High School Notebook : Ramona a Bit of a Basket Case After Odd Events in Early Going

When the Ramona boys’ basketball team travels to El Camino Tuesday for the Avocado League season opener, Coach Al Schaffer will be more than happy to start with a new slate.

After the first seven nonleague games, it had already been a long season for 2-5 Ramona.

The latest episode in a bizarre season occurred Dec. 13 at Clairemont. Ramona was ahead, 68-65, but Clairemont’s John Matthews hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to tie.

“I thought it was a 2-pointer, but he was on the opposite side of the gym,” Schaffer said. “I didn’t see the 3-point signal (from the officials), and I jumped up thinking we had won.”

So Schaffer walked over to shake hands with Clairemont Coach Greg Lee, who told him the shot was a 3-pointer and the game was tied.

The officials added 2 seconds to the clock because Ramona’s Tony Newman had called a timeout. Ramona would regret those 2 seconds.

When play resumed, Ramona tried a length-of-the-court pass--which hit the ceiling.

Clairemont took possession. The Chieftains passed to Ray McDavid, who was fouled. He made the first end of a 1-and-1, and Clairemont escaped with a 69-68 victory.

“It was a bizarre ending to game that we appeared to win and that I thought we had won,” Schaffer said.

As if all that weren’t weird enough, flash back to the third quarter. Clairemont had the ball, and McDavid went up for a shot. There was contact, the kind that could be either a charge or a block. The officials ruled it a block on Ramona and counted the basket.

Problem was, Schaffer swears, there was no basket. He said he has a videotape that shows not only that the ball did not go through the basket, but that the following tip-in attempt missed, too. Still, it counted.

And Ramona lost by a point.

“You think you’ve seen it all after 32 years, but it’s an amazing game,” Schaffer said. “You see something new every day.”

Schaffer has been having his share of new experiences. On Dec. 3, Ramona traveled to El Capitan for a Torrey Pines tournament game. The referees never made it, so the game was started with a couple of recruits--a sports writer and a former coach--from the stands doing the officiating. An El Capitan administrator was dispatched to telephone referees in the area, but none arrived.

By the second quarter, two players--one from each team--had been ejected for fighting. El Capitan won, 73-68.

“I’ve coached in games in which we had to wait for referees, but never in one where we had to call on someone (from the stands) to ref,” Schaffer said.

But the biggest surprise of all may have come on Dec. 9, when Ramona looked up at the scoreboard and found itself leading powerful Torrey Pines, 59-58, with 4 minutes to play. Torrey Pines put together a stretch run, finished by outscoring Ramona, 21-13, in the fourth quarter and won, 77-66.

“We played extremely well, but weren’t able to contain them,” Schaffer said. “If we had, it would have been the biggest shock of all--more than the referees and more than the basket that didn’t go in.”

The season is still young, though.

“We hope the experiences will give us the mental toughness to do a good job in the Avocado League,” Schaffer said. “If it helps, then it all will have been worth it.”

The final California football numbers are in:

--Rancho Buena Vista’s Scott Garcia led the state in rushing with 2,565 yards in 294 attempts. Garcia’s total is third highest in state history.

--Orange Glen’s Jake Nyberg led the state in receiving with 1,456 yards. His 93 catches set a section record and was No. 6 all time in the state.

--Orange Glen’s Cree Morris, who orally committed to San Diego State Monday, finished third among the state passing leaders. Morris completed 184 of 322 passes for 3,212 yards.

--Rancho Buena Vista finished No. 1 in the state medium schools poll by Cal-Hi Sports. The Longhorns were 13-0 after defeating San Pasqual, 21-10, in the San Diego Section 2-A championship game Dec. 10.

Garcia and three San Diego-area defensive players were selected to the all-state high school football first team picked by California Football Magazine.

Morse defensive end Ty Morrison (6-feet 4-inches, 221 pounds), Vista lineman Tamasi Amituanai (6-5, 310) and Point Loma defensive back Marcel Brown (6-2, 195) were picked on defense.

Rancho Buena Vista offensive lineman Jack Harrington (6-1, 260) and Morse defensive back Darrell Lewis (6-2, 190) were named to the second team.

Add Awards: Serra’s Lynn Patrick and University of San Diego High School’s Alicia Turner were named to the national All-American first team by Reebok/Volleyball Monthly.

Patrick was the section 3-A player of the year, Turner 2-A player of the year.