BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Meek Plays Strong to Lead San Pasqual

Erik Meek is not quite ready to begin thinking about Duke University and Tobacco Road.

He has some unfinished business to tend to at San Pasqual High.

And that can not be a comforting feeling for the rest of the San Diego Section’s Division II. Meek on Tuesday scored a season-high 41 points and grabbed 23 rebounds to lead San Pasqual to a 73-49 victory over University City in a first-round playoff game.

The Eagles (16-7) advance to the quarterfinal Friday night against host Torrey Pines.

Meek, a 6-10 senior, was 15 for 23 from the field and 11 for 13 from the free-throw line. University City put a defender in front of and behind Meek--and every once in a while, another would sneak in from the side. But it didn’t seem to matter to Meek, who said he was ready for the playoffs.

“This is our last chance,” said Meek, who will play college basketball at Duke. “It’s been my dream to win CIF.”

University City Coach Tom Medigovich said he thought his defensive strategy was sound.

“We worked for three days,” he said. “But size-wise, he just overmatched us. Meek was very assertive.”

Especially so on the boards, where he grabbed a career-high 11 offensive rebounds.

“He wasn’t going to let us lose,” San Pasqual Coach Tom Buck said. “You could see it in his eyes.”

The Centurions were playing without senior point guard Ian Krebs, who died suddenly in his sleep two weeks ago. Medigovich said Krebs was sorely missed.

“If he’s out there, it’s a whole different game,” Medigovich said.

University City forward Ray Hooper, who had a team-high 19 points, said trying to contain Meek was a helpless feeling.

“He was tough,” Hooper said. “He was just physically dominating. There’s not much you can do when you’ve got three 6-4 guys.”

The three 6-4 guys did a respectable job on Meek in the first quarter, holding him to eight points. Meanwhile, Hooper was scoring eight points of his own as San Pasqual led, 16-11.

San Pasqual’s zone neutralized Hooper in the second quarter. But Mitch Charlens and Barry Waits combined for three three-pointers in the quarter to keep University City within seven, 35-28.

But University City’s outside shooting went cold in the third quarter, and Meek was just heating up. He scored San Pasqual’s first seven points of the quarter. Then the San Pasqual guards, who were 2 for 10 from three-point range in the first half, started finding the range. David Durst and David Prieto hit back-to-back threes, and suddenly it was 48-36 with 3:21 left in the third quarter.

Universiy City never got closer than nine after that.