HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Inside Game Prevails for Poway

The centerpieces for two of the best teams in the San Diego Section faced off Wednesday night in the Palomar League opener.

Kyle Milling of fourth-ranked Poway and Chris Miller of seventh-ranked Fallbrook turned in their expected performances, but it was a missing piece that contributed to Poway’s 56-44 victory.

Milling scored his 16 points and Miller his 22. But the lack of someone to match up defensively against of Milling, a 6-foot-7 senior bound for UC Santa Barbara, exposed a weakness that might hurt Fallbrook against its other league opponents--three of them in the top 10. It lacks a dominant big man.

“We don’t have much inside,” Fallbrook Coach Russ Keith conceded. “We’re relying on (Steve) Pack and Miller to score from the outside. (Poway has) an inside and an outside attack.”

And that mismatch was compounded after Miller (6-4) and center John Dutton (6-4) got into foul trouble.

Fallbrook (10-3) spent the night trying to deny Milling the ball and did a competent job as Dutton hung tough. Fallbrook trailed only 27-22 at halftime and 34-30 with 4:13 left in the third quarter. But Miller got two fouls in a 35-second span and was on the bench with almost four minutes to play in the third. Brandon Phillips’ basket cut the deficit to 34-32, but Miller was back in the game before the quarter ended with Poway six points into a 20-6 run.

Miller wasn’t the only one in foul trouble; Dutton (two points) had picked up his third foul in the second quarter, along with Chad Lemons (no points), who fouled out with 4:30 left in the game.

“We were working so hard (to combat Milling) it created some foul trouble, and then we got a little worn down,” Keith said.

With Miller and Dutton less active on defense, Poway exploited the middle with Milling and Brian Nietz (17 points), who also had a hot hand from the 10- to 15-foot range.

Milling and Nietz finished with 11 rebounds apiece.

“Nietz surprised us from the outside,” Keith said. “He hurt us.”

Todd Fortney added 10 points for Poway (12-3), which won for the ninth time in 10 games. The only other Fallbrook player with more than six points was Pack (12).

Fallbrook’s six-game winning streak was snapped.

Elsewhere in the Palomar League:

Torrey Pines 73, San Dieguito 53--Torrey Pines led by only four points, 28-24, at halftime, but John Allred and Scot Pollard scored 24 of their 38 points in the second half to give the second-ranked Falcons (10-3, 1-0) an easy victory. Pollard finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Allred had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Craig Vilhauer led San Dieguito (7-6, 0-1) with 20 points, 15 of them came on three-pointers. David Demian added four three-pointers and 16 points for San Dieguito, which was outrebounded, 42-16.

Mt. Carmel 53, Rancho Buena Vista 50--Dan Kirby hit a three-pointer with one second left to give Mt. Carmel (8-4, 1-0) the victory. The Sundevils had blown a 50-42 lead with 1:32 remaining. Abe Ajilouny’s jumper tied it at 50 with 24 seconds left. Ajilouny led RBV (7-7, 0-1) with 12 points, Evan Osmundson had 11. Jason Sammons had 20 points to lead Mt. Carmel.

Avocado League

Rancho Bernardo 74, Ramona 58--Rancho Bernardo center Kirk Hipple scored 18 of 24 points in the first half, while Ramona center Rusty Hoss sat on the bench with four fouls and two points. Rancho Bernardo (8-4, 1-0), which also got 16 points from Mike Ruff and David Santos, led 42-26 at halftime and was never threatened. Cody Cunningham led Ramona (4-5, 0-1) with 19 points, Brian Scott had 13 and Hoss finished with nine.

San Pasqual 56, Oceanside 54--San Pasqual (4-8, 1-0) trailed the entire game until Billy Geddes’ 15-foot jumper gave the Eagles a 53-52 lead with 2:51 left. Ernie Silva, who led San Pasqual with 14 points, iced the game with three free throws. Carl Mathis led Oceanside (4-7, 0-1) with 15 points, but scored only two in the fourth quarter. Shad Halbert added 13 points and Joe Saleve’a had 12 points and six rebounds for the Pirates.

Carlsbad 73, San Marcos 42--San Marcos (3-6, 0-1) trailed by 14 early in the fourth, but ninth-ranked Carlsbad went on a 12-0 run to put it away. David Kozlowski led Carlsbad (7-6, 1-0) with 16 points, Kewan Shariff had 14 and Andy Reed added 11. Chad Nelson and Eric Holt had four steals each for the Lancers. Brian Baum led San Marcos with 12 points.

El Camino 80, Escondido 59--No. 1 El Camino (8-4, 1-0) lived up to its ranking by opening league play with a blowout. The Wildcats had 33 rebounds (six each by Bryant Westbrook and Clarence Martin), and 13 steals (four by Westbrook). Four Wildcat players scored in double figures: Chris Dade, 17; Sky Harrison, 18; Westbrook, 16, and Mike Booker, 10. Escondido fell to 5-5, 0-1.

Metro Conference

Bonita Vista 76, Castle Park 61--Bonita Vista (6-7, 1-0) used superior depth and wore down Castle Park (5-6, 1-1) in the fourth quarter, stretching what was a five-point lead at the start of the quarter to 15 by game’s end.

Gerald Rhoden led Bonita with 21, teammate Frank Peralta added 17 and center Chas Abbott had 15.

Castle Park forward Bob Stanton led all scorers with 29.

Chula Vista 67, Montgomery 51--Chula Vista guard Jerome Green matched his season average of 26 points, 12 coming on three-pointers. Point guard LaMar Bailey scored only two points, but he passed for seven assists. Also for Chula Vista (8-6, 1-0), Alberto Marzan scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds, and Andy Druan scored nine and grabbed 13 rebounds. For Montgomery (3-9. 0-2), Ray Lozano finished with 19 points and seven rebounds and teammate Tom Conner added 17.

Southwest 73, Hilltop 59--Forward Felix Estrada scored 20 for Southwest (5-6, 1-0), teammate Tony Diaz had 19 and Dewayne McBride 14. Center Jason Sondels led Hilltop (1-11, 0-2) with 12.

Sweetwater 47, Mar Vista 44--Lenny Ray Smith had nine rebounds and Tom Keough threw in 13 points for Sweetwater (4-10, 2-0).

Madison Madhouse Cage Classic

Kearny 65, Morse 59--Kearny trailed, 52-50, when Ali Nayab and Demetrius Brown hit back-to-back three pointers to give fifth-ranked Kearny (13-1) a lead it never relinquished. Nayab finished with 18 points, 10 assists and seven steals, Brown had 16 points and Damion Victor added 15 points. Byron Steele and Maurice Vickers led eighth-ranked Morse (10-3) with 15 points.

Madison 71, Clairemont 53--Matt Baker led Madison (8-6) with 24 points and Donnie Collins had 17 points and eight rebounds. John Brady led Clairemont (4-5) with 23 points and Rahsaan Brown added 16.