Al Schaffer protested that his players had called a timeout but hadn’t been heard because of crowd noise. The referees agreed and put 2 seconds back on the clock. Ramona’s length-of-the-court inbound pass hit the ceiling, so Clairemont got the ball back under its own basket. Ray McDavid, who led Clairemont with a game-high 26 points, took the inbounds pass, was fouled and hit the winning free throw. Both teams are 4-3.

Serra 51, Kearny 41--Roderick Alexander scored 16 and Jermaine Jordan had 15 to lead host Serra. Serra (4-3) hit four 3-point shots in the first half to take a comfortable lead and led throughout the second half. Danny Johnson had 11 for Kearny (4-3).

Crawford 62, Mission Bay 51--Senior Chris Johnson, who still is deciding at which college he will play quarterback next season, showed Mission Bay he isn’t too bad in basketball either, scoring a game-high 26 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Crawford (5-0) held a 33-21 lead at halftime. Mission Bay is 3-2.

Patrick Henry 64, La Jolla 57--Bart Brandenburg scored 17 to lead host Patrick Henry (4-3), which played without Terrence Hamilton, who sprained his ankle against Clairemont Saturday. La Jolla (4-2) got 28 points from Adam Kleid. Patrick Henry junior Jason Lonsdale, who had 16 rebounds and 14 points, fell and broke his wrist with 4 seconds remaining while trying to grab a rebound.

Valhalla 84, Granite Hills 59--Rafid Kiti and Tony Clark combined for 51 points in three quarters at Valhalla. Kiti, a 6-5 senior guard scored 29 points and had 7 rebounds and Clark, a 6-7 junior center, scored 22 points and had 8 rebounds for Valhalla (3-4). Valhalla led, 73-44, after three quarters.

Rancho Buena Vista 59, USDHS 51--Darryl Parker scored a game-high 28 points and had 14 rebounds to lead visiting Rancho Buena Vista (4-2). Greg Santos and Peter Ellis scored 18 apiece for USDHS (2-1).

Mt. Carmel 62, Madison 59--Jeff Hansley scored 17 points, Mike Herman had 16 and Mike Graves added 15 for Mt. Carmel (2-0), which out-rebounded host Madison (2-4), 34-19.

Irvine Tournament

At Christ College

Savanna 46, Fallbrook 42--Darnell Lee scored 12 points to lead Fallbrook (3-3), and teammate Keith Elston chipped in with 10.

Grossmont 3-A League

Helix 61, El Capitan 32--John Pressler and Chris Masilon each scored 15 points to lead host Helix (5-1, 3-0), which led at halftime, 37-8.

Monte Vista 62, Mt. Miguel 33--Jeff Polinsky scored 16 points, and Joe McNaull had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Monte Vista (4-1, 1-0). Mt. Miguel is 0-6 and 0-1.

Grossmont 2-A League

Grossmont 54, El Cajon Valley 48--Tom Lyles led host Grossmont (3-3, 1-0) with 15 points, and Kevin Simon had 14 points and 13 rebounds.