Torrey Pines Continues to Cruise : Falcons Beat Carlsbad Easily in Tournament Opener

The Torrey Pines High School boys’ basketball team is probably its own best competition. Forward Courtie Miller, a Street and Smith preseason All-American, says his team is so intense in practice that players sometimes have to be pulled away from each other.

Good thing. That’s a lot more intense than the Falcons’ games have been, and Friday’s was no exception. Call it just another ho-hum, can-we-make-it-home-in-time-for-Dallas? victory.

The victim this time was Carlsbad, a brave team without seniors that went into battle at Torrey Pines in the first round of the Chart House/Lt. Mitchell Tournament and, as expected, lost big, 69-41.

Torrey Pines will meet Anchorage (Alaska), a winner over CETYS Friday, tonight at 7:45.

Torrey Pines (7-0) scored 13 points before Carlsbad (3-3) had any.

“They’re a lot better than we are,” Carlsbad Coach John Nelson said. “It’s that simple.”

It might not be that simple for Torrey Pines when it starts Palomar League play. The Falcons dominated Friday because of their size. Kevin Flanagan (6-feet 9-inches) scored a game-high 27 points mostly on layups and dunks. Miller (6-7) added 22 but took only one shot outside of 10 feet. And rebounding? Torrey Pines 35, Carlsbad 21.

In league play, the Falcons will face bigger teams that may force them to shoot more from the perimeter. If they were weak at anything Friday, it was outside shooting.

But as Miller and Torrey Pines Coach John Farrell pointed out, why shoot outside if you can just drop it in the basket?

“We’ve got good shooters,” Farrell said. “We’re emphasizing an inside game. If (opponents) back up, these guys are going to get the green light.”

Guys such as Darren Cox, a transfer from Las Vegas who supposedly can hit 3-pointers as easily as most people pull the lever on a one-armed bandit. And guards Kyle Armstrong and Troy Parrish are also effective outside shooters, Farrell said.

So where does that leave the rest of the teams in San Diego County?

“They’ll be some teams they run into that they get beat by,” Nelson said. “(In coaching), I’ve found out that nobody is invincible.”

But Nelson knew his team was overmatched Friday. Jeff Jarrard, who finished as Carlsbad’s high scorer with 14, popped a couple of 3-pointers to help the Lancers pull within 36-21 at halftime. Torrey Pines again coasted away quickly in the third quarter, Flanagan dunking, Miller hitting an 8-footer and Cox driving for a layup for the first 6 points.

The crowd lost enthusiasm soon after. The only real noise came after Miller and Flanagan’s dunks.

Torrey Pines has set a goal to make it farther than their semifinal appearance in last year’s CIF playoffs. But Farrell isn’t about to make any predictions based on games early in the season.

“We’re just happy we’re getting a little better each night,” he said. “We’re just trying to get our game going. We can’t worry about who we’re playing.”