High School Review : Trip Gave Torrey Pines Good Look at the Big Boys

The Torrey Pines boys’ basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in the Palms tournament in Ft. Myers, Fla., over the holidays, but it also learned it can play with some of the top teams in the country.

“I really take my hat off to the kids,” Torrey Pines Coach John Farrell said. “We played some great talent, away from home with a 3-hour time difference, night after night, and we played well. I’m really proud of them.”

The Falcons’ biggest victory was against perennial national power Dunbar (Washington, D.C.), 67-65. Torrey Pines lost to Miami Carol City, 68-32, in the final.

But Carol City isn’t your typical high school team. Rated No. 8 in the nation at the time by USA Today, Carol City has a 7-foot center and two 6-foot 10-inch forwards.

“It was one of those nights,” Farrell said of the loss. “They played their best, and we played our worst. They’re not 36 points better than us. If we played them 10 times, they’d probably beat us 7.”

The loss came the day after the victory over Dunbar.

“I think we just got off to a bad start, and it roller-coasted from there,” Farrell said. “We played such a hard game the night before and spent a lot of energy. And they were big--they looked more mature than any team we’ve seen. We were a step slow.”

Torrey Pines scored the game’s first two points, but Miami Carol City then reeled off 18 in a row. Torrey Pines never again got close.

Add holiday leftovers: It went nearly unnoticed, but Point Loma’s Monica Filer set a San Diego Section record for assists in a game (21) in a Dec. 28 victory over Bonita Vista.

The Pointers won the game, 56-27.

Filer broke the previous record of 20 set by Hilltop’s Mary Hernandez (1985 against Mar Vista) and El Camino’s Sharon Turner (1984 against Basic, Nev.).

In 16 games, Filer has 197 assists.

The San Diego Section Coordinating Council meets this morning and will consider making several recommendations at the Board of Managers’ meeting Jan. 24:

--The maximum number of teams permitted to participate in any one division of the section playoffs would be 16. This would affect the basketball playoffs, where 19 teams compete in Division I (enrollment of 2,000 or more). The section opened the basketball playoffs to all schools for this first time last season.

--The rule that gives automatic playoff bids to tri-champions would be changed. Before a forfeit last fall, it appeared three football teams from the Grossmont 2-A League had earned automatic playoff bids, causing controversy.

--Boys’ volleyball would be moved from spring to fall to coincide with girls’ volleyball.

--The automatic berths to the CIF track preliminaries would be reduced from three to two for all 3-A and 2-A leagues and from two to one for the 1-A Southern Conference. This recommendation came from the track and field advisory committee.

Notes

Two San Diego County athletes were named to the Parade All-America football team: Morse’s Ty Morrison (6-feet 4-inches, 232 pounds) and Vista’s Tamasi Amituanai (6-3, 295). Morrison was named as a defensive lineman/linebacker and Amituanai was chosen as an offensive lineman. At 295 pounds, Amituanai was the heaviest player selected. Vista coach Dick Haines called Amituanai the best lineman he has seen in 36 years of coaching. . . . Three San Diego-area U.S. Junior National Development Camp water polo teams will be picked at Poway High School on Saturday at 7 a.m. Coronado water polo Coach Randy Burgess will coach the boys’ team, and Robin Sanchez of El Capitan and Lynn Garcia of Hilltop will co-coach the girls’ team. Two boys’ teams and a girls’ team will be picked. The tryout fee is $10. For information, contact Burgess at 522-8926 or Garcia at 443-1081.