Monday: Anything but rainy
with trio of GHL barnburners

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (1-31-12) — As a rule, Monday night basketball tends to be a dud around San Diego County.

On this particular Monday (Jan. 30), however, the majority of games in East County took on Friday Night Lights-like excitement.

Case in point was Valhalla’s 62-61 Grossmont Hills League triumph over visiting Steele Canyon.

“The atmosphere in here tonight felt like a Friday night game,” Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON said. “The crowd was raucous on both sides. These kids all know each other. Every year... every game... it is becoming more of an intense rivalry.”

“For a Monday game this was an awesome crowd,” added Valhalla guard SPENCER HAVIRD, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second quarter that gave Valhalla a 20-18 halftime edge.

Oh but no lead was safe in this game. Valhalla (7-14, 2-2 GHL) once led by as much as 10 points in the first half. Steele Canyon (9-12, 1-3) fought back to gain a 47-41 edge in the opening seconds of the fourth period.

A bucket by the Norsemen’s TAYLOR HAMMET followed by a five-point scoring spree from ANDREW LOZOYA (yes, he’s related to Santana’s LANDON LOZOYA) eventually tied the game at 48-48.

“I was just going and going, trying to contribute in any way I could,” Lozoya said. “This was a big win for us. We beat them with hustle plays.”

JUSTIN NORWOOD gave the Cougars a 50-48 edge by tallying two of the 8 points he recorded in the 4th quarter. Lozoya countered to bring the count even again.

Valhalla eventually grabbed the lead for keeps when KEVIN MILLS converted an and-one to stake the Norsemen to a 53-52 advantage with 4:18 remaining.

Lozoya then buried a three and MATT BUTCHER followed with a deuce extending the Valhalla advantage to six points.

However, the Cougars kept clawing back and closed to a single point when Norwood nailed two free throws to slice the deficit to 60-59 with 1:38 left.

Butcher then came back with a major tip-in giving Valhalla a three-point edge.

Once again Steele Canyon hollered back on a MICHAEL JORDAN basket leaving the game up for grabs with less than a minute remaining.

Valhalla missed back-to-back free throws and that would create two more scoring chances for Steele Canyon to steal a victory in the final 23.3 seconds.

“It’s been a tough ride for us this season... we’ve had several games like this,” Jackson said.

The Valhalla coach had to wince when Jordan missed a layup with seven seconds remaining. Then it was CASEY BALIKIAN’s turn to be a hero, but his 12-footer from straight out missed its mark.

CHRIS SHIELDS speared Balikian’s miss and dribbled the length of the court as time ran out.

“We’ve worked hard in all four of our league games and could easily be 3-1 at this point,” Havird said. “But we’ll take 2-2 at the moment, knowing that we can make a run for this (league) thing.”

Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS was greatly disappointed.

“We made too many mistakes to expect to win a game like this,” he said. “I don’t know how many layups we had miss the mark and free throw shooting wasn’t there when we needed it.”

Steele Canyon: Michael Jordan 15 (9 reb), Justin Norwood 15 (6 reb, 1 stl, 2 stl, 1 blk), Dylan Kirchoffer 13 (2 reb, 3 stl, 1 ast), Casey Balikian 7 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Daniel King 5 (9 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Cody Wells 3 (3 ast, 1 reb, 2 stl), Tyler Gulino-Jones 3, PJ Russell (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

Valhalla: Andrew Lozoya 19 (4 stl, 2 ast, 2 reb), Spencer Havird 15 (4 ast, 2 reb, 3 stl), Kevin Mills 8 (3 ast, 1 stl), Matt Butcher 6 (5 reb, 1 stl), Chris Shields 4 (2 reb), Taylor Hammet 4 (1 reb, 2 blk), Amil Hermiz 2 (5 ast, 3 reb, 2 stl), David Gazelle 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), A.J. Allen 2 (1 ast, 1 stl), Patrick Flippo (2 reb, 1 stl).

Storming between defenders is Tyson Kyger of El Capitan. For Santana are James Doherty (24) and Andy Miller. The Vaqueros won, 53-35. (Photo by Leslie Autry)

More GHL photo finishes

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (01-31-12) — The Grossmont Hills League race is shaping up to be an exciting finish this year when all is said and done.

Coming off a 14-point win against over rival Helix it appeared Grossmont (11-9, 4-0) wouldn't have too much trouble facing off against a West Hills squad (10-10, 202 GHL) that lost to the Highlanders by 28 points just 10 days prior to Monday (Jan. 30) night's match up in Santee .

That's why most of the time you can throw out the record books when it comes to comparing scores.

West Hills staked its claim by taking the Foothillers down to the very last shot, but was eventually defeated 42-40 to fall two games out of first place.

The Wolf Pack came out pressing in the first half and after creating several Hillers' turnovers they started to smell blood and claimed a 25-14 lead at the break.

Grossmont senior ROBBY NESOVIC came into the game ranked in the top-5 among East County scoring leaders averaging 17.8 points a game, but was held scoreless in the first half.

“We weren't really focused early on and we came out with a lot more intensity,” he said after sparking an 8-0 run to begin the second half with a pair of steals to cut the lead to three points.

“It took us awhile to figure out their defense,” head coach FRANK FOGGIANO admitted. “They were pretty scrappy and they extended their zone and it took us a while to come up with a plan.”

Turns out Nesovic scored all 16 of his game-high points in the second half while nailing 8-of -9 free throws.

His only miss of the night gave the Pack one last chance to force overtime, but the shot went off the front of the rim and Nesovic grabbed it to seal the victory.

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 16 (15 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Derek Rustich 15 (15 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Austin Swisher 4 (1 reb, 1 stl), Christian Meno 4 (1 reb), Bilal Rahim 2 (5 reb), JT Barnes 1 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Jake Herrod (1 reb)

West Hills: Nick Findley 11, Jeron Satterfield 10 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 4 blk), Jonny Preston 8 (3 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Alex Parsons 6 ( 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Williams 5 (1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Joey Clark (4 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kevin Straub (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Daniel Lewis (2 reb).

— Andrew Smith

HELIX 49, GRANITE HILLS 45 – This game was the epitome of Monday’s (Jan. 30) Grossmont Hills League action. All three games were decided by 4 points or less.

“I think that loss to Grossmont (last Friday) really rocked us,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER said. “And then when you think we are following that with a weekday road game things aren’t looking all that good.”

“I feel like we had hit a stone wall. There is nobody great in this league, but by the same token anybody can win on a given night.”

The Highlanders used an 11-4 third quarter run to break a 24-24 tie at Granite Hills (9-12, 0-4).

“We were tied with three minutes remaining,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “But our offense stalled and they hit a couple of shots . . . another tough loss.”

Helix (11-8, 2-1 GHL) used a balanced attack paced by BRIAN VALADEZ’s 13 points, 15 rebounds and 6 assists. But Singer heaped accolades on other members of his cast.

“KAELAN MITCHELL made a lot of key shots for us,” Singer said. Mitchell, a junior guard connected on 5 of 12 shots from the field for 10 points.

Playing without its hottest scorer – NATE JETER who suffered a broken hand in practice last week – the Eagles rode the strength of 6-foot-9 post man SCOTT ATKINSON for 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks.

“We are hoping to have Jeter back by this week,” Anderson said. “He has a decent range of motion and the pain isn’t too bad, but he has to be cleared by his doctor.”

Helix: Brian Valadez 13 (15 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Kaelan Mitchell 10 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Kene Anigbogu 8 (5 reb, 4 stl), Titus Young 8 (4 reb, (2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Michael Todd 5 (3 ast, 3 stl), Romario Wilson 3 (3 reb, 3 stl, 2 blk), Will Mildenhall 2 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Cameron Lee (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk).

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 16 (14 reb, 6 blk), Stephen Keppel 9 (10 reb, 1 blk),

Danny Densel 6 (1 stl), Koltin Higgins 6, D.J. Palomero 5 (3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Kyle Pierson 3 (7 reb).

MOUNT MIGUEL 66, EL CAJON VALLEY 60 – There are all kinds of thinking concerning why the Matadors pulled a narrow Grossmont Valley League escape in dodging an upset Monday night (Jan. 30) at El Cajon Valley .

Most obvious is No. 9-ranked Mount Miguel (19-3, 3-0 GVL) played without senior point guard MARCUS BOOKER. That clearly is a handicap, but Mount Miguel managed to post its 12th win in 14 starts.

IZZY WAGNER poured in a season high 33 points to pace the Matadors. The junior guard landed 12 of 13 free throws.

“We missed 17 free throws tonight and 14 against Santana – 31 in the last two games,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT. “We have got to get that fixed.”

Booker is ill and did not play “but he’ll be ready by Wednesday (when the Matadors face Monte Vista),” said Rowlett.

“This is the second game in a row that we played enough to win the game. When one player on their team gets 36 points (ANDRE NIKITA) it’s bad team defense on our part. We suffered with lack of focus.”

El Cajon Valley (7-11, 0-3 GVL) suffered its 11 straight loss.

“We made some minor setbacks that killed us. We did a box-and-1 on Izzy, who still got 33 points but JEREMIAH PATTON set the table tonight,” El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS said. “I always say when Jeremiah sets the table, we eat. He face-guarded Izzy all night. Izzy killed us in the first quarter with 14 points but we held him to 3 points in the second quarter, 8 points in the third quarter and 6 points in the fourth. When we put Jeremiah on him he didn’t score in double digits.”

Not to be overlooked were the 36 points and 16 rebounds of El Cajon Valley ’s Nikita.

“I’m very excited about tonight. We closed to within one point in the third quarter. I can imagine people waking up tomorrow and say, ‘damn, how did El Cajon Valley lose by 6 points to Mount Miguel ?’

“They’re a ranked team; I’m not ranked. But we came out ready tonight. I don’t have any returners, these are all new kids.”

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 33 (4 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Thomas Butler 18 (8 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Cory Littleton 7 (10 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Marcellus Jones 4 (2 ast, 1 stl), Malcolm Jackson 2 (4 reb), Jaz Woodard 1 (3 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills 1 (1 reb, 1 ast).

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikita 36 (16 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Derrick Moore 10 (12 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl), Edon Lushi 7 (3 reb, 1 stl), Deon Kelly 4 (7 reb, 1 ast), Ibraham Ali 3 (1 reb), Deshe Tibbs (6 reb), Jeremiah Patton (1 reb).

EL CAPITAN 53, SANTANA 35 – After losing five of its previous six starts, El Capitan (16-8, 2-2 GVL) posted a tidy victory over visiting Santana on Monday (Jan. 30) in a Grossmont Valley League contest.

Perhaps Santana coach TIM BARRY should apply for an EMT job, as two more of his players from an already depleted staff were lost to injuries.

JASON CORBISEZ suffered an ankle injury while playing a pick-up game in the park.

“It swelled up so much it looked like a grapefruit,” Barry said. “I don’t know when or if we’ll get him back.”

Santana’s A.J. BRATLIEN was assigned to shadow El Capitan scoring machine TYSON KYGAR, but two minutes into the assignment he suffered a dislocated finger and had to be taken to the hospital.

And so has the season gone for Tim Barry’s Sultans (4-13, 0-3 GVL). Barry has almost lost count of how many players have fallen by the wayside since last summer.

El Capitan took advantage of the Sultans’ short-handedness as Kygar popped in 17, KAMERON BROWN added 11 points and 14 rebounds, and AUSTIN BETTS pitched in 10 points.

“We know that every team we play is going to design a special defense trying to stop Kygar,” said Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS. “Santana used a box-and-1, but he still made 5 of 10 shots from the field including one trey and 6 of 8 free throws.

“Tyson knows what’s going on,” Cavazos added. “He’s not getting the shots he usually gets but he’s doing a great job of creating opportunities for our other guys to score.”But the cornerstone of El Cap’s latest victory was Brown, who hammered down a double-double of 11 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Betts added 10 points and 4 rebounds for the Vaqueros.

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 17 (8 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 1 stl), Kameron Brown 11 (14 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk, 1 stl), Austin Betts 10 (4 reb), Scott Root 4 (6 reb), Justin Phoenix 4 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Scott Ross 4 (4 reb, 1 stl), Nestor Ramirez 2 (4 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Travis Hulsey 1 (1 reb, 1 stl), Dillon Rettig (1 stl).

Santana: Christian Barry 10 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), David Albright 8 (3 reb, 1 ast), Ryan Bratlien 8 (1 reb, 1 stl), Mike Rosolino 5 (3 reb, 1 ast), Daniel Levens-Lowery 4 (6 reb, 1 stl), James Doherty (4 reb), Andy Miller (1 blk).

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 2, OCEAN VIEW CHRISTIAN 0 (forfeit) – Although these Sunset League teams never reached the court as scheduled on Tuesday (Jan. 31), the circuit-leading Knights (11-9, 6-0) stretched their league winning streak to 48 in a row through a forfeit.

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (01-29-12) — In record-tying fashion, Foothills Christian High turned to the long ball Saturday (Jan. 28) to clobber Calvary Christian Academy, 87-55, in a Sunset League romp at Granite Hills High.

DALTON MOSSER led the charge for the Knights (10-9, 5-0 SL) with 34 points. He canned 6 of 9 from three-point range and hit 12 of 23 overall. He was also 4-for-5 from the free throw line and hauled down 12 rebounds. In his last two games Mosser has produced 78 points.

As a team Foothills netted 10 of 16 from long distance to take a 42-18 lead by halftime against the Royal Knights (13-4, 3-2 SL).

Overall, Foothills Christian nailed 15 of 26 from beyond the arc (58 percent), matching a school mark set against Christian in January 2006.

CALEB HOFFMAN also came up big with 23 points, which included sinking 4 of 8 threes in the Knights’ 47th consecutive league victory.

Four of NICK LOUDON’s five shots were converted into 3-point buckets.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 34 (12 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Caleb Hoffman 23 (6 ast, 3 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Nick Loudon 12 (1 reb), Andre Johnson 10 (9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Joe Buenrestro 8 (3 ast, 2 stl, 1 reb).

SERRA 64, EL CAJON VALLEY 52 – The Conquistadors' Calvin Crockett scored 26 points, while Izik Ruffin added 22 to take Saturday's (Jan. 28) non-league game at ECVHS.

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikita 20 (11 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Edon Lushi 17 (5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Deon Kelly 4 (6 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Derrick Moore 3 (6 reb, 2 blk), Laqman Sulyman 3, Brenden Brocious 3, Deshe Tibbs 2 (5 reb, 2 stl), Ibraham Ali (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Jeremiah Patton (3 reb, 1 stl).

Grossmont Conference scoring leader Tyson Kygar of El Capitan drives the lane. (Photo by Leslie Autry) ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Monarchs register birdie at El Cap By Nick Pellegrino © East County Sports.com LAKESIDE (1-28-12) — The PGA professional golf tour is at Torrey Pines this week, bringing a reminder to an old adage, "Drive for show, but putt for dough." Monte Vista High nearly learned that lesson the hard way during Friday's (Jan. 27) Grossmont Valley League basketball game. The Monarchs' "drive" saw them mount a double-digit lead in the first quarter, but when the Vaqueros rallied to move in front early in the fourth period, Monte Vista stiffened its defense to eventually take the dough, 63-55, at Foster Gymnasium. Leading the way was REUBEN NWANDO, who was instrumental in both efforts. The senior tallied eight of his 14 points in the opening period, helping surge to a 24-12 advantage. But when the Vaqueros finally came back to grab a 46-45 lead in the opening moments of the final period, Nwando came up with a pair of steals to ignite an 11-3 run to keep the Monarchs (16-6 overall, 3-0 GVL) undefeated in league play. "We needed to step up our game after giving up a big lead," said Nwando. "That means we had to start thinking out there and not just play the game. We played with a purpose." Strategically, Monte Vista defended the 3-point line, then collapsed inside should El Capitan penetrate into the paint. Thus after the Vaqueros finally secured the lead with 7:15 remaining, they would only score once more – a 3-point shot – until the clock clicked down to 1:07 remaining. Nwando and K.J. HOUSTON (19 points) each poured in eight points in the opening minutes, but the consistent scoring of JAMES JACKSON (a team-best 22 points) kept Monte Vista in front for all but 16 seconds of the ballgame. Nwanda converted a pair of foul shots to reclaim the lead, then a Houston steal and forward pass led to a breakaway layin by XAVIER DANIELS. The Vaqueros (15-8, 1-2 GVL) inched back behind a game-high 23 points by AUSTIN BETTS, while TYSON KYGAR added 15 points. However, only three field goals (one at the final buzzer) and 4-for-9 foul shooting in the final period doomed El Cap. “We started off well, up 31-15 at one point in second quarter, but then lost our defensive intensity,” said Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL. “I told my kids El Cap would not give up and they would play hard. They did and eventually took the lead in the fourth. I was happy we came back and finished strong and got the win, tough game.” “KJ HOUSTON played really well, hitting some big shots and XAVIER DANIELS played good defense on Kygar. We have a lot of work ahead of us if we are going to compete with Mount Miguel next week.” Monte Vista: James Jackson 22 (16 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), K.J. Houston 19 (3 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk), Reuben Nwando 14 (10 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Xavier Daniels 4 (5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Devin Rendo 4 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk). El Capitan: Austin Betts 23 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Tyson Kygar 15 (3 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), Adam Jacob 9 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Nestor Ramirez 4 (1 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Kameron Brown 4 (9 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk).

Wolf Pack find the desired degree By Andrew Smith © East County Sports.com SANTEE (1-28-12) — It was exactly the type of game the crowd expected to see while standing in line to purchase tickets for Friday’s (Jan. 27) Grossmont Hills League showdown between evenly matched teams. When Steele Canyon made the trip out to West Hills, it was for a contest known as a “separation” game. The winner rises in the standings just a game out of first place, while the other has to scratch and claw its way back into league title contention. The match-up provided five ties and 13 lead changes, but it was the Wolf Pack that eventually nipped the Cougars, 56-53, thanks to clutch foul shooting and some newfound confidence. In the first half, the Wolf Pack (10-9, 2-1 GHL) was plagued by turnovers as it had 15 at the break, but thanks to 64 percent shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, trailed only by one point at the break. The Pack pounced on the Cougars in the third quarter causing seven turnovers and holding them to only four points in the period as they closed it out with a crucial 9-0 run. After KEVIN STRAUB started the run off by nailing a trey on a dish from JONNY PRESTON, West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG wasn't surprised at all. “We're good for about one or two of those a game,” he said. “These kids are finally starting to believe and get some confidence and it's really showing now.” Faced with the biggest deficit either team saw all night at seven points, the Cougars (9-11, 1-2 GHL) came roaring back to make it a game late. They went off for 21 points in the final stanza with P.J. RUSSELL controlling the boards with four of his game-high 9 rebounds as CODY WELLS attacked the rim time-after-time, converting three easy layups. The Cougars’ MICHAEL JORDAN excelled, but his presence late in the game was on the defensive side as he was given the role of stopping Preston , who was the game high-scorer with 19 points on 5-of-6 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the line. “They definitely played some tough defense on us tonight,” Preston said. “It feels great to have this kind of win because our chemistry is growing and now it's starting to show in the win column.” Preston calmly sank 7-of-9 freebies late in the game to finally seal the deal and proclaimed he was completely unrattled by the situation. “I wasn't really thinking about anything before I shot,” he said. “Right before I let go all I could hear was swish.” “I'm not surprised one bit because he's a heck of a player,” Straub said of his teammate. “It was a great team win for us because everyone pitched in one way or another.” The Cougars had one last attempt to force the game into overtime but having seen CASEY BALIKIAN already nail three big shots from downtown their defense squarely focused on him in their timeout huddle with only eight seconds left on the clock. “They did a great job guarding me on that last shot,” Balikian said. “I think they knew it was coming to me since I had been shooting the ball good. I thought it had a shot to go in, but I got it off unbalanced with all that pressure and it just didn't fall.” Steele Canyon: Cody Wells 12 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Casey Balikian 9 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Michael Jordan 9 (6 reb, 3 stl), P.J. Russell 8 (9 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Dylan Kirchhofer 8 (5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Justin Norwood 4 (1 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Danny Bwinika 2, Tyler Gulino-Jones 1 (1 reb, 1 stl), Daniel King (2 reb, 1 stl). West Hills: Jonny Preston 19 (4 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Nick Findley 11 (2 reb), Kevin Straub 10 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Will Llamas 4 (1 reb), Jeron Satterfield 3 (3 reb, 3 ast), Joey Clark 3 (1 reb, 1 stl), Alex Parsons 3 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Ryan Williams 2 (2 reb, 1 stl), D.J. Lewis 1 (2 reb, 3 stl), Kevin McLaughlin (1 reb).

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
LA MESA (1-28-12) — JAKE HERROD, who resembles a popular young pop star that his teammates never let him forget, helped the Foothillers defeat Helix, 59-45, in Friday (Jan. 27) night’s Grossmont Hills League contest at Helix.

A 5-foot-8 junior guard, Herrod landed three consecutive triples in the fourth quarter to enable the Foothillers (10-9, 3-0 GHL) to hold off the Highlanders in the battle for the GHL lead.

Grossmont's Derek Rustich registered a double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds to whip arch-rival Helix. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

“All I can say is I got great assists from (ROBBY) NESOVIC and (DEREK) RUSTICH,” said Herrod.

Not many players are more humble than Herrod, who was scoreless through the first three periods, missing his only two shots.

With his teammates trying to help him handle the interview, Herrod said, “They call me Great Jake.”

Grossmont crunched Helix on the boards 52-34. DEREK RUSTICH grabbed 16 rebounds to go with 14 points for the Hillers, while BILAL RAHIM bagged 17 boards to go along with 9 points.

“I guess the biggest thing about this game is it gives us the league lead at the moment,” said Nesovic. “No question this is a tough place to win, but we always get great crowd support – home and away – and that was the case tonight.”

The packed house was rocking all night, starting with The Star Spangled Banner when the two student rooting sections began the competition by trying to out-sing each other. The chorale output was impressive as everyone seemed to know the words, as nowadays is not always the case.

“I think the first couple of 3-pointers by Jake in the fourth quarter were the turning point,” Nesovic noted of the buckets that gave Grossmont a 51-38 lead.

Nesovic finished with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while Rustich added 14 points and 16 boards. Rahim was a beast on the boards, pulling down 17 rebounds.

“We did a good job of getting the ball inside,” said Foothillers coach FRANK FOGGIANO.

Grossmont zipped to a 15-0 first-quarter lead.

“We played about as good as we can in that first quarter,” Foggiano said.

TITUS YOUNG led the Highlanders with 14 points, 5 assists and 4 steals, while BRIAN VALADEZ punched in 13 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and dished 5 assists. MICHAEL TODD contributed 10 points for Helix, ROMARIO WILSON pulled down 10 rebounds.

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 15 (9 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Derek Rustich 14 (16 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Bilal Rahim 9 (17 reb, 2 ast), Jake Herrod 9 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Austin Swisher 6 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), J.T. Barnes 6 (3 reb, 1 stl).

Helix: Titus Young 14 (3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Brian Valadez 13 (9 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Michael Todd 10 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Romario Wilson 6 (10 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk), Kene Anibogu 2 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Derrick Chandler (3 reb, 1 stl), Kaelan Mitchell (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Isaac Randall (1 reb, 1 stl).

VALHALLA 53, GRANITE HILLS 51 – The outcome in this Grossmont Hills League contest on Friday’s (Jan. 27) rolled down to the final seconds at Granite Hills.

The Norsemen (6-14, 1-2) had a chance to put this game away from the free throw line in the final seconds, but missed the front end of 1-and-1, then misfired on two more before KEVIN MILLS sank one of two, staking Valhalla to a 2-point edge with 8 seconds left.

Granite Hills (9-11, 0-3 GHL) received a basket by KOLTIN HIGGINS that would have won the game had it registered a second or two earlier.

“It was too late,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “Time had expired.”

Guard SPENCER HAVIRD turned in a brilliant performance for Valhalla with 18 points, 4-of-7 of three-point shooting, 17 deflections and 6 rebounds.

AMIL HERMIZ also came up big in the Valhalla backcourt with a dozen points and 7 steals.

“We forced 23 turnovers (17 steals) and generally did a good job defensively,” Valhalla coach KEITH JACKSON said. “Havird came up with big plays all night. Hermiz is deceptive quick and used that to his advantage.”

Granite Hills’ NATE JETER, one of the most improved players in East County , pumped in 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor and 6 of 11 from the charity stripe.

Valhalla: Spencer Havird 18 (6 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Amil Hermiz 12 (3 reb, 3 ast, 7 stl), Kevin Mills 6 (5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Andrew Lozoya 6 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), A.J. Allen 4 (6 reb, 2 stl), Chris Shields 2 (3 reb, 1 blk), Matt Butcher 2 (3 stl), David Gazelle 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Taylor Hammet (2 reb, 1 ast), Patrick Flippo 1 (1 reb).

Granite Hills: Nate Jeter 19 (5 reb, 1 stl), Scott Atkinson 11 (8 reb, 8 blk), Stephen Keppel 8 (5 reb, 2 ast), D.J. Palomera 6 (3 ast, 3 stl), Kyle Pierson 5 (1 ast, 1 stl), Koltin Higgins 2 (3 reb), Danny Densel (2 reb), Alonzo Beepath (1 reb).

MOUNT MIGUEL 58, SANTANA 50 – The Matadors’ surge toward the Grossmont Valley League title continued with Friday’s (Jan. 27) victory over host Santana.

Although the Matadors (18-3, 2-0 GVL) figure to deep-six El Cajon Valley on Monday (Jan. 30), the game of the week features Mount Miguel hosting Monte Vista for GVL supremacy on Wednesday (Feb. 1) at 6 p.m.

IZZY WAGNER led Mount Miguel’s balanced attack with 17 points, one more than THOMAS BUTLER against the Sultans.

CORY LITTLETON, who has a football scholarship to the University of Washington , was powerful in the paint with a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds for Mount Miguel.

“We were up 17 at one point in the fourth quarter,” Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT said. “Our strength tonight was we are bigger than them and Izzy made plays for himself and other people.”

Santana (4-12, 0-2 GVL) landed 10 three-pointers, four of them by JASON CORBISEZ.

“Santana had a lot of deep 3s with a hand in their faces,” Rowlett said. “They always shoot well at home when we play them.”

One thing that was impactive for the Matadors was their No. 1 guard MARCUS BOOKER missed the game due to illness. Yet, the Matadors were able to post their third straight win.

“We came into this game with a different approach,” Santana coach TIM BARRY said. “We ran our motion stuff really well. It’s like I told our kids we need to be extra patient.”

Santana trailed only 56-50 with a chance to cut the margin with two free throws with 52 seconds remaining. Both attempts missed the mark and thus it was game over.

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 17 (5 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Thomas Butler 16 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Cory Littleton 11 (14 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard 5 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), James Jackson 4 (8 reb), Tony Wills 3 (2 reb), Marcellus Jones 2 (1 stl).

Santana: Jason Corbisez 14, Christian Barry 10, A.J. Bratlien 9, Daniel Levens-Lowery 6, Mike Rosolino 6, Andy Miller 2, David Albright 3.

CHRISTIAN 70, MADISON 56 – So much for the “breathers” for Central League-leading Christian High.

As expected, the Patriots (12-5, 7-0 CTL) polished off visiting Madison Friday Night (Jan. 27) at the Ryan Athletic Center.

“These next two games are truly going to be challenging,” said Christian coach KELVIN STARR, referring to Wednesday’s (Feb. 1) home game against Coronado and at Kearny on Friday (Feb. 3).

The victory over Madison (7-13, 2-5 CTL) was not as close as the score indicates.

JASON GAINES paced the Patriots with 20 points on 8-for-13 shooting and four free throws to go along with 7 rebounds.

SHANE DILLON knocked down 15 points, bagged 8 boards and dished 5 assists.

Scoring the first 12 points of the 3rd quarter, the Patriots turned a 32-24 halftime lead into a blowout.

Christian: Jason Gaines 20 (7 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Shane Dillon 15 (8 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Stephen Johnston 10 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Phillip George 9 (5 reb), Jake Larsen 6 (6 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Stephen Rothrock 4, Joe Ross 2 (2 reb, 1 blk), Trent Sauls 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Michael LeTouzic 2 (2 reb, 1 stl), Tyler Ballard (1 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Colin Eckstein (1 reb, 1 ast).

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (1-26-12) — In a physical Central League battle, the host Christian High Patriots virtually had their collective hands raised as they edged visiting Point Loma, 51-48, on Wednesday (Jan. 25) at the Ryan Athletic Center, signifying that they had finished the first round of circuit play in first place.

But it was no time for celebration just yet as Point Loma is only one game back and Kearny is two down with six to play.

“We’re at a good place to be at 6-0 (in the Central League, with an 11-5 overall record),” said Patriots coach KELVIN STARR. “But it’s not going to be easy from here on out. Every game is going to be a challenge.”

In their latest outing it appeared that the Patriots were going to win in runaway fashion as they led the Pointers, 29-15, midway through the third quarter.

“This game should not have ended up as close as it did,” Starr said. “I thought we defended well all night, but we rushed things on offense and that hurt us.”

Point Loma (10-6, 5-1 CL) closed to within 40-39 early in the fourth quarter.

SHANE DILLON, who led the Patriots with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, nailed a bucket and followed with two free throws to expand the advantage to 44-39.

Point Loma kept pecking away, pecking away but the fact that Dillon scored 9 of his 18 points in the final period helped the Patriots prevail. TYLER BALLARD also hit a key 3-pointer in that quarter.

“This was a very physical game,” said Christian guard JAKE LARSEN who finished with 11 point. “Yeah, I got knocked on the floor a few times but that’s just part of the game. I’m not complaining.”

Larsen missed only one of his six shots from the field, which included a 3-pointer made.

“Our defense carried us,” he said. “In the second half we took smart shots and hit free throws.”

Dillon was king of the boards, which also helped give the Patriots an edge.

“There was nobody my height so I took it upon myself to negate any second shots for (Point Loma),” Dillon said. “We tried to make them put the ball on the ground and I think we did a pretty good job of it. I think we should have picked up a few more of the loose balls. Hopefully we’ll do that in the second round of league play.”

An unsung hero for the Patriots was TRENTON SAULS who came off the bench to sink 4 of 5 shots in the middle two quarters.

Christian: Shane Dillon 18 (13 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Jake Larsen 11 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Trenton Sauls 8 (3 reb, 1 stl), Jason Gaines 7 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Tyler Ballard 4 (1 reb, 1 ast), Phillip George 2 (2 reb, 2 ast), Stephen Johnston 1 (5 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl).

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (1-25-12) — DALTON MOSSER scored an East County high 44 points to lead Foothills Christian past San Diego Academy 88-70 in Tuesday’s (Jan. 24) Sunset League play at Mount Miguel.

Mosser nailed 15 of 31 shots from the field, including five 3s. He was 9-for-10 from the free throw line. The senior guard now sports an East County-leading 25.6 scoring average.

Only four Knights contributed to Foothills Christian’s scoring total against San Diego Academy (3-1, 11-4 SL).

CALEB HOFFMAN chipped in with 25 points, nailing 11 of 16 shots from the floor against the Cavaliers.

The Knights (9-9, 4-0 SL) shot 52.3 percent (33-of-63) from the field. Their totals included 11 3-pointers, 3 of them by RICKY ADAMS.

The victory extended the Knights’ league winning streak to 46 in a row. But that mark may be on the line come Saturday (Jan. 28) when Foothills Christian hosts Calvary Christian at 6 p.m. at Granite Hills.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 44 (5 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Caleb Hoffman 25 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Ricky Adams 11 (4 reb, 1 stl), Nick Loudon 8 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), A.J. Hoffman (6 reb, 3 stl).

By Andrew Smith
© East County Sports.com
OCEANSIDE (1-24-12) — Having lost seven straight contests after an impressive 7-1 start to their season, it looked like a winter storm was exactly what the doctor ordered to warm up El Cajon Valley Monday (Jan. 23) night.

Facing off against an Oceanside squad they had already matched up with for the title game of the Braves Classic just three weeks prior, El Cajon Valley came out on fire, but the ice cold weather eventually doused the flame as they succumbed to a 59-39 defeat.

Everything was falling in the first quarter for the Braves as they went 4-for-4 from downtown.

IBRAHIM ALI nailed a pair of treys. TERRENCE COLEMAN and LAQMAN SULYMAN knocked one down. ANDRE NIKITA even got fouled on the last play attempting one and they held an 18-16 lead when it was all done.

That was the last time their offense was seen all night.

Even head coach MARTY ELLIS was scratching his head afterwards.

“I don't even know what happened out there,” he said. “That's an answer that I wish I had because I'm speechless right now. If you don't bring energy, desire and heart on the defensive side of the ball, then offense doesn't even matter.”

Two points were posted in the second quarter and the Braves went through a 13-minute stretch only netting 5 points as they were suddenly down 20, thanks to poor shooting and turnovers.

“All these guys are first year guys,” Ellis stated. “What they need more than anything else it's just some quality practice time in the gym as a team.”

El Cajon Valley: Ibrahim Ali 12 (3 reb, 1 stl), Andre Nikita 9 (10 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Deon Kelly 3 (11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 3 blk), Edon Lushi 3 (2 reb, 1 ast), Terrence Coleman 3 (1 reb, 1 ast), Laqman Sulyman 3 (2 reb), Alex Jacinto 2 (4 reb, 1 stl), Derrick Moore 2 (2 reb), Cameron Miller 2 (1 reb), Jeremiah Patton (4 reb), Deshe Tibbs (1 stl, 1 blk).

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (1-22-12) — In another Sunset League mismatch Saturday (Jan. 21), Foothills Christian High clobbered Kuyper Prep, 102-24, at Granite Hills for its 45th consecutive league victory.

The Knights (8-9 overall, 3-0 SL) took a 29-3 first-quarter lead and extended the advantage to 91-8 after three periods.

Foothills Christian connected on 37 of 73 shots from the floor (51 percent), including 7 treys in the blowout. The Knights were near perfect from the foul line as well, knocking down 19 of 21 free throws.

Foothills Christian’s scoring total against Kuyper Prep ties for 5th-highest in school history and is only two points off the team record.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 25 (3 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl), Andre Johnson 22 (6 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Caleb Hoffman 21 (1 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Nick Loudon 12 (1 reb), Joe Buenrestro 9 (4 reb, 6 stl, 3 ast), Ricky Adams 7 (2 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Austin Mostrong 6 (5 reb, 1 ast), A.J. Hoffman (1 reb).

Talk to the hand

The block party at Steele Canyon finds Granite Hills' Scott Atkinson (50) resoundingly rejecting the effort of the Cougars' Casey Balikian (33). Later, Daniel King of Steele Canyon (21) returns the favor against the Eagles. Balikian later bombed a late 3-point goal to key Steele Canyon's 50-47 win. (Photos by Nathan Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS HERE

Matadors get defensive to take GVL opener By Nick Pellegrino © East County Sports.com SPRING VALLEY (1-21-12) — The strategy was simple for Mount Miguel to slow down East County scoring leader TYSON KYGAR of El Capitan. "MARCUS BOOKER did a real good job of ball-pressure on him," noted Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT. "And we had good help on Kygar – it was just real good team defense. Holding Kygar to single-digit scoring for only the second time all season, Mount Miguel opened its Grossmont Valley League slate by pulling away late for a 52-38 decision over the visiting Vaqueros. Kygar, who entered averaging 25.8 points per game with 100 treys to match his total from a year ago, was limited to nine points by West Hills earlier in the month. However, on Friday (Jan. 20), the senior sharp-shooter was confined to a season-low eight points. "We tried to body Kygar and make sure he doesn't get a lob or get any easy baskets," Booker explained. "We did a good job inside." "Basically, every one on El Capitan can shoot, so we pressured-up on them and kept them from getting easy 3s." Mount Miguel clung to a 21-20 advantage early in the second half before Matadors guard IZZY WAGNER took off. He tallied 15 of his game-best 23 points in the second half, mostly by gaining penetration to get to the foul line. However, the story was all about the defense for Wagner. "At practice, CORY LITTLETON dared Marcus Booker and me to hold Kygar (to) under double figures because he averages something like 26 points," noted Wagner, a junior. "So we pressured him a lot, especially Marcus, so now Cory owes us." "We're a second-half team with a lot of energy, especially after we get a pep talk from coach Rowlett. Our half-court defense was really great." Wagner collected eight points in the third period, converting three consecutive free throws after getting fouled at the buzzer to mount a 34-28 advantage. In the fourth period, THOMAS BUTLER and Booker blocked El Cap shots from within the paint in the opening minutes, so the Vaqueros attempted to rally by also shooting from beyond the arc. However 12 consecutive misses on the outside jumper doomed them, while Mount Miguel nailed 8 of its final 9 foul shots to pull away to the double-digit triumph. "We couldn't score in the first half -- we couldn't get any looks -- but we got some easy baskets and got to the foul line in the second half," added Rowlett. For El Capitan, only NESTOR RAMIREZ provided any offense in the second half, scoring nine of his team-best 11 points. KAMERON BROWN added 10 points. Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 23 (6 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Thomas Butler 11 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 8 (4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), Cory Littleton 7 (11 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Malcolm Jackson 1 (6 reb). El Capitan: Nestor Ramirez 11 (7 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Kameron Brown 10 (3 reb, 2 blk), Tyson Kygar 8 (3 reb, 3 ast), Austin Betts 7 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Travis Hulsey 2 (3 reb, 1 ast), Adam Jacob (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

The finger roll

Valhalla's Spencer Havird (right) goes over the top of Grossmont's Austin Swisher for the layin. (Photo by Don DeMars)

Son of Steele learns lessons well By Andrew Smith © East County Sports.com RANCHO SAN DIEGO (1-21-12) — Every weekend a father takes his son to a nearby court and helps him work on his basketball game, the main message he tries to install in his child is more mental than physical. “He calls them pressure free throws,” explained Steele Canyon’s CASEY BALIKIAN about the teachings of his father, former college coach BERNIE BALIKIAN. “Before every shot, he tells me those usually end up short, so I just focused on (preventing) that.” Balikian ended the night as the game's top-scorer with 20, but the junior wouldn't have even stepped to the line in that situation if it weren't for his own late heroics, as he buried a deep 3-pointer among his team's final four points Friday (Jan. 20) night to give Steele Canyon a 50-47 victory over Granite Hills. Trailing by one with 37.7 left on the clock, Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS called timeout with a certain idea in mind. “We ran the exact same play two possessions earlier and Casey missed the shot,” Stephens said of the plan. “I was confident he was gonna make the shot, so I called timeout and told them let's run it again. He had been shooting the ball well so I was just hoping he didn't miss and make me look like an idiot.” Balikian wound up pleasing his coach and teammates. “Everyone in the huddle had a lot of confidence in me and even coach during the timeout kept telling me 'you're gonna hit it, you're gonna hit it,'” Balikian recalled. “So once I got the ball I just let it fly,” Balikian said after nailing the game-winner with his fourth 3-pointer of the game. Luckily for coach Stephens he still had one lifeline to use before time expired. It was a nice turnaround following a first quarter that Steele Canyon would like to erase from their memory thanks to Granite Hills' 6-foot-9 center SCOTT ATKINSON, as almost every shot they attempted hit a firewall with access denied. Steele Canyon (9-10, 1-1 GHL) ended with only 6 points while Atkinson had already tallied 8 blocks on the night and went on to post an unusual double-double with 11 rebounds and 10 blocks. “I just need to focus on getting the ball back when I get on that kind of roll,” Atkinson admitted. “I kept rejecting them a couple times in a row, but it seemed like they just would eventually score.” Battered and bruised midway through the second quarter, the Cougars’ DANIEL KING decided he had seen enough and returned the favor as he rejected the Eagles’ big center three times in a row, which sparked his teammates as the Cougars ended the half on a 6-0 run for a 21-19 halftime advantage. Then the ballclubs got really defensive in the second half. More than four minutes into the third quarter, the ball passed through the net a collective three times. Eventually knotted at 24-apiece, the Cougars’ DYLAN KIRCHHOFER ignited a spark for Steele Canyon as he dived for a ball heading out of bounds on a teammate's errant shot. Fortunately for the Cougars, the ball landed right into the hands of MICHAEL JORDAN for an easy deuce that broke the tie. “We were just feeding off each others energy at that point,” Jordan explained. Kirchhofer then drained a trey after Balikian made a steal for a quick 5-point lead, but the Angry Birds of Granite Hills just wouldn't go away. For the second game in a row, Granite Hills (9-10, 0-2 GHL) received a solid offensive effort from NATE JETER, who tossed 16 points and 8-of-9 shooting. Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 20 (8 reb, 3 stl), Dylan Kirchhofer 12 (4 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl), Michael Jordan 9 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Justin Norwood 3 (1 reb, 1 stl), Daniel King 2 (8 reb, 1 stl, 4 blk), P.J. Russell 2 (2 reb), Cody Wells 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Tyler Gulino-Jones (1 reb), Danny Bwinika (1 ast). Granite Hills: Nate Jeter 16 (7 reb, 1 stl), DJ Palomera 11 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Koltin Higgins 7 (1 reb), Scott Atkinson 6 (11 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 10 blk), Stephen Keppel 4 (8 reb), Kyle Pierson 3 (6 reb, 3 ast), Danny Densel (1 reb).

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
LA MESA (01-21-12) — No matter what the Helix Highlanders look like in the preseason, you can bet veteran coach JOHN SINGER will have his lineup standing at attention when the Grossmont Hills League season tips off.

When West Hills came to town riding a five-game win streak, the Wolf Pack brought along high hopes.

Those dreams were short-circuited as Helix cranked off a 21-0 scoring run to take a 30-8 advantage midway through the second period and then coasted to an 85-57 rout. The Highlanders’ scoring burst was 22 points more than their previous best.

“I know defense is first at Helix, but we did a really good job of taking the ball to the basket,” Helix guard TITUS YOUNG said. “I know this was an important game for us and I think we played up to that.”

Scoring standout BRIAN VALADEZ tore the Wolf Pack inside out as he finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals.

“The key is we played with high energy plays,” Valadez said. “We started the season a little slow, but now we have all the pieces to make the run for the brass ring.”

Helix: Brian Valadez 21 (11 reb, 11 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Romario Wilson 14 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Michael Todd 11 (8 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Titus young 10 (2 reb, 10 ast, 4 stl), Kene Anigbogu 6 (7 reb, 1 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 6 (1 reb), Isaac Randall 4 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Yasir Abukar 3, Derrick Chandler 2 (2 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Cameron Lee 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), Vann Sabin 2 (1 ast), Christian Bell 2 (1 blk), Ernesto Martinez (1 reb), Will Mildenhall 2 reb).

West Hills: Alex Parsons 12 (5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Nick Findley 12 (2 ast, 3 stl), Ryan Williams 11 (8 reb), Jeron Satterfield 8 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jonny Preston 6 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Kevin Straub 3 (1 ast, 1 stl), D.J. Lewis 3 (2 reb),

Kevin McLaughlin 2 (1 reb), Eric Fox (1 reb), Joey Clark (1 stl), Will Llamas (1 reb).

MONTE VISTA 48, EL CAJON VALLEY 34 – There are two ways of looking at Friday’s (Jan. 20) Grossmont Valley League encounter in Spring Valley.

Foremost is Monte Vista (15-6, 2-0 GVL) posted its 9th win in its last 10 starts.

“In those games only once did we allow as many as 50 points,” Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL said. “I try to instill in my guys that is a great stat and that we are doing good.”

Although Monte Vista is playing well, the Monarchs were hardly intimidating against the visiting Braves (7-8, 0-2 GVL).

“I thought we played hellagood,” Braves boss MARTY ELLIS said. “That was a very talented, veteran team we played out there.”

ANDRE NIKITA paced El Cajon Valley with 18 points.

Monte Vista’s JAMES JACKSON matched that high-water mark and collected 11 rebounds to boot.

Carroll pointed out the work on Monarchs unsung hero XAVIER DANIELS, who did not dent the scoring column yet plucked 5 rebounds, made 3 steals and dished 3 assists.

Guard KJ HOUSTON landed four 3-pointers on his way to a 14 point evening, while REUBEN NWANDO punched in 12 markers and pulled down 8 rebounds for Monte Vista.

Monte Vista: James Jackson 18 (11 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl), K. J. Houston 14 (5 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk), Reuben Nwando 12 (8 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Devin Rendo 2 (2 reb), D’ondre Coleman 2 (1 stl), Xavier Daniels (5 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl), Hasani Jarvis (4 reb, 1 reb), Kylie Luster (3 reb, 1 stl), Josh Martinez (1 ast, 1 stl),.

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikita 18 (3 reb, 4 stl, 1 stl, 1 blk), Jeremiah Patton 4 (4 reb, 1 stl), Edon Lushi 4 (4 reb, 3 stl), D’ondre Coleman 4 (3 reb, 2 stl), Derrick Moore 2 (4 reb, 2 blk), Deshe Tibbs 2 (2 reb), Deon Kelly (3 reb, 3 blk, 1 ast, 1 stl), Ibraham Ali (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Alex Jacinto (1 reb, 1 stl).

GROSSMONT 56, VALHALLA 48 – The host Foothillers rallied from a halftime 25-22 deficit in Friday’s (Jan. 20) contest to knock off Valhalla and maintain a share of the Grossmont Hills League title with Helix.

“Valhalla played much harder than we did in the first half,” said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. “I was very impressed with them.”

Steady ROBBY NESOVIC coined a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Foothillers (9-9, 2-0 GHL).

“Robby does such a good job of handling the ball in our offense,” Foggiano said. “He broke their pressure and always seemed to hit the clutch shot when we needed it. He is probably the most complete player in East County.”

Grossmont took command in the 3rd quarter behind the 8 points of DEREK RUSTICH that propelled the Foothillers to a 40-33 advantage.

SPENCER HAVIRD led Valhalla (5-15, 0-2 GHL) with 15 points and ANDREW LOZOYA punched in 10 points.

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 16 (10 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Derek Rustich 14 (8 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 10 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), J.T. Barnes 5 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Jake Herrod 5 (1 reb, 1 stl), Austin Swisher 3 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Christian Meno 3 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

Valhalla: Spencer Havird 15 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Andrew Lozoya 10 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), A.J. Allen 7 (7 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Chris Shields 7 (7 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk), Matt Butcher 4 (2 reb), David Gazelle 3, Amil Hermiz 2 (3 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Taylor Hammet (3 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Kevin Mills (3 ast, 2 reb, 1 stl).

CHRISTIAN 72, CLAIREMONT 44 – Visiting Christian High set the stage for next week’s Central League showdown with Point Loma – the winner of that game will be finishing the first half of the league campaign undefeated and alone in first place.

“We are where we want to be right now,” Christian coach KELVIN STARR said after the Patriots clobbered Clairemont in Friday’s (Jan. 20) league activity.

JASON GAINES powered in 20 points and SHANE DILLON rolled off a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 8 steals against the Chieftains (1-18, 0-5 CNT).

Christian broke the game open with 31-points in the 2nd quarter. TRAVIS BALLARD provided the spark by burying three 3s in as many attempts. The sophomore guard finished with a career high 13 points.

“It’s nice to get help from another course,” Starr said. “Travis had a hot hand for us.”

Christian’s defense destroyed Clairemont.

“Our pressure defense helped us blow it open,” Starr said

Christian: Jason Gaines 20 (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Shane Dillon 13 (12 reb, 6 ast, 8 stl, 2 blk), Tyler Ballard 13 (2 reb, 4 stl), Phillip George 7 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jake Larsen 7 (2 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Trenton Sauls 6 (1 reb, 1 stl), Stephen Johnston 3 (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Colin Eckstein 3 (2 reb), Michael LeTouzic (1 reb, 1 blk), Joe Ross (1 reb, 1 stl).

THE ROCK 40, SANTANA 35 (2 OT) – Frustration continued to stalk the Santana Sultans in Friday’s (Jan. 20) non-league loss in double overtime to visiting Rock Academy.

“We played tough defensively. But as hard as we worked on defense we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket on offense,” Santana coach TIM BARRY said.

With 5 seconds left in regulation, Santana’s CHRISTIAN BARRY shot and missed but the ball was deflected to DANIEL LEVINS-LOWERY who hit a 10-foot bank shot at the buzzer to tie it at 27-all.

With 40 seconds remaining in the first overtime, and The Rock up by two, Santana (4-11) ran a play for MIKE ROSOLINO who hit a 3 to put the Sultans up 30-29.

With 16 seconds left The Rock hit a field goal to regain the lead. Santana missed a shot, and the ball was knocked out of bounds with 2.2 seconds left. Santana lobbed a pass to JASON CORBISEZ, who was fouled under the basket with 0.0.8 seconds left. Corbisez made the first free throw and missed the second to tie the game at 31-31 and send it into the second overtime.

“I’m proud of Corbisez,” the coach said. “He stepped up and shot two good free throws. It was like he had ice water in his veins. His second free throw in the 1st overtime was ¾ of the way in the basket and spun out.”

The Rock rolled to a 5-point lead early in the 2nd OT and Santana’s shooting “went sour,” said coach Barry.

Santana: Christian Barry 9 (4 reb, 1 ast), Mike Rosolino 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Daniel Levens-Lowery 5 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Andy Miller 4 (1 reb, 1 stl), A.J. Bratlien 3 (6 reb, 5 stl), Jason Corbisez 3 (9 reb), David Albright (3 reb, 1 stl), Dustin Murphy 3 (4 reb), James Doherty (3 reb), Jordan Vargas 2.

© East County Sports.com
SPIRNG VALLEY (1-18-12) — When Monte Vista High opened its preseason basketball training camp, forwards REUBEN NWANDO and JAMES JACKSON didn't necessarily see things eye-to-eye.

"We used to have a little bad chemistry in the very beginning," admitted Nwando, a senior small forward. "But then we started working with each other, started talking, and then started to build some chemistry."

Quickly learning the lesson that the sum of their pooled talents was greater than their worth as individuals, Nwando and Jackson combined in a standout effort Tuesday (Jan. 17) in preparation for the first of two encounters with Mount Miguel which will likely determine the Grossmont Valley League championship.

Nwando posted 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, while Jackson added a game-high 23 points along with a dozen boards, pacing the Monarchs to a 65-45 whipping of visiting Valhalla in Grossmont Conference crossover action.

The combo wore down Valhalla, expanding a 29-22 halftime advantage into double figures for the majority of the fourth quarter, when Jackson poured in 10 of his points while Nwando secured eight rebounds over the final eight minutes. Both also added three assist each – many to each other – to propel the Monarchs (14-6).

"We weren’t playing very well in the first half," noted Nwando. "But we changed our mindset, then we pushed them and we got a win."

Valhalla (5-13) maintained a 19-18 advantage midway through the second quarter before Monte Vista erupted for an 8-0 run, beginning with a smart XAVIER DANIELS pass to Jackson for a powerful layin.

Nwando followed by converting a series of foul shots, something the Norsemen failed to execute – the team later went 3-for-9 in the fourth period – leading to the demise of their early advantage.

"We were able to work the ball in the paint and knock down more shots," added Nwando.

“DEVIN RENDO had a good first half,” noted Monarchs coach JAMES CARROLL. “He was able to get some layups versus their press. In the second half we had better defensive intensity, outscored them 21-7 in fourth quarter. Jackson had a strong game inside, and D’ONDRE COLEMAN played well off the bench. Their big guy (A.J. ALLEN) hurt us. He’s a good player.”

Rendo pitched in 12 points to go with 5 rebounds for the Monarchs.

Meanwhile, Valhalla nailed just 1-of-19 shots from beyond the arc, hoping to offset Monte Vista's physical advantage in the lane, although the rebounding edge was only 40-39 for the Monarchs. The final turnover count was even, but the hosts were able to score a series of easy baskets in the transition while Valhalla needed to fight for every point.

Although nine Norsemen hit the scorebook, none scored in double figures. MATT BUTCHER paced the ballclub with 9 points, while sharing for rebound honors with Allen and CHRIS SHIELDS with a half-dozen boards each.

Valhalla: Matt Butcher 9 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Andrew Lozoya 7 (4 reb, 2 stl, 1 ast), A.J. Allen 6 (6 reb), Spencer Havird 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Amil Hermiz 5 (4 reb, 4 stl, 3 ast), David Gazelle 4 (2 reb), Kevin Mills 4 (1 reb, 1 ast), Chris Shields 3 (6 reb), Patrick Flippo 1 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

Monte Vista: James Jackson 23 (12 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Reuben Nwando 15 (12 reb, 6 ast, 5 stl), Devin Rendo 12 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), K.J. Houston 7 (2 reb, 2 stl), Xavier Daniels 4 (1 reb, 2 ast), Brenden Harris 2 (1 ast), Jahzdion Taylor 2, D'ondre Coleman (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kylie Luster (2 reb, 1 ast), Hasani Jarvis (1 reb).

— Nick Pellegrino

CHRISTIAN 79, CRAWFORD 42 – It was hard to determine which excited Christian’s SHANE DILLON more in Tuesday’s (Jan. 17) Central League contest at Crawford.

It could have been the 6-foot-5 senior’s 3 slam-dunks off alley-oop passes from JASON GAINES, or the fact that Patriots coach KELVIN STARR actually sat on the bench the whole second half instead of pacing the sidelines like he usually does.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Coach sit down that long during a game,” said Dillon, who finished with 16 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals.

“It wasn’t even like I had to coach in the second half,” Starr said. “I just sat there and watched the game.”

Christian led 40-27 over the Colts by intermission. That in itself was not stunning, but the fact that the Patriots made 17 of 18 shots in the paint in the first half was.

“I asked the guys at halftime why are we continuing to shoot 3-point shots when we’re 0-for-4 and we only missed one inside the paint,” said Starr.

For the game Christian shot 67 percent from the field (36 of 54). Inside the paint the Patriots continued their blistering pace as they netted 79 percent, nailing 34 of 43 shots.

Senior JAKE LARSEN who is sometimes lost in the shuffle between the big two, put together one of his biggest games sinking 6 of 9 shots from the floor and 6 of 9 free throws for 13 points to go along with 6 rebounds.

Central League-leading Christian (9-5, 4-0 CL) broke the game open with a 28-13 spread in the third quarter.

Christian: Jason Gaines 21 (7 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Shane Dillon 16 (7 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Jake Larsen 13 (6 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Stephen Johnston 9 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Trenton Sauls 8 (1 reb, 1 blk), Phillip George 6 (1 ast, 3 stl), Tyler Ballard 4 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Michael LeTouzic 2 (1 reb).

WEST HILLS 59, EL CAJON VALLEY 44 – The Wolf Pack (9-8) posted its 5th straight win as ALEX PARSONS poured in 18 points and JONNY PRESTON pitched in 15 more during Tuesday’s (Jan. 17) Grossmont Conference crossover contest at El Cajon Valley.

Parson made 7 of 12 from the field and 4 free throws to go along with 9 rebounds for the Pack.

Preston did the majority of his damage from the 3-point line where he nailed 4 triples.

“You know we always talk about our defense first,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “But Parsons and Preston gave us a good offensive lift and that allowed us to give some kids time that don’t get to play a whole lot of minutes.”

Among the highlights of the Wolf Pack was the defensive work of D.J. LEWIS and ERIC FOX, who dogged El Cajon Valley scoring leader ANDRE NIKITA, holding him to 13 points.

“Bottom line for us is we just took care of business,” Armstrong said. “In the past our kids weren’t really sure of themselves, but now winning has become a mentality – even in practice.”

DERRICK MOORE was hot on the boards for El Cajon Valley, hauling down 11 rebounds.

“One thing I did notice is we slowed the pace down to where we wanted it,” said Braves coach MARTY ELLIS. “We came out with energy in the first half. In the third we just went a little flat on offense. I think it was due to mental mistakes. They did put a press on us where they got some turnovers but they didn’t score off of them. I thought we improved from last game – a little more energy was there.”

West Hills: Alex Parsons 18 (9 reb, 2 stl), Jonny Preston 15 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Kevin Straub 8 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), D.J. Lewis 5 (3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Ryan Williams 5 (3 reb), Kevin McLaughlin 5, Nick Findley 3 (1 ast, 3 stl), Justin Sun (2 reb, 1 ast), Eric Fox (2 reb, 1 ast).

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikita 13 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl), Derrick Moore 8 (11 reb, 2 blk), Ibraham Ali 7 (1 reb, 2 ast), Alex Jacinto 5), Deon Kelly 4 (8 reb, 3 blk, 3 stl), Jeremiah Patton 4 (7 reb), Deshe Tibbs 3 (6 reb, 3 ast).

MOUNT MIGUEL 77, STEELE CANYON 50 – Having lost two of its previous three games, the Matadors came out firing in Tuesday’s (Jan. 17) Grossmont Conference crossover contest in Spring Valley.

By halftime the Matadors led 43-27 and the game was all but over after that.

It was all about a balanced attack for Mount Miguel, led by IZZY WAGNER’s 24 points.

THOMAS BUTLER pitched in 20 points, MARCUS BOOKER chipped in 11 and Washington-bound football recruit CORY LITTLETON contributed 10 points and 9 rebounds.

“People will look at our scoring totals and say ‘man, they were really hot,’ but it’s not about our offense,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT. “When we defend and rebound we’re pretty good.

“I like my team because they can handle the pressure.”

On the flip side Steele Canyon skipper DEREK STEPHENS is looking for a hot-handed scorer, which he has been unable to find this season.

MICHAEL JORDAN and DYLAN KIRCHHOFER popped in 11 points apiece to pace the Cougars (8-10).

“It’s obvious why Mount Miguel is a Top 10 team in the county,” said Stephens.

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 24 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Thomas Butler 20 (4 reb, 2 ast), Marcus Booker 11 (3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Cory Littleton 10 (9 reb, 1 stl), Tony Wills 5 (1 reb, 1 stl), Malcolm Jackson 5 (4 reb, 1 stl), Jaz Woodard 2 (1 ast, 1 stl), Marcellus Jones (1 ast).

Steele Canyon: Dylan Kirchhofer 11, Michael Jordan 11, Cody Wells 8, Casey Balikian 5, Tyler Gulino-Jones 5, Daniel King 4, Mark Ogden 4, Justin Norwood 2.

HELIX 74, SANTANA 54 – Santana coach TIM BARRY isn’t trying to fool anybody. Due to circumstances beyond his control his roster was pared at the top, which has left his team lacking depth.

Once again that was obvious in Tuesday’s (Jan. 17) Grossmont Conference crossover game against Helix in Santee.

The visiting Highlanders took a 21-7 lead and never looked back.

“We played decent – we got all 15 players into tonight’s game but we didn’t defend very well,” said Helix coach JOHN SINGER. “A non-league game in the middle of league play is pretty tough.”

ROMARIO WILSON and BRIAN VALADEZ paced the Highlanders’ attack with 14 points apiece as nine players scored.

Santana’s DANIEL LEVENS-LOWERY led all scorers with 21 points, including a trio of triples and 6 of 7 free throws.

“It continues to be a theme... we tried hard but we were overmatched,” said Barry. “It’s been tough to compete. I was really impressed with Levens-Lowery. He was sharp in all phases of the game and had a strong total effort. My main hope is that we continue to play hard.”

Despite winning for the 7th time in 8 games, Singer was not enthralled with the fact that his team was obligated to play a meaningless non-league game during the league season.

“It tends to be a break in the train of thought,” he said.

Barry agreed.

Singer feels they should have gotten the non-league games out of the way in the two weeks during the holidays and then play straight through the league schedule to the end of the season.

Helix: Brian Valadez 14 (6 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 4 blk), Romario Wilson 14 (8 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 9 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Mike Todd 8 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Titus Young 6 (5 reb, 5 ast), Kene Anigbogu 4 (2 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Cameron Lee 5 (3 reb, 1 stl), Chris Bell 3 (1 reb), Isaac Randall 2 (3 reb, 1 ast), Derrick Chandler (2 reb, 2 stl), Vann Sabin (2 ast, 2 stl), Ernesto Martinez (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Xavier Jones (2 ast), Yasir Abukar (1 reb).

Santana: Daniel Levens-Lowery 21 (3 ast), A.J. Bratlien 16 (6 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Jason Corbisez 5 (2 reb, 2 ast, Dustin Murphy 4 (1 blk), Christian Barry 3 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Mike Rosolino 2 (1 reb), James Doherty (1 reb), 1 stl).

FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 78, LUTHERAN 22 – Late report for this Sunset League game played on Tuesday (Jan. 17).

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 24 (5 reb, 5 stl, 1 ast, 1 blk), Caleb Hoffman 22 (5 reb, 2 ast), Andre Johnson 16 (10 reb, 1 ast, 8 stl), Nick Loudon 5 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Joe Buenrestro 4 (5 stl, 4 ast), Austin Mostrong 3 (3 reb), Ricky Adams 2 (1 reb, 1 stl), A.J. Hoffman 2 (3 reb).

© East County Sports.com
CLAIREMONT (1-17-12) — In a battle of Top 20 teams, the issue wasn’t decided until the final period of Monday’s (Jan. 16) Mark Hall Memorial Classic at Hoover High.

Morse (18-4) snapped a 33-all tie with a 14-11 edge over the final eight minutes in a physical game that led to a 47-44 Morse victory and the Matadors’ (15-3) second loss in their last three games.

Morse led 23-14 at intermission but the Matadors scrambled back and eventually tied the game 30-30 on THOMAS BUTLER’s second 3-pointer of the game with 1:31 left in the period.

The Matadors actually took the lead when IZZY WAGNER, who finished with a team best 22 points, knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game again heading into the final stanza.

Wagner finished with four 3-pointers, while Butler added 14 points and CORY LITTLETON chipped in with 7 rebounds.

“We’ve got to learn how to start better,” said Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT, whose team was tied 7-7 after one period. “We need to learn how to make plays when we have to each game.”

Although Rowlett won’t admit it his team is actually in a scoring slump. The Matadors have not scored more than 44 points in their last three games.

Even so the Matadors were able to somewhat pick up the pace in the final two quarters.

“We were able to get the ball in the post in the second half against their zone,” Rowlett noted. “We also handled the ball better and our defense was very intense.”

Nonetheless the usually fast-breaking Matadors have been more sluggish than anything else.

Mount Miguel: Izzy Wagner 22 (3 reb, 1 stl), Thomas Butler 14 (3 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Cory Littleton 4 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 2, Tony Wills 2 (1 reb), Marcellus Jones (4 reb), Malcolm Jackson (2 reb).

© East County Sports.com
CLAIREMONT (1-15-12) — Even though it was not a game of perfection, Mount Miguel High coach JAY ROWLETT was relieved that his team rebounded from a disappointing loss to Helix four days earlier by knocking off The Rock Academy, 47-29, in Saturday’s (Jan. 14) MLK Showcase at Horizon.

The Matadors outscored the Warriors across the board with THOMAS BUTLER leading the way with 16 points, including 4 treys.

The majority of the senior’s long rangers came in the third quarter when he landed three above the arc to extend the Matadors (15-2) advantage to 34-22 with one period to play.

“We got more aggressive in the second half,” said Rowlett. “That allowed us to increase the tempo of the game.”

Mount Miguel: Thomas Butler 16 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Cory Littleton 12 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Izzy Wagner 12 (6 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Marcus Booker 5, Jaz Woodard 2 (1 stl), Tony Wills (4 reb, 1 ast), Malcolm Jackson (4 reb), Marcellus Jones (1 stl).

LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY 88, FOOTHILLS CHRISTIAN 73 – DALTON MOSSER led Foothills Christian with 33 points including 8 treys in Saturday’s (Jan. 14) MLK Showcase at Horizon.

The Knights were battered on the boards as they collected only 16 caroms on the night.

Even in defeat Foothills Christian had its share of standouts, including CALEB HOFFMAN who poured in 21 points, and ANDRE JOHNSON who tossed in 10 markers, recorded 3 steals and RICKY ADAMS, who chipped in with 9 points (all coming from 3-point range) and 4 rebounds.

The first quarter performance was uninspired tonight but things picked up a little in the second quarter. The real story in this game was not being able to stop the big men in the paint and not moving the ball. Nearly the whole game was one-on- one for the Knights’ offense and that wasn't getting it done against a team that had 7 or 8 kids that were able to hit a shot.

LJCD’s Jordan Poland had 10 points in the first quarter and would have had more if he wasn't in foul trouble. The Knights simply had nothing to counter his size in the paint.

Years back Foothills Christian ran into a Horizon team with 7-foot Jeff Withey and the team was scouted well. Withey put the ball on the floor a lot for a 7-footer so any time the ball went in the paint the Knights had 5-foot-8 guard (ZACK KAUL) crash in on him and go for the steal. Poland did not do that in this game, he is obviously well coached and understood his size was more than the Knights could handle. He received the ball and kept it high and let his body do the work.

The Knights had zero ball movement which obviously did not work in their favor and really failed to get Johnson into their offense. Andre is an explosive scorer and when the ball doesn’t go to him more than a few times it will be difficult to beat many good teams. Caleb Hoffman and Mosser connected on a few very impressive alley-oop passes in the first half that ended in lay ins for Mosser, but other than that the Knights didn't move the ball at all.

JOE BUENRESTRO was on his game defensively but the team found little offensive fire power and trailed 30-15 at the half.

Depth is a big issue for Foothills Christian. Right now the bench is three players deep and even the starting five does not consist of players with a lot of experience.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 33 (2 reb, 3 stl, 1 ast), Caleb Hoffman 21 (3 reb, 1 blk), Andre Johnson 10 (1 reb, 1 gblk, 3 stl, 1 ast), Ricky Adams 9 (4 reb, 1 stl), Austin Mostrong (2 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Joe Buenrestro (2 reb).

MISSION HILLS 53, CHRISTIAN 44 – JASON GAINES scored 19 points but the Patriots could not maintain a 20-14 first-quarter lead in Saturday’s (Jan. 14) MLK Showcase at Horizon.

No other information was provided.

Christian High's Shane Dillon looks to make the outlet pass following a rebound vs. Kearny (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW or PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Central League showdown goes to Christian in double-overtime By Bill Dickens © East County Sports.com EL CAJON (1-14-12) — For a championship game, the first half of Friday’s (Jan. 13) Central League showdown looked more like a horror movie that would be shown on Friday-the-13th. Call it good defense if you want, but it was more of a demonstration of cold case shooting. Host Christian had totaled 11 points in the opening half, hitting just 5 of 25 shots from the field. Kearny led by eight at the break. Action picked up in the second half as the Patriots came from the brink of a loss in regulation to pull out a 64-61 victory in double overtime. The outcome left Christian (8-4, 3-0 CL) atop the Central League standings. The Komets (13-5, 3-1 CL) slipped into second place. Senior JASON GAINES, who was a paltry 1-for-9 shooting in the first half, scored 8 of his game-high 25 points in the second four-minute overtime to give the Patriots the nod. “I think I did a better job of attacking the basket in the second half and overtime,” said Gaines, who did the majority of his shooting early from the perimeter. Trailing 51-48 with 9 seconds left in regulation, the Patriots brought the ball upcourt and placed it in Gaines’ hands. The muscular 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior broke for the basket for a layup and in the excitement of the moment was fouled by the Komets. Gaines converted the free throw with :0.06 left, sending the game into the initial extra session. Once again in the first overtime, Gaines led the Patriots out of the gate with a bucket and STEPHEN JOHNSTON pitched in with a free throw. The Komets fired back to create the second overtime. Gaines supplied the lead in the final overtime as he launched a successful charge to the basket and was fouled. He completed the old-fashion three-point play making it 57-54 just three seconds into the period. “We’re like that,” said senior SHANE DILLON. “Jason and I are like brothers. We just know where each of us is going to be on the court at all times.” Another Gaines bucket stretched the advantage to 59-54. But Kearny fought back to shave the advantage to 59-57. Dillon then dropped in a pair of free throws. But once against Kearny refused to buckle, tying the game at 61-all with 1:31 left in extra session No. 2. Although he did not register the winning points, Dillon was a major player as he delivered the biggest assist of the night. Laying flat on his back, the 6-5, 210-pound Dillon somehow caught his roommate out of the corner of his eye and fired a strike to Gaines, who went storming to the basket. For the third time after intermission Gaines executed and an-one, staking the Patriots to their winning margin. “I went to my right to avoid a charge,” Dillon said. “But the floor was wet and down I went. But I knew Jason would be somewhere near the basket and I put up a pass before I got called for traveling.” Wise move. Game-winning decision for the University of Colorado-bound quarterback. “Shane has become such a leader for us,” Christian coach KELVIN STARR said. “To make a steal and pass like that just shows how hard he plays. And Jason... what can I say.” More than 1,000 fans created a non-stop din in the Ryan Athletic Center. “Playing in front of a crowd like this is just crazy,” Gaines said. “There is no substitute for support like we have.” This was a physical bout from the outset. Five technicals were assessed and close to 50 fouls were whistled. For good measure, the officials call three lane violations on free throw attempts. Christian: Jason Gaines 25 (8 reb, 2 stl), Shane Dillon 19 (12 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl), Phillip George 9 (3 reb, 4 stl), Jake Larsen 8 (5 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Stephen Johnston 3 (7 reb, 1 ast), Trenton Sauls (3 reb, 2 ast), Tyler Ballard (3 reb).

By Nick Pellegrino
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RANCHO SAN DIEGO (1-14-12) — Suffering through perhaps its poorest quarter of basketball in decades, the turnaround by Helix High was more than satisfying.

Limited to just three foul shots for all of their second-quarter points, the Highlanders dominated the second half with 43 points to shock host Steele Canyon, 55-37, in Friday's (Jan. 13) Grossmont Hills League opener.

Scotties center KENE ANIGBOGU, who failed to score in the first half, dominated the third quarter with nine points to help the ballclub reverse a 20-12 halftime deficit into a 33-25 advantage.

However, it was the senior's dramatic shot block on the first play of the second half which set the tone and triggered the comeback.

"Last year, we went real far into the playoffs off of defense," Anigbogu recalled. "We have a brand new team this year, so it's taken us a long time to get acquainted with the system."

"Now that we've picked it up, we see that defense wins championships, so we should be a good team."

It wasn't just Anigbogu who shined on the defensive end. Moments after his big block, ROMARIO WILSON also rejected a Steele Canyon shot in the paint, leaving the Cougars to shoot tentatively over the balance of the contest.

Even when the hosts took the ball to the basket, they were challenged. In fact, on the very same play, both Anigbogu and TITUS YOUNG took the charge on the same Steele Canyon player to forge an offensive foul.

"We're picking up the physical mentality of our school's football players in order to be a good basketball team," added Anigbogu. "You get on the ball and beat people to the block."

While Helix struggled from the floor (0-for-12) in what could have been the decisive second quarter, Steele Canyon didn't take advantage until the final three minutes, utilizing a late 12-0 run to close the half.

The hot streak saw DANNY BWINIKA hit a pair of 3-balls, while CODY WELLS scored twice in the paint.

"We played with some intensity and effort in the first half, then it seemed like we ran out of gas – I don't know what happened," said Cougars head coach DEREK STEPHENS. "On defense, we got away from everything we were doing. Right now, my guys are pretty frustrated."

However, Anigbogu, who plans to walk-on to play football at San Jose State this fall, answered the call from Helix head coach JOHN SINGER.

"As one of the returning players and a captain, coach challenged me at halftime because I didn't do much in the first half," he noted. "I had to pick it up and show my team I can lead."

Helix: Romario Wilson 14 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Titus Young 11 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Brian Valadez 10 (9 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Kaelan Mitchell 9 (4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Kene Anigbogu 9 (8 reb, 1 blk), Isaac Randall 9 (4 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Mike Todd 2 (2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Derrick Chandler (1 reb, 1 stl), Will Mildenhall (1 stl), Vann Sabin (1 stl).

Steele Canyon: Danny Bwinika 9, Cody Wells 8, Justin Norwood 8, P.J. Russell 6, Daniel King 3, Michael Jordan 2, Casey Balikian 1.

© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (1-14-12) — Valhalla High head coach KEITH JACKSON was seething when West Hills was awarded three free throws with 1.2 seconds left on the clock of Friday’s (Jan. 13) Grossmont Hills League opener.

“I’ve been coaching varsity basketball for eight years and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a call like that,” Jackson said. “I don’t think we even touched the kid, yet he gets three free throws.”

West Hills’ JONNY PRESTON took advantage of the controversial call by converting three straight free throws to send the game into the first extra session.

The Wolf Pack went on to outlast Valhalla, 67-65, in two overtimes in the league opener.

The bottom line is ALEX PARSONS and Preston provided the margin of victory. Parsons banged in back-to-back baskets in overtime and Preston hit two free throws to pave the way to victory for West Hills.

“It was a packed house on both sides,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “And the crowd was howling all night. On Preston’s last three free throws I definitely think it was a foul.”

In the first overtime Valhalla took a 4-point lead. Parsons scored off a post move for West Hills, and a backdoor cut by RYAN WILLIAMS tied the game. After A.J. ALLEN scored for Valhalla, Preston nailed two more free throws to send the game into the second overtime.

Valhalla fought back on a bucket by ANDREW LOZOYA with 7 seconds left but it was too little, too late.

Parsons scored 13 of his 21 points in the first half, but he came up big in the extra session. West Hills senior captain KEVIN STRAUB (10 points, 8 rebounds) did a great job on defense.

SPENCER HAVIRD scored a career-high 21 points for the Norsemen.

Valhalla committed 25 turnovers while West Hills gave the ball away 22 times.

Preston finished with 14 points, the majority coming on 12 of 14 free throw shooting.

One of the things that griped Jackson was the free throw difference. West Hills shot 42 free throws compared to just 17 for Valhalla.

“With odds like that you can’t expect to win too many games,” Jackson said.

A plus for Valhalla was the work of Allen, who finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.

“A.J. was bothered by foul trouble early on but he is still become more of an asset to us,” Jackson said.

CHRIS SHIELDS contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Norsemen.

West Hills: Alex Parsons 21 (6 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), Jonny Preston 14 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kevin Straub 10 (8 reb, 1 ast), Ryan Williams 7 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jeron Satterfield 6 (5 reb, 1 ast), Nick Findley 4, Martin Panayotov 3 (4 reb, 1 ast), D.J. Lewis 2 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kevin McLaughlin (1 reb).

Valhalla: Spencer Havird 21 (6 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), A.J. Allen 10 (8 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Chris Shields 10 (12 reb, 1 blk), Andrew Lozoya 9 (7 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Amil Hermiz 6 (7 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl), Matt Butcher 6 (6 reb, 1 ast, 5 stl, 1 blk), Kevin Mills 2 (3 reb, 1 ast), David Gazelle (3 reb, 2 ast), Patrick Flippo 1 (1 blk).

MONTE VISTA 71, SANTANA 32 – Veteran coach TIM BARRY of Santana sat in awe during Friday’s (Jan. 13) Grossmont Valley League game as his Sultans were manhandled by the host Monte Vista Monarchs.

“That Monte Vista team is legit,” Barry admitted. “For one of the fewest times in my career I had a helpless feeling sitting on the bench watching my guys take that beating knowing that we were completely outmanned and there was nothing I could do. Monte Vista was just devastating.”

The Monarchs (13-6, 1-0 GVL) led 56-25 by the close of the 3rd quarter. JAMES JACKSON was the Monte Vista leader with 20 points, 9 rebounds 6 steals and 5 assists.

“Our kids came out and we exerted ourselves defensively,” Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL said. “ Jackson was our leader once again tonight – he has really stepped it up this year. We are vastly improved over this time last year. I like where we are right now.”

Monte Vista: James Jackson 20 (9 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl), Devin Rendo 13 (5 reb, 4 stl), Reuben Nwando 11 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk, 4 stl), Jahzdion Taylor 9 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Josh Martinez 6 (1 reb, 1 stl), K.J. Houston 3 (10 ast, 1 blk, 5 stl), Kylie Luster 2 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Justin Brandy 2 (1 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk), Xavier Daniels 2 (1 reb, 2 blk, 4 stl), Josh Jimenez 2 (1 stl), Brendan Harris 1 (2 reb).

Santana: Daniel Levens-Lowery 14 (2 reb), Mike Rosolino 6 (1 reb, 2 stl), A.J. Bratlien 5 (3 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), Christian Barry 2 (3 reb, 1 stl, 2 ast), David Albright 2 (3 reb), Jason Corbisez 2 (2 stl), James Doherty 1 (1 reb), Ryan Bratlien (1 reb).

EL CAPITAN 65, EL CAJON VALLEY 44 – El Capitan (15-5), which possesses the most victories among East County teams, opened the Grossmont Valley League season on Friday (Jan. 13) with a roar, taking a 47-15 halftime lead and pushed that margin to 35 points in the first minute of the 3rd quarter.

It is no surprise that TYSON KYGAR scored 27 points to pace the Vaqueros. The senior guard nailed 5 of 6 shots from three-point distance and 10 of 13 from the free throw stripe.

Kygar’s presence in the league opener was questionable since he suffered a smash in the mouth in Thursday’s practice requiring seven stitches.

“But Tyson was cleared to play and scored on a four-point play on his first shot,” El Capitan coach JASON CAVAZOS.

AUSTIN BETTS, who was blanked by Grossmont only two days earlier, nailed 4 three-pointers on his way to a 17-point finish.

ANDRE NIKITA led El Cajon Valley (7-6, 0-1 GVL) with 26 points, which included 8 of 9 free throw shooting.

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 27 (5 reb, 6 ast, 2 blk, 5 stl), Austin Betts 15 (6 reb, 1 stl), Kameron Brown 9 (3 reb, 2 stl), Travis Hulsey 4 (5 reb, 1 ast), Nestor Ramirez 2 (7 reb, 6 ast, 1 blk, 3 stl), Adam Jacob 2 (4 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Scott Ross 2 (7 reb), Ryan Quinten 2 (3 reb), Nathen Geisel 2 (1 reb, 1 stl).

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikita 26 (6 eb, 1 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl), Deon Kelly 4 (5 reb, 2 blk, 1 stl), Ibraham Ali 4 (3 reb, 2 stl), Brendan Brocious 3, Terrance Coleman 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Derrick Moore 1 (4 reb), Michael Readus 1 (1 reb, 1 stl), Jeremiah Patton (1 stl), Deshe Tibbs (1 reb, 1 stl), Laqman Sulyman (1 reb).

GROSSMONT 59, GRANITE HILLS 45 – A career performance by senior ROBBY NESOVIC carried Grossmont (8-9) to Friday’s (Jan. 13) Grossmont Hills League season-opening victory over visiting Granite Hills (8-9).

The 6-foot-5 Nesovic canned 15 baskets – 4 of them from long distance – en route to a career-high 39 points. In addition to netting 5 of 7 free throws, Nesovic grabbed 14 rebounds.

“We played very, very solid defense the whole game, Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO said. “Nesovic was just red hot the whole game. He has 22 of his 39 points by halftime.”

SCOTT ATKINSON led Granite Hills with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 8 blocks.

“They really put it to us (20-2) in the first quarter,” Granite Hills coach Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “Our guys know this was a sub-par performance tonight. The one thing I’m proud of is that we didn’t quit. We played hard the whole game.”

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 39 (14 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Derek Rustich 9 (8 reb, 3 ast), Bilal Rahim 6 (7 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Jake Herrod 3 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Austin Swisher 2 (3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl), J.T. Barnes (1 reb).

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 14 (11 reb, 8 blk, 1 stl), D.J. Palomera 15 (3 ast, 4 stl), Stephen Keppel 9 (4 reb, 2 ast), Nate Jeter 5 (5 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Koltin Higgins 2 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Danny Densel (2 ast), Alonzo Beepath (1 ast).

© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (1-13-12) — DALTON MOSSER scored 28 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and made 6 steals as Foothills Christian opened its Sunset League season on Thursday (Jan. 12) with an 80-27 victory over Ocean View Christian at Mount Miguel.

Eight Knights contributed to the scoring, including CALEB HOFFMAN, who had 19 points, 5 assists and 6 steals.

Foothills Christian (6-8, 1-0 SL) took a 23-4 first quarter lead and pushed it to 71-20 by the close of the third period.

The victory was the 43rd straight league win (including three forfeits) dating back to a Feb. 2, 2006 loss to Mountain Empire.

Foothills Christian: Dalton Mosser 28 (7 reb, 3 ast, 6 stl, 3 blk), Caleb Hoffman 19 (6 reb, 5 ast, 6 stl, 1 blk), Nick Loudon 9 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), Andre Johnson 8 (9 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 4 blk), Joe Buenrestro 8 (3 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), Austin Mostrong 5 (2 reb), A.J. Hoffman 4 (4 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Ricky Adams 2 (3 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk).

By Andrew Smith
© East County Sports.com
LA MESA (1-12-12) — It was a hectic day at Helix High way before the basketball team ever took the court against once-beaten Mount Miguel.

The gymnasium was filled bright and early with students as they engulfed the stands to see the football team being honored (again), but after the ceremony there was a buzz all over the La Mesa campus that brought the Highlanders a different kind of energy Wednesday (Jan. 11) and that eventually translated to a 49-42 Grossmont Conference Tournament upset of the No. 4 ranked Matadors (14-2).

Helix jumped out to an 8-1 advantage early, but with a 2-point difference right before halftime ROMARIO WILSON made a statement, as he blocked a shot in the key and quickly passed it to mid-court and BRIAN VALADEZ calmly nailed the 3-point shot as the entire Helix faithful leaped to its feet in appreciation.

“You could just feel the momentum shift with that shot headed into the locker room,” Wilson said.

“I just tried to get it out of my hands before the red light went off and luckily I banked in,” stated Valadez, who finished with his fourth double-double in seven games of 14 points and 17 rebounds.

That was no joke because once the Matadors took the floor in the second half, it seemed like they were all seeing red.

The Matadors’ IZZY WAGNER found THOMAS BUTLER under the hoop for the first tie of the game at 23-all before the Highlanders took complete control.

Wagner finished the day with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

Limiting the high-scoring duo of Wagner and MARCUS BOOKER to 30 points on 8-of-32 shooting (25 percent) went to the credit of Highlanders TITUS YOUNG and KAELAN MITCHELL.

“I was the most pleased with the fact that we competed for an entire 32 minutes,” Helix coach JOHN SINGER said. “With all that happened today I felt like it was a playoff type atmosphere and all of the guys stepped up. Kaelan off the bench played well along with DERRICK CHANDLER and ISAAC RANDALL played great!”

Singer noted how the Highlanders (8-7) gained a 45-25 rebounding advantage over the Matadors. He also pointed out how Mount Miguel netted only 13 field goals on 51 attempts.

“That’s about 26 percent shooting with two threes,” Singer emphasized. “And we did it against a senior dominated team.”

It also was Mount Miguel’s poorest offensive output to date.

“I guess I did not stress enough about how important a game like this is to our program,” Mount Miguel coach JAY ROWLETT said. “Helix did to us what we usually do to other people. They played with high energy and we didn’t. That’s my fault for not preparing our team properly.”

Mount Miguel: Marcus Booker 16 (3 reb, 2 stl), Izzy Wagner 14 (14 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk), Thomas Butler 6 (3 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Corey Littleton 2 (6 reb, 2 blk), Tony Wills 2 (3 reb, 1 stl), Malcolm Jackson 2.

Helix: Brian Valadez 14 (17 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Isaac Randall 9 (9 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Kaelan Mitchell 9 (4 reb, 1 ast), Romario Wilson 6 (1 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Titus Young 5 (7 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl), Derrick Chandler 4 (4 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Mike Todd 2 (2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl).

Balanced Grossmont offsets Kygar's 37 points

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (1-12-12) — Host Grossmont High triple-punched upstart El Capitan in Wednesday’s (Jan. 11) final Grossmont Conference crossover contest won by the Foothillers, 58-51.

That is the Foothillers (7-9) cashed in on ROBBY NESOVIC (19 points, 12 reb), DEREK RUSTICH (10 points, 8 rebounds), and AUSTIN SWISHER 15 (5 rebounds) to improve to 7-9.

It is hard to believe Grossmont could finish ahead when El Capitan’s TYSON KYGAR rebounded from a 9-point effort the game before to pour in a season high 37 points. Kygar nailed 9 three-pointers on 16 shots, raising his East County total to 92, well ahead of his next challenger.

“He is a solid player,” said Grossmont coach FRANK FOGGIANO. “He was making NBA threes with a guy in his face. But he is hardly a ball hog. He tries to get his teammates involved, but it doesn’t work out.”

Swisher scored 10 points in the final period when Grossmont gained a 26-11 fourth quarter to pull out the victory.

“We played three uninspired quarters of basketball,” Foggiano said. “In the 4th quarter we played with more energy. Our problem is we do not play like that every game.”

Grossmont: Robby Nesovic 19 (12 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), Austin Swisher 15 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Derek Rustich 10 (8 reb, 1 stl), Jake Herrod 9 (3 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl), J.T. Barnes 3 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Bilal Rahim 2 (6 reb).

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 37 (1 reb, 5 stl), Nestor Ramirez 8 (5 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Kameron Brown 4 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Adam Jacob 2 (1 stl), Travis Hulsey (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Austin Betts (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Ryan Quinten (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl).

MONTE VISTA 48, STEELE CANYON 42 – A 15-4 second quarter rush by Monte Vista in Tuesday’s (Jan. 11) Grossmont Conference crossover contest ultimately led to the Monarchs victory over the Cougars.

REUBEN NWANDO led the Monarchs with 19 points. Ten of those points came in the pivotal second quarter.

Steele Canyon (8-7) led by one point with 1:15 remaining.

“We called time out,” Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL said.

Nwando made a perfect pass to DEVIN RENDO, who converted a three-point play to present the Monarchs with a 44-42 advantage with seconds to play.

“He’s a hybrid athlete – very athletic,” said Carroll of Nwando. “He’s extremely strong and does what we ask of him. One of his biggest attributes is he has extremely large hands.”

The Monarchs then put the game away from the free throw line.

On the flip side Steele Canyon did not make a single 3-point shot.

“You’re not going win any games without hitting a single 3,” said Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS. “I thought MICHAEL JORDAN did a good defensive job on JAMES JACKSON. Of course, defense has never been our problem. If we continue to play defense the way we have and find a way to put the ball in the basket I would say we’re a contender.”

Monte Vista: Reuben Nwando 19 (6 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl), James Jackson 11 (8 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Xavier Daniels 8 (4 reb, 1 stl), K.J. Houston 6 (2 reb, 2 ast), Devin Rendo 4 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Kylie Luster (2 reb), Justin Brandy (2 reb), Brendan Harris (2 reb), Hasani Jarvis (1 reb, 1 ast), Jahzdion Taylor (1 reb).

Steele Canyon: Michael Jordan 11, Justin Norwood 9, Daniel King 8, Cody Wells 6, P.J. Russell 4, Casey Balikian 3, Danny Bwinika 1.

VALHALLA 54, EL CAJON VALLEY 35 – Valhalla polished off visiting El Cajon Valley with a balanced offense in Wednesday’s (Jan. 11) Grossmont Conference crossover contest.

SPENCER HAVIRD set the pace for Valhalla with 12 points and 4 steals, and 6-foot-6 A. J. ALLEN added 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks.

“A.J. is giving us the inside presence we’ve always needed,” said Norsemen coach KEITH JACKSON.

Havird has been a defensive ace and the fact that he contributed on the offensive end has made him even more valuable to the team.

DAVID GAZELLE contributed by sinking three triples for Valhalla.

“It was a tough one tonight,” said El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS. “This just isn’t the way I played the game. It’s the little things that kill us. We had too many turnovers and we have control over how hard we come out and play. We just tanked it by the third quarter.”

LAQMAN SULYMAN led the Braves’ scoring with 12 points, all coming from 3-pointers.

“My JV call-up, Laqman Sulyman has been consistent on 3s,” said Ellis.

“It’s kinda hard when you have the passion and the kids don’t,” Ellis added. “You can’t coach energy and you can’t coach passion. I took all my starters out the whole fourth quarter. They just weren’t giving me what I wanted.”

Valhalla: Spencer Havird 12 (2 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk), David Gazelle 9 (1 reb), A.J. Allen 8 (11 reb, 2 ast, 4 blk), Andrew Lozoya 8 (2 reb, 1 ast), Amil Hermiz 5 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Matt Butcher 4 (6 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl), Kevin Mills 3 (3 reb, 2 ast, 4 blk), Chris Shields 3 (4 reb, 2 ast), Patrick Flippo 2 (5 reb), Taylor Hammet (3 reb, 1 blk).

El Cajon Valley: Laqman Sulyman 12 (3 reb, 1 stl), Andre Nikita 8 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Derrick Moore 5 (8 reb, 1 blk), Abraham Ali 2 (4 reb, 2 ast), Deshe Tibbs 2 (3 reb, 1 blk), Terrence Coleman 2 (2 reb), Alex Jacinto 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jeremiah Patton 2 (1 reb), Deon Kelly (6 reb, 2 blk), Brenden Brocious (2 reb).

Taking the charge on defense is Valhalla senior Mark Butcher (in white) against Scripps Ranch. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (1-11-12) — It hasn't been the kind of start to the season that the Norsemen were hoping to have, and for those not in attendance Tuesday (Jan 10) night at Valhalla the final score against Scripps Ranch was pretty misleading.

By the end of the third quarter, the score stood 24-20, but the two teams then erupted to combine for 41 final-quarter points before the Falcons finally won 50-35.

Scripps Ranch came out in a full court press, but what really bothered the Norsemen was the 2-3 zone they sat in for the majority of the game.

“We tried to get the ball to the hi-low early on and get some touches inside,” coach KEITH JACKSON diagrammed. “We just went away from that and started settling for three's.”

That plan only works though if you make some of those shots.

Inside the arc they were 4-of-9 in the first half, but the problem was that when they settled, the results were ice-cold as the Norsemen went 0-for-11 from downtown.

Thanks to a great defensive effort though on the Falcons top scorer Anthony Phillips (17.8/ppg), it continued to be a contest.

A.J. ALLEN made his presence felt on the inside with a pair of big blocks. CHRIS SHIELDS led the Norsemen with 4 boards and AMIL HERMIZ outfought much taller opponents for 3 rebounds, while adding 2 steals.

The problem though for Phillips was Valhalla junior SPENCER HAVIRD.

“That No. 5 (Havird) really bothered me with his quick hands,” Phillips admitted after being held to a season-low 11 points on only one field goal from the floor. “I grabbed a couple of rebounds and before I knew it they were stolen away from me.”

The one and only basket for Phillips was a crucial one as he stroked a trey to push the lead to 9 for the Falcons in the beginning of the fourth.

With the Falcons still in their zone Valhalla finally found their range after TAYLOR HAMMET and Hermiz both passed out to a wide open DAVID GAZELLE for back-to-back treys.

“It felt great to finally see the ball go through the net for me,” the sophomore said. “I thought we had a shot to come back after that but we just couldn't make enough shots in the end.”

In constant foul trouble late in the game, Scripps Ranch capitalized after going to the line 19 times in the fourth while knocking down 15 of those.

“It seemed like every time down the court they were shooting free throws and we just never could recover from that,” Jackson said.

But you won't find the Norsemen throwing in the towel anytime soon.

“We have the players to be really good – our team chemistry just isn't there yet though,” Havird explained. “Hopefully we can get things figured out before league starts and make some noise this season, but trust me things are gonna change around here!”

Valhalla: Matt Butcher 7 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Andrew Lozoya 7 (3 reb,1 ast), Chris Shields 7 (4 reb), David Gazelle 6 (1 reb), A.J. Allen 4 (4 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk), Amil Hermiz 2 (3 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Spencer Havird 2 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Kevin Mills (2 reb, 1 ast), Patrick Flippo (1 reb), Taylor Hammet (1 reb, 1 ast), Josh Mc Clenachen (1 stl).

— Andrew Smith

GRANITE HILLS 55, HILLTOP 43 – A fierce fourth quarter run helped Granite Hills post its third straight win and sixth in eight games on Tuesday (Jan. 10) as the Eagles blunted the Lancers in a non-league game.

The game was tied at 32-32 after three quarters. But then Granite Hills (8-8) embarked on a 23-11 scoring binge to put the game away.

NATE JETER tallied 10 of his 15 points in the 4th quarter and STEPHEN KEPPEL pitched in 8 of his 15 markers in the final period as the Eagles prevailed.

Senior post man SCOTT ATKINSON pulled off a triple-double for Granite Hills with 13 points, 17 rebounds and 14 blocks.

“I was really happy with our composure in the 4th quarter,” said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said. “We did a great job cutting down our turnovers in the second half. I was really happy with the way we played defense in the last three quarters. Our press was superb, especially in the 4th quarter.”

Granite Hills: Stephen Keppel 15 (8 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl), Nate Jeter 15 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Scott Atkinson 13 (17 reb, 2 ast, 14 blk), Koltin Higgins 6 (2 reb, 2 blk), D.J. Palomera 6 (3 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Danny Densel (1 ast), Danny Smith (1 ast).

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
LAKESIDE (1-10-12) — You won’t find West Hills High junior JERON SATTERFIELD at the top of too many East County basketball scoring statistical columns these days.

But there’s one stat where they don’t measure the level of being a clutch standout. Satterfield was a premier performer in the final seconds of Monday’s (Jan. 9) come-from-behind 50-49 Grossmont Conference crossover win over El Capitan at Foster Gymnasium.

El Capitan (14-4) was leading by four points with 18 seconds remaining. That’s when Satterfield took control. He nailed a 3-pointer with 5.9 seconds remaining to make it a 1-point game.

After a West Hills timeout, the Wolf Pack (7-8) turned up full court pressure on the Vaqueros. Sophomore guard D.J. LEWIS deflected a pass and KEVIN STRAUB swiftly passed it to JONNY PRESTON. At that point Preston penetrated the key and dished off to Satterfield, who scored the game-winning layup as the buzzer sounded.

“We did a lot of heavy scouting on El Capitan,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “We presented the Xs and Os to the kids and they followed them.”

No doubt the biggest swing vote for West Hills was the defensive stand Straub and Preston provided in holding El Capitan sharpshooter TYSON KYGAR to a season-low 9 points.

“Kygar is by far the best guard in East County,” Armstrong said. “He can get any shot he wants. He might be a little small (5-foot-10) but he’s the whole package. It’s like my dad (head coach JEFF ARMSTRONG) told the guys before the game. Basically you have to start covering this guy in warmups... he’s that good.”

Given that he came in with an East County best average of 26.5 points per game, Kygar was no doubt frustrated as he tallied only 2 of 11 field goal attempts and 5 of 8 free throws.

That’s right. He did not score a single 3-pointer although he leads East County with 83 treys in 18 games. He has 45 more triples than his nearest competitor in East County.

“Again, you have to give a lot of credit to Straub and Preston because they never lost focus,” Lucas Armstrong said. “They alternated and knew what their roles were and carried it out to perfection.”

Since there is no true favorite in the Grossmont Hills League race, which begins on Friday (Jan. 13), West Hills has to believe they’ll be in the running.

“The past two games we have played with high energy,” Lucas Armstrong noted. “If we keep playing at the caliber we have in those games we have to believe we have a chance to win it all.”

El Capitan, which lost for only the second time in the last nine games, was led by AUSTIN BETTS’ 13 points, the majority coming on a trio of 3-pointers.

“We got a taste of our own medicine,” admitted Vaqueros coach JASON CAVAZOS. “They were extremely well prepared and did a good job of shutting down Tyson. Give them the credit that they’re due.”

West Hills: Jeron Satterfield 13 (12 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Kevin Straub 13 (6 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl), Alex Parsons 8 (4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk), Nick Lindley 7, Ryan Williams 3 (3 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), D.J. Lewis 3 (1 reb, 1 blk), Martin Panayotov 3 (1 reb), Jonny Preston (3 reb, 1 ast).

El Capitan: Austin Betts 13 (6 reb, 3 ast), Nestor Ramirez 10 (3 reb, 6 ast, 5 stl), Tyson Kygar 9 (9 reb, 7 ast, 3 stl, 4 blk), Kameron Brown 8 (7 reb, 4 stl, 5 blk), Ryan Quinten 5, Adam Jacob 2 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Travis Hulsey 2 (3 reb, 1 ast).

MONTE VISTA 59, HELIX 42 – It’s been awhile since the Monte Vista Monarchs have punched around Helix in the manner that they did in Monday’s (Jan. 9) Grossmont Conference crossover encounter in Spring Valley.

“I thought we played a strong defensive game, was really happy with HASANI JARVIS's (who got his first start) defense on (BRIAN) VALADEZ,” said Monte Vista coach JAMES CARROLL. “Guard K.J. HOUSTON also did a good job on TITUS YOUNG and played a solid game. JAMES JACKSON and REUBEN NWANDO were strong inside.”

Monte Vista (11-6) shot 50 percent from the field (22-for-44) as the Monarchs outscored the Highlanders (7-7) across the board.

Jackson set the scoring tone with 20 points to go along with 9 rebounds and 8 assists. Nwando added 18 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the floor. He also gathered 7 rebounds and recorded 3 steals as did Jackson and Houston, who also handed out a game high 11 assists.

Young finished with 15 points and 6 assists to head the Highlanders.

We Looked It Up – Prior to Monday's contest, the teams had met 21 times this century, with Helix winning 18 times. Among Monte Vista's three triumphs, two needed to go into overtime (65-59 in 2003-03, and 50-43 in 2005-06). The last Monarchs victory, 53-49, came in 2008-09 in the teams' final meeting in Grossmont South League competition before MVHS switched leagues.

Monte Vista: James Jackson 20 (9 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Reuben Nwando 18 (7 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), K.J. Houston 10 (4 reb, 11 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Hasani Jarvis 6 (3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk), Jahzdion Taylor 4 (7 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kylie Luster 1 (4 reb, 2 blk), Devin Rendo (1 stl), D’ondre Coleman (1 reb).

Helix: Titus Young 15 (2 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl), Brian Valadez 9 (9 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 3 blk), Romario Wilson 8 (5 reb, 2 blk), Derrick Chandler 3 (5 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Kaelan Mitchell 3 (4 reb, 1 ast), Kene Anigbogu 2 (3 reb, 4 stl, 2 blk), Isaac Randall 2 (4 reb, 1 stl), Mike Todd (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Cameron Lee (1 stl).

STEELE CANYON 60, EL CAJON VALLEY 47 – With the start of the Grossmont Hills League season only a few days away, the Steele Canyon Cougars pushed their record above the .500 mark on Monday (Jan. 9) by knocking off the visiting Braves.

At 8-7 with one Grossmont Conference crossover contest remaining on Wednesday (Jan. 11) against Monte Vista, the Cougars stand as the only member of the six-team GHL with a winning record. The remainder of the league is a composite 31-42.

“We got a little lackadaisical,” said Cougars coach DEREK STEPHENS.

“We were up 20 in the third quarter and I put subs in and got the young players some minutes.

“ El Cajon played hard. In the first half we did a pretty good job on (ANDRE) NIKITA. In the second half he was hitting a lot of shots – making some tough shots,” Stevens added. “There were probably 35 fouls called in the second half.

As usual, Steele Canyon’s offense was all about balance. JUSTIN NORWOOD (13 points) and CASEY BALIKIAN (12) set the pace.

SC welcomed back a key player.

“DANNY BWINIKA, who has played sparingly due to an injured ankle, entered the game in the second half and “played pretty well,” according to Stephens.

Nikita registered a game high 26 points for El Cajon Valley (7-4).

“MICHAEL JORDAN played really well,” Stephens added. “He did a good job on Nikita in the first half. He fouled out with 7 minutes left.”

It was the fourth straight setback for the Braves.

“I don’t think the players were focused on Steele Canyon today,” El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS said. “We dropped down 26 points early, but we made a few changes on defense, went to a half-court trap and created some turnovers that helped us get back in the game. We got within 6 points but just ran out of gas.”

Steele Canyon: Justin Norwood 13, Casey Balikian 12, Dylan Kirchhofer 9, Michael Jordan 7, Danny Bwinika 7, Donovan Habib 5, P.J. Russell 4, Daniel King 3.

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikita 26 (4 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl), Loqman Sulyman 6, Derrick Moore 5 (9 reb, 1 blk), Terrence Coleman 4 (2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Abraham Ali 3 (3 reb, 3 stl), Deshe Tibbs 2 (2 reb), Deon Kelly 1 (3 reb, 1 stl).

Charging down the lane is Santana's Jason Corbisez (11), only to confronted by a pair of West Hills defenders in Ryan Williams (30) and Jeron Satterfield. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

ALSO VIEW OUR UPDATED PHOTO GALLERY HERE

Pack-hairs

Styling on the basketball court with perfect shaves to the melon are Jonny Preston (top) and Jeron Satterfield of West Hills. (Photos by Frank Price, youatplay.com)

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
SANTEE (1-8-12) — Midway through the third quarter of Saturday’s (Jan. 7) battle of Santee, visiting West Hills was clinging to a 32-30 lead. After that it was all about the Wolf Pack.

West Hills scored 31 of the final 39 points to claim a 63-38 victory in front of a full house at Santana in a nonleague battle of Grossmont Conference teams.

“This was by far our best defensive effort in two years,” said West Hills assistant coach LUCAS ARMSTRONG. “Our kids were really fired up for this game. We had no trouble getting them ready to play.”

This was West Hills’ (6-8) first game in 15 days.

“Our kids really wanted this game and took pride in going after it,” Armstrong continued. Since this is the only time we play them it gives us bragging rights for a year.”

“Our kids fell behind 13-10 in the first quarter and could easily have folded,” he added. “But that wasn’t the case – they never gave up. We used our defense to take over.”

KEVIN STRAUB paced a balanced West Hills attack with 16 points and JERON SATTERFIELD contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds.

RYAN WILLIAMS pulled down 9 rebounds and ALEX PARSONS grabbed 8 boards.

Santana guard Christian Barry (in white) with an off-balance attempt to beat the shot clock. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com)

“We were dismal over the last 10 minutes,” said Santana coach TIM BARRY. “We kept hustling but we weren’t getting anything done. We made horrible decisions and had poor shot selections. We were just too impatient.”

The Wolf Pack regained the city championship; last season, Santana won 63-47.

West Hills: Kevin Straub 16 (3 reb, 2 stl), Jeron Satterfield 12 (7 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk), Martin Panayotov 8 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Alex Parsons 6 (8 reb, 4 ast, 3 stl), Nick Findley 6 (1 reb), Jonny Preston 5 (3 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl), D.J. Lewis 4 (3 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk), Ryan Williams 2 (9 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Will Llamas 2 (1 reb), Justin Sun 2, Joey Clark (3 reb), Kevin McLauglin (1 reb, 1 stl).

Santana: A.J. Bratlien 12 (8 reb, 2 ast), Daniel Levens-Lowery 9 (2 reb), Christian Barry 5 (1 stl), Jason Corbisez 5 (6 reb, 1 stl), Mike Rosolino 3 (3 reb, 3 stl), Andy Miller 2 (1 reb), James Doherty 2 (3 reb), Dustin Murphy (3 reb, 1 stl, 1 ast), David Albright (1 reb).

CHRISTIAN 55, WHEATON (West Chicago, Ill.) ACADEMY 54 – This one was decided by some last second volleyball antics furnished by Christian’s JASON GAINES and SHANE DILLON Saturday (Jan. 7) at the Ryan Athletic Center.

“This one was one for the fans not so much for the coach,” Christian coach KELVIN STARR said.

Trailing by one point with seven seconds remaining, Dillon tossed in an inbounds pass to Gaines, who dribbled the length of the floor. Gaines’ first try for a game-winning shot missed its mark. Dillon flashed in for an offensive rebound using one hand to direct the ball to Gaines, who put in the winning bucket in the final second.

“It was back and forth all night,” Starr said. “Dillon turned a steal into a dunk that tied the game 53-all with 30 seconds remaining.”

Gaines finished with 24 points, the majority coming on 11 of 18 shooting from the floor for the Patriots (7-4).

Dillon did not have a record-breaking shooting night but contributed 15 points. But his all-around game was noteworthy as he claimed 10 rebounds, blocked 6 shots, dished 8 assists and recorded 3 steals.

Starr added accolades on the defensive play of PHILLIP GEORGE, who took the challenge of shutting down Wheaton’s top shooter. After watching the Midwesterners nail four 3-pointers, Starr put George in his face and the long range onslaught ceased.

Christian: Jason Gaines 24 (5 reb, 1 ast, 2 blk), Shane Dillon 15 (10 reb, 8 ast, 6 blk, 3 stl), Jake Larsen 6 (2 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Stephen Johnston 5 (3 reb, 1 blk), Phillip George 3 (1 reb, 2 stl), Trenton Sauls 2, Tyler Ballard (1 reb, 1 stl).

MOUNT MIGUEL 59, MISSION BAY 53 – In a battle of San Diego CIF Division III powerhouses, host Mount Miguel (14-1) took a major step forward in Saturday’s (Jan. 7) non-league victory in knocking off the Buccaneers (8-3).

“No question this game had playoff implications for DIII,” Matadors coach JAY ROWLETT said. “ Mission Bay was coming off key Ws over St. Augustine and University City, so to win this game was very important for us. It really helped our cause.”

For the record, the Matadors are only three points away from being undefeated, blemished only by a 49-47 loss to Shadow Ridge (Nev.) last month.

“Our guys built a 16-point lead going into the 4th quarter,” Rowlett said of the Matadors’ latest conquest. “But then we fouled too much, sent them to the free throw line too often.”

THOMAS BUTLER and MARCUS BOOKER poured in 20 points apiece for the Matadors who have won seven in a row. CORY LITTLETON was the commander of the boards collecting 15 caroms.

“On the positive side is our defense and rebounding was nice to watch,” Rowlett concluded.

Mount Miguel: Thomas Butler 20 (3 reb, 1 ast), Marcus Booker 20 (4 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), Tony Wills 9 (4 reb), Izzy Wagner 5 (5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl), Cory Littleton 2 (15 reb, 1 stl), Marcellus Jones (1 stl), Malcolm Jackson (3 reb), Jaz Woodard (1 reb).

By Nick Pellegrino
© East County Sports.com
CLAIREMONT MESA (1-7-12) — Conspiracy theorists abounded about Christian High's schedule to open Central League play.

"We're still not in top physical form," noted head coach KELVIN STARR. "Because of football, we always get off to a late start."

Seemingly unrelated, City Conference schedule-makers gave Christian the circuit's top two opponents to start the season – both on the road. Thus, the Pats would meet their toughest competition when they would be least prepared.

Nevertheless, behind 27 points and 11 rebounds by center JASON GAINES, the Patriots poured in seven straight points in the final minutes of Friday’s (Jan. 6) contest to counter a late Madison rally, racing to a 64-60 triumph at the Madison Madhouse.

Coupled with a triumph at Coronado, Christian stands at the top of the table with Kearny through the first week of the season.

"We tightened up our press and continued to work hard," noted Gaines, who grabbed three rebounds down the stretch during the 7-0 run. " Madison has some good shooters, but we were able to take away some of their looks."

The Warhawks (6-8 overall, 1-1 Central) closed to within 55-52 with 1:30 remaining before Christian pushed the advantage back into double digits. Included was a layin by SHANE DILLON off a long, press-break pass by JAKE LARSEN, followed by five straight foul shots.

Dillon poured in 19 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 5 blocks) for Christian (6-4, 2-0).

Meanwhile, Madison lost its composure in the final minute when two teammates got into a pushing match on the bench during a timeout. One of the two was escorted to the locker room by a member of the coaching staff.

Michael Garner paced the Hawks with 16 points, including one of two 3-point goals in the final 11 seconds to make the score seem artificially close.

Christian: Jason Gaines 27 (11 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Shane Dillon 19 (7 reb, 5 blk, 1 ast, 1 stl), Jake Larsen 5 (6 ast, 2 reb, 2 stl), Phillip George 5 (2 reb), Trenton Sauls 4 (5 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Tyler Ballard 3 (3 reb), Stephen Johnston 1 (2 reb, 1 ast).

HELIX 58, EL CAJON VALLEY 41 – It's been quite a while since the Helix faithful were able to enjoy a home basketball game. Even though the first day of practice was Nov. 13th it had been 314 days since they got to root for their home team.

Queue an El Cajon Valley team as its first visiting opponent – a unit that had won a mere two games a year ago. But these Braves have won 7 of their first 10 starts and figured to provide a decent challenge against the Highlanders (7-6) in Friday’s (Jan. 6) Grossmont Conference crossover match-up Friday (Jan. 6) in La Mesa.

“I love to have my teams playing in that (Helix) environment,” El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS said. “It’s electric and so much fun, win or lose. I will never opt out from playing Helix.”

The Braves jumped off to a 7-2 start. Entering the contest the El Cajon offense was averaging a staggering 63.5 points on the season and even though they hung in for three quarters, Helix's BRIAN VALADEZ, ROMARIO WILSON and TITUS YOUNG ran circles around the Braves as the three combined for 44 points, 25 rebounds and 15 assists to send the Braves home with a 58-41 defeat.

“Even though we won I think we had a bit of nerves in our play being in front of our home crowd finally,” Valadez admitted. “I think we are definitely getting better as a group so we're getting better every day.

After breaking his left thumb in practice it was only Valadez's sixth game of the season, but the senior has done anything but disappoint as he has reached a double-double in five of the six and on this night was only two assists away from “messing around and getting a triple-double.”

The Braves held their own through 3 quarters as sharpshooter LOQMAN SULYMAN nailed five treys in a row after missing his first two attempts and trailed by single digits heading into the fourth before Helix coach JOHN SINGER made an adjustment on defense.

“He was just going through a couple of screens and we had no help so I just tweaked things a little and you saw the results,” Singer said.

Not to be outdone was the Scotties defensive performance as a group which also held the Braves to a season-low 41 points of offense. Sulyman missed his final five attempts before being pulled and ANDRE NIKKITA could only help the Braves put up a total of five points in the final stanza.

“We have to go out there and lock up our guys on defense and that comes first,” Wilson said. “This was a great win for us to get over .500 but we are only gonna get better.”

Helix: Brian Valadez 18 (13 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Romario Wilson 16 (9 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Titus Young 10 (3 reb, 4 ast, 1 blk), Kene Anigbogu 6 (9 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl), Kaelan Mitchell 6 (5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk), Isaac Randall 2 (5 reb, 1 stl), Mike Todd (1 reb), Derrick Chandler (1 reb)

El Cajon Valley: Loqman Sulyman 15 (1 stl), Andre Nikkita 13 (6 reb, 3 ast 1 blk, Derrick Moore 7 (6 reb, 1 stl), Terrence Coleman 2 (3 reb), Deon Kelly 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Abraham Ali 2 (1 stl), Jeremiah Patton (6 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk), Deshe Tibbs (1 reb, 1 stl).

— Andrew Smith

GRANITE HILLS 65, BONITA VISTA 49 – Senior forward NATE JETER rang up a career high 23 points, to go along with 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots to help lead the visiting Granite Hills Eagles to the non-league victory over Bonita Vista.

Jeter connected on 9 of 14 shots from the field.

KOLTIN HIGGINS also gave his offensive best of 17 points, nailing 5 three-pointers – four in the first half when the Eagles (7-8) charged in front 36-16.

“(Bonita Vista) was trying to take away our inside game, so we needed help from the perimeter which we got from Koltin and others,” Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON said.

Once again 6-foot-9 senior pivot SCOTT ATKINSON was a force in the paint for the Eagles, blocking 10 shots and clearing 15 rebounds.

“We’ve been playing well defensively all year, but it sure is nice to have a big stopper like Atkinson back there,” Anderson said.

Granite Hills: Nate Jeter 23 (7 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk), Koltin Higgins 17 (5 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl), Stephen Keppel 11 (4 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl), Scott Atkinson 8 (15 reb, 10 blk, 3 ast, 2 stl), Danny Densel 5 (5 reb), D.J. Palomera 1 (6 ast, 2 stl), Danny Smith (1 stl), Wes Wehrman (1 ast).

By Andrew Smith
© East County Sports.com
SPRING VALLEY (1-6-12) — For Monte Vista skipper JAMES CARROLL, Thursday (Jan. 5) night's game against Mission Hills was more of a measuring stick for his squad than anything else.

The Monarchs entered the game riding a three-game winning streak, while the Grizzlies had lost their last three contests against some really stiff competition – the latter coming against the No. 1 ranked team in San Diego in North County power La Costa Canyon.

In the end though, a lack of offense parlayed with the size and pressure of the Grizzlies eventually cost the Monarchs on the scoreboard with a 48-31 loss.

The literally biggest reason for the defeat stood in the paint with the Grizzlies’ 6-foot-11 center Kameron Rooks. If that name sounds familiar it's because his father, Sean Rooks, played 13 seasons in the NBA and wore six different jerseys during that span. Rooks dominated on the inside with possibly his best game of the year, scoring a game-high 19 and adding 12 rebounds.

“It’s definitely hard to defend someone that outweighs you by 120 pounds,” Monarchs senior captain JAMES JACKSON stated. “I did my best, but when he can just raise his arms and defend the rim it's such a challenge for the whole team.”

It looked like the Monarchs could hang in the beginning when KJ HOUSTON made his first three shots of the game, with two of them from long range, but those were his only points of the game. The Monarchs just could never really establish anything on the offensive side of the ball.

The Monarchs scored 10 points in the first and fourth quarters to bookend the scoreboard, but in between they were missing too many volumes to make it a real contest.

Trailing by only 6 at the half Monte Vista couldn't buy a bucket in the third and after a pair of triples were made by the Grizzlies they were staring at a 36-18 hole before finally being able to muster the final 3 points of the quarter.

“It seems like every game we have a quarter where we only score 3, 4, 5 or 6 points. Some nights you get away with it and tonight we didn't,” Carroll said. “In the end a game like this hurts right now, but in the long run it can only motivate our guys to work harder.”

Monte Vista: James Jackson 10 (7 reb, 4 ast), KJ Houston 8 (3 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Jahzdion Taylor 3 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk), Reuben Nwando 2 (4 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl), Kylie Luster 2 (2 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk), Xavier Daniels 2 (1 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk), Hasani Jarvis 2, Brendan Harris 1 (1 reb, 1 stl), D'ondre Coleman 1 (1 blk), Devin Rendo (3 reb).

Granite Hills' D.J. Palomera (in white) battles to get his shot past Terrence Coleman of ECVHS. (Photo by Frank Price, youatplay.com) VIEW/PURCHASE ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

By Bill Dickens
© East County Sports.com
EL CAJON (1-5-12) — Team records can be misleading. Host Granite Hills limped into Wednesday’s (Jan. 4) battle of Madison Avenue against visiting El Cajon Valley with a subpar record.

The Braves made the five-block trek having lost only one of their first eight games, but this one turned out to be no contest.

With one minute left in the third quarter Granite Hills had built up a 44-15 lead and then continued on for a 60-48 Grossmont crossover win.

Six-foot-9 senior SCOTT ATKINSON rolled off a triple-double of 15 points, 25 rebounds and 10 blocks to lead the Eagles (6-8).

“Scott grabbed every rebound in sight,” said Granite Hills coach RANDY ANDERSON. “They’re not a real big team so they just couldn’t handle him in the middle.”

Granite Hills junior point guard D.J. PALOMERA kept the pressure on the Braves’ backcourt all night. He recorded 9 steals to go along with 12 points and 7 assists.

ANDRE NIKKITA paced El Cajon Valley (7-2) with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

“You’ve got to give KOLTIN HIGGINS credit for doing a great defensive job on Nikkita, who is their best player,” Anderson said. “He took the challenge and held him to 6 points through three quarters.”

El Cajon Valley coach MARTY ELLIS was disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We played scared... acted like we didn’t know what to do,” he said. “We had two 'X' factors and we didn’t get either one of them. We only made three 3-pointers and played with no energy until the fourth quarter until the game was basically over."

“We just didn’t bring it.”

Granite Hills: Scott Atkinson 15 (25 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl, 10 blk), D.J. Palomera 12 (2 reb, 7 ast, 9 stl), Nate Jeter 10 (5 reb, 1 stl), Stephen Keppel 9 (7 reb, 2 blk), Koltin Higgins 8 (5 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk), Danny Densel 3 (1 reb, 1 stl), Alonzo Beepath 2 (1 reb, 1 ast), Danny Smith 1 (2 reb).

El Cajon Valley: Andre Nikkita 18 (6 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl, 2 blk), Deon Kelly 8 (6 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk),Derrick Moore 7 (6 reb, 1 stl, 4 blk), Laqman Sulyman 6 (1 ast, 1 stl), Terrence Coleman 5 (3 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Abraham Ali 3, Jeremiah Patton 1 (8 reb), Deshe Tibbs (3 reb), Jacinto (1 reb).

© East County Sports.com
RANCHO SAN DIEGO (1-4-12) — A trendy thing among Grossmont Conference teams is “opting out” of crossover games between the Grossmont Valley and Grossmont Hills League games.

In years gone by, teams from the two leagues would match up in something called the Grossmont Conference Tournament.

Not any more. This can no longer be called a bona fide tournament. In some cases – in more than one sport – teams will elect not play an East County foe in Division III in order to schedule an out-of-area team in Division II (if they are a D-II unit) to help further its seeding in the San Diego CIF playoffs.

One of those coaches who is a advocate of tradition and a staunch believer in playing the teams in your conference is El Capitan’s JASON CAVAZOS.

“We don’t opt out against anybody,” said Cavazos after his Vaqueros opened Grossmont Conference crossover activity Tuesday (Jan. 3) with a 61-52 victory at Steele Canyon.

“I like playing teams in our conference,” the El Capitan mentor continued. “We want to know how we compare with teams in our neighborhood.”

Once again TYSON KYGAR was the leader for the Vaqueros, pouring in 30 points. All of his points came in the final three quarters as he was blanked in the opening period.

Kygar was 9-for-21 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the free throw line. Six of his buckets came from 3-point range. He did the bulk of his damage in the final period when he scored 13 points to help El Capitan erase a one-point deficit.

“Kygar was on fire,” Steele Canyon coach DEREK STEPHENS said. “I told my guys he would be and he was. He killed us in the 4th quarter. He’s impressive – he hit two 3’s in a row and three in that quarter alone.”

Steele Canyon (7-7) was paced by CASEY BALIKIAN and DANIEL KING each of whom knocked down 16 points apiece.

“Daniel King played phenomenal,” said Stephens. “He was a beast on the boards.”

“We had to foul at the end and we could not make shots tonight,” Stephens added. “We had numerous layup attempts that we just missed. It was ours for the taking and we missed 4-5 uncontested layups and 12 free throws. They demoralized our guys.”

“Our point guard CODY WELLS hurt his ankle in the first two minutes of the game, and DANNY BWINIKA (recovering from an ankle injury) played sparingly.”

“It was frustrating to have our first home game go this way. We missed five layups in the first quarter. We came out a little nervous.”

El Capitan: Tyson Kygar 30 (4 ast, 3 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl), Nestor Ramirez 13 (4 ast, 6 reb, 1 blk, 7 stl), Austin Betts 10 (2 ast, 3 reb, 2 stl), Kameron Brown 7 (2 ast, 8 reb, 3 blk), Ryan Quinten 1 (1 reb), Travis Hulsey (5 reb), Adam Jacob (1 reb), Jason Quentin (1 blk).

Steele Canyon: Casey Balikian 16, Daniel King 16, Michael Jordan 8, Dylan Kirchhofer 6, Justin Norwood 4, P.J. Russell 2.

MONTE VISTA 52, GROSSMONT 38 – Although the visiting Monte Vista Monarchs won Tuesday’s (Jan. 3) Grossmont Conference Crossover rather handily, coach JAMES CARROLL was hardly ecstatic.

Monte Vista darted to a 17-5 first quarter lead, but cooled off to tally just six markers in the second period. By the same token, the Monarchs’ defense rationed the Foothillers to 8 points in the opening half when Monte Vista had built a 15-point advantage.

“We got off to good start, early lead,” Carroll said. “I was disappointed in our offensive execution in second quarter.”

Monte Vista extended its advantage to 23 points in the second half. But the Foothillers scored 21 points in the final quarter.

“I was not happy with how the second group finished the game,” Carroll said.

None the less, this was the fourth straight win for the Monarchs (10-5), one of only five East County teams with a winning record.

REUBEN NWANDO paced Monte Vista with 14 points and DEVIN RENDO pitched in with 10 points and 6 rebounds.

“I thought Reuben played another solid game as well as JAMES JACKSON,” Carroll said. “KYLIE LUSTER battled hard inside. Grossmont rebounds well and plays tough defensive. I think we were a little lucky because they missed a lot of easy shots.”

DEREK RUSTICH scored a game-high 15 points for Grossmont (5-9), which suffered its third straight setback.

Monte Vista: Reuben Nwando 14 (1 reb, 2 ast), Devin Rendo 10 (6 reb), James Jackson 8 (5 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl), D’ondre Coleman 7 (1 blk, 1 stl), Kylie Luster 5 (8 reb, 1 stl), K.J. Houston 4 (2 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 3 stl), Brendan Harris 2, Jahzdion Taylor 2 (3 reb, 1 blk), Xavier Daniels (3 stl), Hasani Jarvis (1 reb, 1 ast), Justin Brandy (1 reb), Jose Jimenez (1 reb).

Grossmont: Derek Rustich 15 (6 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl), Robby Nesovic 9 (5 reb, 5 reb, 2 ast. 3 stl), Adam Robinson 5 (4 reb), Bilal Rahim 3 (3 reb), Austin Swisher 3 (2 reb, 2 stl), J.T. Barnes 2 (1 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Christian Meno 1.

CHRISTIAN 56, CORONADO 47 – Coach KELVIN STARR’s Christian High Patriots established themselves as contenders in the Central League in Tuesday’s (Jan. 3) opening round as they clipped Coronado on the Peninsula.

“This was a good jump for us out of the gate,” Starr said. “ Coronado is a tough place to play, so to win over there is a plus.”

Senior JASON GAINES was the driving force in the Patriots (5-4) romp over the Islanders (10-5), scoring 24 of his 28 points in the second half.

“It was a game of survival for us in the first half,” Starr said. “We made only three field goals, but fortunately we made 11 of 12 free throws.”

Coronado’s point guard and arguably the Islanders top player twisted an ankle at the start of the fourth quarter, left the game and did not return.

At that point, Christian turned up its full-court pressure and created a bevy of turnovers.

“We got a lot of points off our press,” Starr said.

Among the beneficiaries was senior SHANE DILLON who rolled a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds.

Christian: Jason Gaines 28 (10 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk 1 stl), Shane Dillon 19 (15 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk, 2 stl), Derek Larsen 4 (4 reb), Stephen Johnson 3, Phillip George 2 (3 reb, 2 stl), Trent Sauls (1 ast, 1 stl), Tyler Ballard (2 reb, 1 stl).