Morse’s Mulu Tosi Is the Surprise Star as City Girls Win

Chris Enger was the player doing the watching. Mulu Tosi was the player being watched.

That’s what kind of event this girls’ high school all-star basketball game Saturday night was. All sorts of surprises.

All-County star Enger of Vista finished with just four points and was benched for the entire second and third quarters because of four fouls in the first. She watched helplessly from the sidelines while unknown Tosi of Morse was putting on a show with 15 points and 17 rebounds for the city team in its showdown with the best county players at Serra High. The city won, 74-62.

The county team was expecting command performances from city players Monica Filer of Point Loma and Cristina Willis of Mission Bay. But Tosi? She caught the opposition completely off guard.

“Filer and Willis we expected a lot out of,” County Coach Joe DeMaria of Vista said. “But the girl from Morse, we didn’t expect her. She killed us on the boards, and they got some easy baskets from her. We didn’t play too well against her. She was really impressive.”

Tosi, who hadn’t played since Feb. 21 when Morse was knocked out of playoffs in the first round, said she was surprised to be chosen for a spot on the team and came ready to contribute.

“I just wanted to play,” Tosi said. “It’s been a long time since the season was over, and I just wanted to do good.”

City Coach Lori Schwalbach of La Jolla said Tosi wasn’t a clear-cut selection for the team but that her performance was something she thought Tosi had in her.

“We were hoping this would happen,” Schwalbach said. “She’s peaking right now and wasn’t peaking earlier in the season when we saw her.”

Schwalbach said that her performance, and that of San Marcos’ Susie O’Brien--who led the county team with 14 points--were such that they still have a chance to be recruited for college.

“I would be very surprised if after tonight that that they wouldn’t be picked up,” she said.

The city team never trailed throughout the 10-minute quarters, but their halftime lead of 37-29 didn’t hold. County came out after the break and went on a quick six-point run in just under a minute to pull to 37-35.

Filer’s hook shot made it 39-35, but the county team came back and tied it at 39 on Colleen Gannon’s of Bonita Vista short bank shot with 6:01 remaining in the third quarter.

The city--on some fine outside shooting from Filer and Carrie Carambas of Mira Mesa--extended its lead going into the fourth quarter, 59-47.

“They had much better outside hitters,” DeMaria said. “We tried to stop Tosi, then (Filer) came out and started shooting.”

The county went on another run, this time a 10-0 streak, to pull to 59-57 with 5:59 remaining. But Filer dished off to Willis for a basket with 5:20 left, giving the city stars a 61-57 lead.

Willis led the city team with 18 points, and Filer finished with 16.

“I was worried,” Willis said. “I had never played with a guard who passes like that. But it was a lot of fun.”