Valhalla wins; Helix, Christian fall

By Ramon Scott
Updated: January 13, 2019

2019 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

EL CAJON – The Valhalla Norsemen picked up the pieces after Friday night’s upset loss at Granite Hills by throttling the visiting Lancers, 73-49.

The Norsemen got off to a sluggish start, trailing 6-3 early when senior EVAN O’NEILL canned a three-pointer.

A couple of minutes later, senior JORDAN GAINES got out on the break for a hoop to give Valhalla a 10-9 lead.

With under three minutes to go in the first, sophomore VENCEL YOUSIF knocked down a three-pointer and suddenly Valhalla’s lead was 20-11.

With a little more than a minute-and-a-half to go before halftime, O’Neill fired a pass ahead to Gaines for a fastbreak to make it 34-25 Norsemen.

In the second half, Valhalla pulled away with a 14-0 run.

Sophomore JOE AVALOS knocked down a three-ball to make it 45-33, then O’Nelll buried a triple for a 15-point lead with 3:18 left in the third quarter.

Senior DOMANIC SAFARTA, who scored 21 points and had 10 assists, added to the run with a three-pointer, followed by a scooping layup off the glass for a 20-point cushion.

O’Neill finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Freshman MARCEL KALASHO added seven points.

Avalos and Yousif both chipped in with six points.

Valhalla has a big Grossmont Valley League game on tap when it visitings El Capitan on Tuesday at 6.

SERRA 55, HELIX 52 (OT) – The Highlanders outscored the Conquistadors 13-5 in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 45-all and force overtime.

Serra got off to a fast start, outscoring Helix 21-16 in the opening quarter. The Scotties trailed by four at halftime.

Helix junior MAURICE HOLMES had 20 points, 14 of which came in the first half.

Scottie junior KEISHAWN TRICE added 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter.

Sophomore KAI JESSIE had a trio of three-pointers to finish with nine points for the Highlanders.

Helix (11-8) is at Steele Canyon on Tuesday at 6.

ST. FRANCIS 72, CHRISTIAN 56 – The Patriots dropped a decision at the L.A. Court Report Shootout to the 60th-ranked team in the state.

Christian High made things difficult for itself with a series of missed layups in the opening quarter, in which it was outscored 23-17.

The Golden Knights led 31-22 with 2:30 to go before halftime, as the Patriots added a three-pointer for the only score for the remainder of the quarter to trailed by just six at intermission.

However, St. Francis, out of La Canada, put up a 22-13 edge in the third quarter.

The Patriots (9-10) will host the Mission Bay Bucs (9-8) and Duke-bound senior Boogie Ellis on Tuesday at 5:15 in a Western League tilt.

EastCountySports.com