BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROUNDUP : Carlsbad Continues Winning Streak Under Interim Coach

Tom Jarrard, Carlsbad’s interim head coach, said he’s just along for the ride. But so far it’s been a pretty smooth one. Jarrard remained unbeaten as a varsity head coach as he watched his team beat Rancho Bernardo, 71-60, Friday night and take over sole possession of first place in the Avocado League.

The fifth-ranked Lancers raised their league record and Jarrard’s record to 4-0 with the victory. Rancho Bernardo fell to 10-5 and 3-1.

Jarrard took over for John Nelson, who is on leave while being investigated by Carlsbad police for an alleged off-campus incident involving a female student last October.

“This is Coach Nelson’s team,” Jarrard said. “No matter what’s going on, it’s his team.”

Jarrard said four senior starters have helped soften the blow of losing Nelson.

“They could almost play with no coach, they’ve been playing together so long,” he said.

The seniors, Chad Nelson, David Kozlowski, Toby Tollack and Andy Reed, scored 22 of Carlsbad’s 31 points in the fourth quarter.

Rancho Bernardo trailed almost the entire game, but took a 45-43 lead heading into the fourth quarter with Bronco center Kirk Hipple doing most of the damage. Hipple scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the quarter, mostly on layups.

But Hipple stopped getting the ball when Nelson and Kozlowski began to pressure Rancho Bernardo guards Ed Cox, John Cella and Bill McMahon into four fourth-quarter turnovers.

Carlsbad took advantage of Rancho Bernardo’s shoddy ball-handling to go on a 13-4 run that gave the Lancers a 62-53 lead with 1:40 remaining.

Hipple scored six points in the quarter.

“He’s a great player,” Nelson said. “He’s really strong and smart and he’s tough to stop. We knew we had to keep it away from him.”

Said Rancho Bernardo Coach Chris Carter: “We tried to get it inside all the time. But with Carlsbad’s tenacity, it’s tough to do.”

Carlsbad center Toby Tollack helped neutralize Hipple with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Reed finished with 10, eight in the fourth quarter. Kozlowski had six of his eight points in the last quarter.

Chad Nelson had 18 points, including a three-pointer that broke a 49-49 tie with 6:10 left. Rancho Bernardo never could regain the lead after that.

Nelson said the team has somehow been able to deal with the adversity of losing their coach.

“You have to block it out,” he said. “We’re just so involved in the game.

“But it’s been really tough to do. We’ll go out and play and block it out. But we think of him after the game.”