For Wilkerson, This Victory Biggest

Rick Wilkerson, Grossmont Community College’s men’s basketball coach, called Saturday’s 81-77 victory over Imperial Valley the Griffins’ biggest in the regular season in his nine years at the El Cajon school.

Imperial Valley, the home team, had been unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in California.

“I’ve had a couple of outstanding teams here, one that was 28-4 and another 24-6,” Wilkerson said, “but I don’t know that I’ve ever beaten a No. 1 undefeated team before. That was pretty big.

“I think their crowd (2,000-plus in standing room only) always brings out the best in us. They have big crowds, and it’s an exciting atmosphere down there.”

The Arabs, which fell to 27-1, 8-1 in the Pacific Coast Conference, had been ranked No. 1 in the state for four weeks. Grossmont improved to 17-12, 7-2.

Grossmont never trailed, led by as many as 17 and survived two late runs by Imperial Valley. Tony James had 20 points and nine rebounds, Brian Sims 11 points and 15 rebounds and Rafid Kiti 11 points and seven rebounds.

Kiti is playing this year after missing the last part of last season at Valhalla with a punctured lung.

“That has healed totally,” Wilkerson said. “It was a problem at birth where he had a hole in his lung. (Surgeons) went in there and actually sewed it up. It is not a problem now.”

Imperial Valley’s Keith Balzer, the leading scorer in the PCC, had 27 points. The Arabs, however, were without their second leading scorer, Phil Clark, who had flown to Georgia for his mother’s funeral.

A former U.S. International University women’s golfer was voted the European Ladies Professional Golfer’s Assn. rookie of the year for the second consecutive year.

Helen Alfredsson, of Gothenburg, Sweden, won the award for the 1989 season. Laurette Maritz, of Johannesburg, South Africa, won in ’88.

Alfredsson was a second-team All-American in 1987, her junior year at USIU. Maritz is the only women’s golfer in NCAA history to earn first-team All-American honors four times. She was also the 1987 NCAA player of the year as voted on by the National Golf Coaches Assn.

San Diego State’s baseball team has had just six no-hitters in its 52 years. On Friday, Rick Navarro had one going before being relieved in the seventh inning of a 11-4 victory over The Master’s College Friday.

SDSU was leading, 11-0, at the time, but Coach Jim Dietz said it was too early in the season for him to go the distance.

Navarro, a graduate of Helix High, pitched a no-hitter against Grossmont High his senior season during which he finished the year 14-0 with a 1.21 earned run average.

He was 1-0 with two saves and a 2.12 earned run average as a freshman in 1989 meaning he has not lost a game since his junior year in high school--or three years ago.

SDSU will play Spain’s national team in an exhibition game at 5 tonight at Smith Field.

UC San Diego will be playing on a new baseball field when it opens its season at 2 this afternoon against Christ College Irvine.

The old field, about 500 yards away, is now the site of the new medical center being built at UCSD. Part of the arrangement for building the hospital was that the Tritons would get a new field.