Chula Vista Doesn’t Slow Sweetwater

The Sweetwater High School boys’ basketball team has only one choice if it wants a change at the Metro Conference title.

It must continue to win.

Trailing conference leader Southwest by a game, Sweetwater can’t afford to be ambushed by teams such as Chula Vista.

Chula Vista, coming into Friday’s game in third place, two games behind Southwest, tried a tactic that had failed for two previous Sweetwater opponents. Supported by the conference’s stingiest defense, the Spartans played slowdown against the conference’s top-scoring team.

The slowdown worked. But the ambush failed as Sweetwater put together a methodical 50-44 victory at Chula Vista.

“We expected it,” Sweetwater Coach David Ybarra said about the slowdown. “We’ve seen it the last three games now.”

So Sweetwater, averaging 72.3 points per game to start the week, was forced into a half-court game. That suited forwards Joe McDowell and Carlos Campbell just fine--they combined for 30 points and 17 rebounds while controlling the inside both offensively and defensively.

On the other side, Chula Vista seemed to lull itself to sleep with its patient passing offense. At times it showed reluctance to take an open shot and very rarely tried to push the ball inside against Sweetwater’s aggressive man-to-man defense. It all added up to poor shooting: Chula Vista made 19 of 49 attempts.

Worse, the Spartans’ top-scorer, Ritchie Greaser made his first 3 shots but then went into an 0-for-8 streak through the middle of the game to take the life out of Chula Vista (10-13, 7-3).

But life for fifth-ranked Sweetwater (20-2, 9-1) remains in the conference race.

“We’re taking one game at a time,” Ybarra said, “trying to stay one game back.”