BOYS’ BASKETBALL DIVISION V : Christian’s ‘Whole Team’ Does In Calipatria

SAN DIEGO — Christian High’s Tony Clark knew he was in for a rough day when he pulled up for his first shot of the game--a 20-foot jumper. When Clark came down, he felt one Calipatria basketball player underneath him, another on his arm and yet another on his back.

“I’m the type of guy that, if you’re going to undercut me, I’m going to take it personally,” he said. “They kept doing things like that. They wanted me to retaliate.”

But instead of taking it personally and retaliating, Clark decided to defer to his teammates.

Clark scored a season-low 22 points, 22 below his average and 28 below his playoff average, but forward David Peister and Brad Fox were there to pick up the slack in Christian’s 65-48 victory Saturday in the San Diego Section Division V final at Golden Hall.

Peister scored just two fewer points than Clark (20) and grabbed one more rebound (10). Fox had 13 points and two rebounds.

Calipatria Coach Wallace Williams said his strategy of triple-teaming Clark was the only chance his team had of winning.

“I wanted Christian to beat us--the whole team, not Clark,” Williams said. “I’m not disappointed.”

Neither was Clark.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said. “If they want to do that, let them. When I had those three guys on me, it’s beautiful to see the other guys convert.”

Most of the time, Peister, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, was doing the converting. He hit seven for 12 field goals, including one three-pointer, and three of four free throws.

“To us, we’re not a one-man team,” Peister said. “Tony knows that.”

Peister had 10 points in each half, but the majority of his rebounds in the second.

“I just told myself at halftime I had to get in there and get some boards,” Peister said. “I was unlucky in the first half. They were all coming to the other side.”

Christian (16-11) led, 30-19, at halftime, but pesky Calipatria (21-4) hung tough through the third quarter, thanks to the outside shooting of Benny Sotelo, who had three three-pointers and 20 points.

Trailing, 39-29, with 3:32 remaining in the third quarter, Calipatria went on a 9-4 run to cut the margin to 43-38. Fox scored the last points of the third quarter to push the lead back to seven, 45-38.

Calipatria’s Raul Navarro cut the deficit to 45-40 with a 15-foot jumper. But Christian immediately answered with a 7-0 run, started by a Clark jumper that effectively ended the game.

Williams said his team, whose tallest player stood 6-1, played as well as it could.

“Our guys just got a little too excited when Clark had the ball,” Williams said. “I knew Peister was a good player, but not quite that good. I’m still happy with our performance, considering the circumstances. We just don’t match up with them too well.”

Christian is expected to receive a home game in the first round of the Southern California Regional playoffs, which begin Tuesday.