THE YEAR IN REVIEW : A Look Ahead, Behind : Many Struggled Through ‘88, but Near Year Offers Hope : HIGH SCHOOLS

With apologies to David Letterman, we offer lists detailing what happened in 1988 and, in some cases, how 1988 will impact 1989 .

Nine months of winners in San Diego High School sports:

1. January

Despite trailing by 2 points with less than 5 seconds to play in both regulation and the first overtime against nationally ranked Camden (N.J.) High, the undefeated Torrey Pines boys’ basketball team won, 90-88, in double-overtime Jan. 16 when Kevin Friel hit a 12-footer with 1 second to play. Camden was ranked 24th in the nation by USA Today entering the game.

2. February

Poway won its sixth San Diego Section Master’s team wrestling title in seven years on Feb. 27 despite the fact that all seven Poway wrestlers who reached the finals lost.

3. March

Basketball fever hit tiny Ramona on March 4 when both the boys’ and girls’ teams reached the section Division III finals in the San Diego Sports Arena. Both played Lincoln in the finals: the Ramona girls won, 41-23, and the boys lost, 71-63.

On March 5, Poway’s Shane Rosselle won a 6-5 decision over Mike Grubbs of El Camino for the state 105-pound wrestling title at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. In the 154-pound championship, Aaron Gaeir of Granite Hills defeated Dwayne Buth of Mt. Miguel, 8-2.

The Lincoln boys’ basketball team defeated Lemoore, 80-68, in the Division III final of the Southern California Regional March 12 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Other San Diego teams didn’t fare as well in the regional finals: Bakersfield Foothill 62, Madison 60 (boys’ Division II); Calipatria 56, Bishop’s 47 (boys’ Division V); Palos Verdes 44, San Pasqual 37 (girls’ division II); Lemoore 50, Ramona 35 (girls’ Division III).

The next week in Oakland, the Lincoln boys built a 16-point lead in the second half of the state Division III final against Daly City Jefferson but lost, 76-71.

In the baseball inning of the year, La Jolla High scored 23 runs in the fourth inning of a 27-1 victory over Mar Vista in the Lions/Mike Morrow tournament on March 26.

4. April

Castle Park pitcher Dawn Wood tied a national record by pitching 2 consecutive perfect games, and by the end of the season she had rewritten the section record book: most shutouts in a season (17, 8 consecutive), most consecutive perfect games pitched (2, vs. Montgomery April 12 and vs. Chula Vista April 14) and most victories in a season (20).

5. May

On May 20, Santana senior Tom Reed defended his boys’ section diving championship by scoring 440.15 points, behind only Greg Louganis for most points in section history.

The La Jolla High School boys’ tennis team won its 17th section championship in 19 years by defeating Bishop’s, 5-2.

In the section track and field championships, Mark Senior ran a 1:51.77 in the 800-meter run to lead Mt. Miguel to the section boys’ championship. Morse, paced by Stacy Thompson’s personal and county best 44.59 in the 300-meter low hurdles, won the girls’ championship. Rancho Buena Vista’s Kira Jorgensen ran a meet record 10:40.34 in the 3,200-meter run.

Senior and Jorgensen (in the 1,600) later won state titles.

6. June

Mission Bay won its second section 2-A baseball title in 3 years, defeating Castle Park, 2-1, on June 1. Sean Rees set down 6 consecutive batters in last 2 innings, striking out 4, to save the victory.

In an all-Grossmont League section 3-A final, Helix defeated Santana, 1-0, behind left-hander Rick Navarro’s (14-0) 3-hit shutout.

7. October

In the biggest football game of the regular season, Rancho Buena vista, ranked No. 2 in the state (medium schools) by Cal-Hi Sports, defeated No. 1-ranked Oceanside, 35-22, on Oct. 14 before about 6,500 fans at Oceanside High.

8. November

Mia Labovitz, the only female football player in San Diego County, kicked a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter in San Diego High’s 3-0 victory over visiting St. Augustine--an all-boys’ school--on Nov. 4.

Rancho Buena Vista running back Scott Garcia set a section record Nov. 11 by rushing for 366 yards in 31 carries in a 35-13 victory over San Pasqual. Also in the game, RBV gained 507 yards rushing to lift its season total to 4,080, breaking the old section mark of 3,972 set by Imperial in 1979.

Bishop’s girls’ tennis team, which has played for the section 2-A title every year since 1974 except in 1984, defeated La Jolla for the third time during the season, 10-1, to defend its title.

Also on Nov. 19, Serra’s girls’ field hockey team defeated Mira Mesa 2-1 to win its ninth section title in the past 10 seasons, and Coronado’s water polo team defeated Poway, 11-9, to claim its fourth section title in six seasons under Coach Randy Burgess.

Poway’s girls’ volleyball team, which finished the regular season and section playoffs with a 25-0 record and raised the hopes that a large school San Diego team would finally be able to compete with the dominating teams from Orange County and Los Angeles, was defeated by Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach in the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs, 15-0, 13-15, 15-11, 15-7, on Nov. 23.

Rancho Buena Vista’s Garcia gained 209 yards in 33 carries Nov. 26 to raise his season total to 2,187 yards, breaking the section record of 2,124 set in 1986 by Vista’s Tommy Booker. Garcia also rushed for two touchdowns to give him 33 on the season, also a section record, breaking Terry Rodgers’ 1985 mark of 32.

Also on Nov. 26, Kira Jorgensen of Rancho Buena Vista High won her second consecutive state cross-country title.

9. December

Heidi West had 20 kills and a championship-match record 10 aces Dec. 3 in leading Francis Parker to its third consecutive state Division I (small school) volleyball championship with an 11-15, 15-9, 15-13, 15-7 victory over Linden High.

The same day, Kira Jorgensen of Rancho Buena Vista and Francis O’Neill of San Pasqual were winners in the Kinney Western Cross-Country Regionals. O’Neill bested his 5,000-meter personal best by 12 seconds, running 14:56.

But the local gathering at the 10th Kinney National Cross Country race was stunned Dec. 10 when defending national champion Jorgensen struggled through the final 2.1 miles and finished 21st in the 3.1-mile race at Morley Field. “It’s been the toughest week I’ve had in my 4 years here,” said Jorgensen, fighting back tears. San Pasqual’s Francis O’Neill placed seventh in the boys’ race.

Rancho Buena Vista’s football team completed a 13-0 season Dec. 10 with a 21-10 victory over San Pasqual in the section 2-A championship game. Scott Garcia rushed for 209 yards in 29 carries and scored two touchdowns for RBV. It was the second consecutive 2-A title game between two Avocado League teams.

And in the final 2:07 before halftime in the 3-A title game, Morse High sophomore Teddy Lawrence set a section record by returning an interception 106 yards for a touchdown, then faked a punt and ran 53 yards for another touchdown, as Morse turned a 13-7 deficit into a 21-13 halftime lead on its way to a 31-28 victory over previously unbeaten Orange Glen.