HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Southwest Wins Rematch With Bonita Vista

Take a chance. What the heck? What we did last time certainly didn’t work.

That was the attitude the Southwest High boys’ basketball team took as it prepared to meet Bonita Vista High in an important Metro Conference game Friday at Southwest.

Bonita Vista had defeated Southwest by 20 the last time these schools met in December.

This time, Southwest won, 62-56, in front of about 1,000.

This time, Jerry Racette, Devin Patterson and the rest of the Raiders took the ball inside against the Barons’ zone defense. Racette, who scored just two points in the first meeting, had 22 points, 10 in the fourth quarter to negate Bonita Vista’s attempted comeback. Patterson had 17 points.

This time, Patterson, Racette and the rest of the Raiders managed to keep Bonita Vista’s 6-foot-5 center Rope Perry away from the ball and the basket. Perry had just two points and two rebounds in the first half. He and Frank Peralta finished with 14 points, but for the most part, Southwest did a bang-up defensive job on Perry.

Racette and Patterson, by the way, were both playing with ankle injuries.

“We tried to deny (Perry) in front (with Patterson) and relied a lot on our help-side defense,” Racette said. “Devin just did a great job on him.”

After making 7-0 run at the end of the first quarter, Southwest never trailed. The Barons appeared to be starting a number of runs in the second half, but each time Southwest responded.

“We could have folded,” Southwest Coach Steve Selland said. “I think we were folding. Bonita really stepped up the pressure, but we survived.”

Said Bonita Vista Coach Jim Conlin, “They ran the same exact offense (as last time), the same exact defense. They just did it better (Friday). Racette was the big difference. He made his shots (Friday).

“He was tough inside. He shouldn’t have been able to get off some of the shots he did. But he did.”

With the victory, Southwest improved to 12-7, 6-2 and remained a game behind Sweetwater (15-5, 7-1) in the Metro Conference. Bonita Vista fell to 11-5, 5-3.

--JIM LINDGREN

Avocado League

Carlsbad 73, San Pasqual 68--Calvin Coleman scored 24 points and Chad Nelson 20 to lead Carlsbad (9-8, 4-2). San Pasqual (8-6, 4-2) got 40 points from Erik Meek, who went over the 2,000-point mark for his career, and 16 points from Richard Stark. Carlsbad forced 32 turnovers in the game and made 13 of 14 free-throws in the fourth quarter, seven of eight in the final two minutes.

Escondido 60, San Marcos 45--Mike Frank scored 19 and Damian Cephas 16 to lead Escondido (4-9, 2-4). Frank also had 13 rebounds.

El Camino 80, Rancho Bernardo 67--Shaun Scurry scored 27, and Jeff Reeves and Heath McCoy scored 15 each to lead fourth-ranked El Camino (12-3, 5-1). Bill McMahon, who made 13 of 14 free-throws, had a school-record 30 points and for the Broncos (3-11, 1-5), who shot a school-record 54% (23 of 42) from the field.

Ramona 81, Oceanside 60--Ramona (10-4, 5-1) held a 51-19 rebounding edge. Alfonso De La Nuez scored 32 and Travis Knight scored 25 for the Bulldogs.

City Central League

San Diego 72, Madison 55--Mike Watson scored 22 points to lead third-ranked San Diego (13-2, 2-0), which also got 12 points and seven rebounds from John McKenna. J.R. Greer scored 17. Madison (8-7, 1-2) got 24 points from Donny Collins.

City Harbor League

Clairemont 48, Marian 44--Marian once led by 11 points but was held to 16 points in the second half and made only 10 of 22 shots from the free-throw line. Alex Love led Clairemont (1-1) with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Beto Martinez finished with 16 points, including three three-pointers, for Marian (11-8, 1-1).

City Western League

USDHS 52, Kearny 46--The Komets led by 10 points, 42-32, early in the fourth quarter but were outscored in the final period 20-8 by the Dons. Reserve guard Ian Hamilton scored all of his nine points on fourth-quarter three-point shots, one of which gave USDHS (13-3, 2-0) a 46-45 lead. Eric Barajas led the Dons with 14 points.

La Jolla 58, Mission Bay 55 (OT)--E.J. Watson scored 19 points and Craig Woodall added 12 points and 12 rebounds in the first victory for La Jolla (1-14). Rick Moe led Mission Bay (3-12) with 15 points and Cameron Atwood had 12.

City Eastern League

Serra 62, Patrick Henry 58 (OT)--Patrick Henry’s John Pike had 25 points and hit three of his four three-point shots in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime, but David Thorne sank three free throws in overtime to preserve a perfect league record for Serra (9-4, 3-0). Tony Ethridge led Serra with 19 points and Thorne finished with 12. Marlon Franklin scored 19 for Patrick Henry (6-11, 0-2).

Grossmont 2-A League

Valhalla 63, El Cajon Valley 46--Valhalla’s Mark Dillon hit five three-pointers, lifting his season total to 96, and broke Tony Clark’s San Diego Section single-season three-point record of 94. Dillon, a 5-11 senior guard, had 91 going into his 21st game. He is averaging five a game. Mike Nalu led the Norsemen with 17 points and 15 rebounds; teammate Matt Marsh had eight assists.

Grossmont 79, West Hills 47--Jean Beaubille scored 17 points and Jared Larson had nine points, 12 rebounds and seven steals for Grossmont (12-5, 3-0). West Hills fell to 1-13 and 0-2.

Metro Conference

Sweetwater 71, Hilltop 66 (OT)--Hilltop outscored Sweetwater, 19-9, in the fourth quarter to force the game into overtime, where the Red Devils (15-5, 7-1) made five of six free throws to win and remain in first place. Brandon Tennant led Sweetwater with 24 points. Melvin Rushing added 18 and Mendel Nafarrete 11. Courtney Brown led Hilltop (8-12, 2-6) with 28 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Chris White added 19.

Montgomery 41, Mar Vista 40--Tom Conner, who scored just three points, made two free throws in a one-and-one situation with six seconds left to give Montgomery (4-13, 3-5) the victory at Mar Vista. Leslie Shaw led the Aztecs with 12 points. Jim Gruber also had 12 for Mar Vista (1-15, 0-8).

Chula Vista 78, Castle Park 59--Jerome Green scored 27 and Donnie Edwards had 15 points, 12 rebonds and five assists for Chula Vista (12-8, 6-2). Bobby Stanton led Castle Park with 27 points, including six three-pointers.

Palomar League

Poway 72, San Dieguito 51--Frank Garrett’s 20 second-half points broke open the game for No. 5 Poway (10-4, 4-2), even though three San Dieguito players were in double figures. Garrett finished with 24 points. Matt Fletcher scored 12 and Kirk Hipple came off the bench for nine points for Poway. Matt de la Pena had 15 points for San Dieguito, and teammates Sean Howard and Ken Morgan both scored 11. San Dieguito is 8-9, 3-3.

Torrey Pines 65, Vista 63--Craig Brown scored 22 for the second game in a row as No. 10 Torrey Pines (15-4, 5-1) edged the visiting Panthers (5-11, 1-5). Scot Pollard had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Torrey Pines, and Bill Scheibe scored eight of his 13 points--most on steals--in the third quarter as Torrey Pines outscored Vista 16-7. Jason Barnes led Vista with 17 points. Vista had a chance to tie the game with one second left, but missed the first of two free-throws and missed the second on purpose.

Mt. Carmel 85, Orange Glen 61--Ryan Wootton scored 22 points and Jon Young 21 to lead No. 1 Mt. Carmel (14-3, 4-2) in its first game since being upset by Torrey Pines. Wootton had nine rebounds. Dana Pope had 13 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for Mt. Carmel. Orange Glen is 0-12, 0-6.

Fallbrook 89, Rancho Buena Vista 88 (3 OT)--Chris Miller hit a three-pointer with three seconds left in the first overtime period, and Alan Chatman hit another three with seven second remaining in the second overtime. Miller scored 30 points and Chatman 23 to pace Fallbrook (4-2,), but Darryl Parker led all scorers for RBV (8-9, 3-3) with 39 points.

Coastal League

Army-Navy 67, Santa Fe Christian 58--Dan Cho scored 19 and Phil Parks scored 14 and had 11 rebounds to lead Army-Navy (13-3, 4-1). Emilio Guzman scored 10 points, had eight rebounds and four steals. Gus Svendsen led Santa Fe Christian (5-9, 2-3) with 22 points.

Nonleague

Lincoln 82, St. Augustine 78--Berry Randle had 29 points and 16 rebounds and Hosa Baker added 18 for Lincoln (10-8), which outscored the Saints, 30-18, in the second quarter. Mike MaGee had 23 for St. Augustine, which fell to 8-9.

University City 66, Point Loma 53-- Elliot Alexander scored 25 points and Barry Waits hit four three-pointers to spark UC. Waits ended with 14 points. Justin Miller, who scored 11 points for Point Loma, sank one from half-court as the buzzer ending the first half sounded. Kenny Campbell also had 11 points for Point Loma.