HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL : Christian Comes Through to Win in Pressure Game

Even though Christian High lost in the Division V state championship game last year, the benefits reaped from having played under that kind of pressure seem to be paying off for the Patriots in 1991.

Tied with Coronado with three seconds left, Christian’s David Piester made a move to the basket and was fouled.

He went to the line to shoot a one-and-one and made the first. Christian then called timeout and had Piester intentionally miss the second free throw so Coronado couldn’t take the ball out of bounds and throw it the length of the court in a Hail Mary attempt.

The strategy worked as Christian won, 68-67, in a City Harbor League game at Coronado.

With the victory, Christian improved to 17-5, 5-1 and remained in first place. Coronado fell to 5-17, 1-6.

Christian had to overcome a 14-4 first-quarter deficit and did with a run that began late in the initial quarter and concluded in the second quarter when Christian went up, 19-18.

From there, the lead went back and forth until Piester put it away. Piester finished with a game-high 35 points.

In another City Harbor League games:

Clairemont 52, Marian 34--Clairemont trailed, 25-18, at halftime, but outscored Marian, 34-9, in the second half. Alex Love led second-place Clairemont (10-9, 5-2) with 17 points and nine assists, and John Brady added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Avocado League

San Pasqual 57, Escondido 46--Upset-minded Escondido had San Pasqual on the ropes until Erik Meek sparked the Eagles, scoring 10 of his team’s 16 points in the third quarter. Meek, who missed Wednesday’s loss against El Camino with an ankle injury, finished with 27 points.

David Durst added 12 points and Richard Stark 10 for San Pasqual (13-7, 9-3). Damian Cephas scored 21 points for Escondido (4-15, 2-10).

El Camino 93, San Marcos 56--Guard Jeff Reeves ignited a 31-9 second quarter with four three-pointers, and the top-ranked Wildcats coasted to victory.

Reeves finished with 33 points, including eight three-pointers. Heath McCoy added 17 points and Shaun Scurry 15 for El Camino (17-4, 10-2). Eric Wilburn had 13 points for San Marcos (5-15, 2-10).

Ramona 73, Carlsbad 67--Carlsbad scored seven times from the three-point range to take as much as a nine-point lead over Ramona, who rallied in the third period. Alfonso De La Nuez had 26 points, eight assists, two steals and two key three-pointers in the fourth quarter to pace 10th-ranked Ramona (15-5, 10-2). Teammate Travis Knight scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Rancho Bernardo 64, Oceanside 52--Rancho Bernardo (4-15, 2-12) outscored Oceanside by 18 points in the first and third quarters to spell the difference. David Santos led Rancho Bernardo with 22 points and 11 rebounds and Bill McMahon added 16 points and nine steals. Marlon Jenkins led Oceanside (7-16, 4-8) with 14 points.

City Eastern League

Morse 61, Mira Mesa 58--Morse (14-7, 4-2) built an 18-point lead midway through the third quarter, only to see Mira Mesa (13-10, 4-3) pull to within two with three minutes left in the game. The Marauders trailed by four with eight seconds left, but Ngai Allen made the first of two free-throws and intentionally missed the second. Teammate Ryan Cunningham got the rebound, but the Marauders were whistled for a lane violation. Morse ran out the clock from there.

Dwayne Ludd led the Tigers with 12 points. Cunningham, who scored 13 in the second half to lead the comeback, finished with 18.

Serra 50, Patrick Henry 26--Patrick Henry (7-15, 1-5) found out what goes around indeed comes around. Its 26-point performance came three days after Patrick Henry left Point Loma behind, 46-27. Serra (14-5, 6-1) is now assured at least a tie for first place with one game remaining.

Patrick Henry’s John Pike led all scorers with 17 points. Justin Wible and Antwann Harris each had 12 for Serra.

City Western League

La Jolla 55, Mission Bay 41--La Jolla (2-17, 2-4) parlayed an 18-4 third quarter run into its second league victory. Both have been against Mission Bay. Craig Woodall led La Jolla with 16 points and John Price led Mission Bay (5-14, 1-5) with 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Helix 66, Mt. Miguel 44--Helix kept its league record perfect at 7-0, 17-5 overall, as Lloyd Lake led the way with 15 points. Jason Falkner added 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and passed for six assist. Mt. Miguel fell to 13-9, 2-4.

Metro Conference

Bonita Vista 67, Sweetwater 59--Bonita Vista shocked No. 4 Sweetwater in National City, keeping the Red Devils from clinching their third consecutive league title. Rope Perry scored 22 and Mike Barnett 16 to lead the Barons (14-7, 8-5).

Melvin Rushing had 15 points and nine rebounds for Sweetwater (19-6, 11-2). Brandon Tennant added 14 points.

Hilltop 83, Chula Vista 81 (OT)--Courtney Brown dominated the overtime period, scoring seven of Hilltop’s 11 points. Carlos Marques had the other four. For the game, Brown scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. He also scored the basket that sent the game into overtime. Marques finished with 20 points.

With six seconds remaining and Hilltop leading by two, Chula Vista missed its last shot, giving the Lancers (12-13, 6-7) their second upset of the week. Hilltop had defeated Bonita Vista on Wednesday. Chula Vista (14-11, 8-5) was upset for the second time this week after falling Wednesday 73-71 to Mar Vista.

Southwest 66, Mar Vista 56--Southwest (16-8, 10-3) started grabbing rebounds in the third quarter and, as a result, outscored Mar Vista (2-11) 21-6 in that quarter to overcome a two-point halftime deficit and put the game out of reach. Southwest’s Jerry Racette scored 17 points and also had 10 rebounds.

Castle Park 75, Montgomery 61--Bobby Stanton sparked a 45-point second half for Castle Park by pouring in 14 of his game-high 22 points in the final two quarters. Teammate Tom Carney had 18 points and came down with 12 rebounds.

Palomar League

Poway 95, Vista 77--Second-ranked Poway (15-5, 9-3) stayed a game ahead of three second-place teams--Fallbrook, Rancho Buena Visa and Torrey Pines--by outscoring Vista, 25-16, in the third quarter. Mike Wuchner led the Titans with 24 points, and Frank Garrett added 20. Jason Barnes led Vista with 23 points, and Mike Vandling had 18 points, including six three-pointers.

Fallbrook 58, San Dieguito 52--Tied entering the fourth quarter, Chris Miller scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the final eight minutes to keep second-place Fallbrook (15-9, 8-4) in the hunt for the league title.

San Dieguito (13-10, 6-6) was mathematically eliminated from the county’s most competitive league race. Bob Nolan added 14 points for Fallbrook.

Rancho Buena Vista 74, Orange Glen 57--RBV outscored Orange Glen by 14 points in the first half and cruised from there. Brad Grubaugh led RBV (12-10, 8-4) with 19 points and Darryl Parker added 13. Brian Scofield led Orange Glen (0-18, 0-12) with 23 points.

Torrey Pines 60, Mt. Carmel 59--Chad Davis’ three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining was the game winner for Torrey Pines (18-7, 8-4). Dana Pope, who scored a game-high 19 points, had given ninth-ranked Mt. Carmel a 59-57 lead with his second of two consecutive three-pointers.

Dan Reynaga led Torrey Pines with 18 points and Scott Pollard had 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks.

Coastal League

Army-Navy 54, Santa Fe Christian 49--Army-Navy (13-6, 7-4) got 16 points and 18 rebounds from Phil Parks and 15 points from Jim Choi. Todd Ferdon led Santa Fe Christian with 16 points.

Mtn. Empire 106, Julian 87--Mtn. Empire tied the school record for points it established two weeks ago against La Jolla County Day. Mark Noland scored 25 of his game-high 35 points in the second half. Gilberto Gonzalez added 29 points for Mt. Empire (11-9, 7-3), winner of six consecutive games.

Nonleague

Lincoln 96, Point Loma 69--No. 5 Lincoln improved to 16-8 with its 10th consecutive victory. Barry Randle led the way with 21 points and 18 rebounds. Teammate Hosa Baker added 15 points, Archie Robinson 14 and John Akridge 10. Justin Miller scored 24 for Point Loma (4-18).

GIRLS

Grossmont 2-A

El Cajon Valley 102, Valhalla 28--Four of El Cajon’s seven players scored in double figures. The second-ranked Braves were led by Heather Holm’s 29 points and Monica Kraknes’ 26.

Avocado League

San Marcos 44, El Camino 35--Tammy Hinrichs had a game-high 18 points, and Tami Oviatt added 17 to lead San Marcos (11-10, 9-3). Lisa Flores scored 13 for El Camino (2-13, 2-10).

City Western League

Kearny 64, USDHS 52--Melissa Krause, the section’s 10th-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game, had a game-high 27 to lead Kearny (16-6, 5-1). Kelly O’Neill had 20 for USDHS (9-9, 4-3).

Mission Bay 43, La Jolla 33--Adia Barnes scored 14 points for Mission Bay (9-10, 2-4). Mary McCutcheon had 10 for La Jolla (6-9, 1-5).