THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2009
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
www.SDNEWS.com Volume 14, Number 19
Vikings use tenacious ‘D’ to upset Dons for crown BY ROB STONE | VILLAGE NEWS
The tenth-seeded La Jolla Vikings (17-14) upset the Cathedral Catholic Dons (17-13), 44-39, to win the CIF Division III championship in boys basketball March 7 at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion. “We talked about being a team that cares about closing out a game strong and that’s what you saw,” La Jolla coach Kamal Assaf said. “They were exceptionally determined.” The determination of both teams was evident as the Vikings were clinging to just a 9-7 lead over Cathedral at the end of the first quarter, with 6-foot-7 senior forward Tyler Heap accounting for seven of the nine La Jolla points. “We laid the foundation for a
great game by defending as well as we did,” Assaf said. “We’re a group that has found a way to get it done.” The Vikings got it done by going on a 6-1 run early in the second quarter to vault their advantage to 15-8 behind the play of Heap, junior forward Jack Latta and junior guard Max Greenberg. “We keep saying that all of these games are a battle of attrition,” Assaf said. Speaking of battles, the Dons battled back with a 7-4 run of their own on baskets by Everett Benyard, 6-foot-4 senior wing Andres Aldrete, 6-foot-1 senior guard Chase Novak and 5-foot-8 guard sophomore Matthew Rosenburg. That created a 19-15 edge in favor of La Jolla as the SEE VIKINGS, Page 2
VILLAGE NEWS | DON BALCH
The Bishop's School’s leading scorers Inga Orekhova (left) and Gizelle Studevant rise up for a jump bump after the Lady Knights defeated Mater Dei Catholic 71-63 for the CIF Div. IV crown March 7 at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Lady Knights go on crusade to win CIF BY DAVE THOMAS | VILLAGE NEWS
All those running exercises that were required during practices paid off for The Bishop’s School girls basketball team last Saturday morning in the form of a CIF championship at the University of San Diego. Gizelle Studevant (25 points) and Inga Orekhova (23 points) led the way, as Bishop’s (29-2) built an early fourth-quarter lead, then hung on with a 71-63 victory over Mater Dei Catholic to claim the
Division IV title. In securing their 15th straight win, the Lady Knights also guaranteed themselves a first-round home game in this week’s state playoffs, which got under way on Tuesday (March 10). While Mater Dei Catholic (26-3) would not go away, despite falling behind 67-49 with just over five minutes remaining in the game, the Lady Crusaders seemed a step behind their opponents for much of the game. “Our coaches run us a lot in
practice,” Studevant said. “I guess our biggest weakness is that we seem to get too comfortable when we have a big lead.” Holding an 18-point lead with 5:06 left in the game, Bishop’s watched Mater Dei go on a 14-4 run before it was all said and done. “I told the girls when we called timeout in the last minute (Bishop’s led 69-61 with :53 remaining) to just calm down and be patient,” SEE CRUSADE, Page 4
La Jolla’s Taylor Davis is pursued by Cathedral’s Nick Nixon late in the fourth VILLAGE NEWS | RONAN GRAY quarter of the CIF Div. III championship at USD.
Bishop’s topples Parker for CIF hoops title Six elected to fill LJCPA trustee seats in 2009 BY ALYSSA RAMOS | VILLAGE NEWS
Residents elected six La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) members March 5 to fill trustee vacancies from 10 candidates who ran during the group’s annual 2009 election. Michele Addington, Tom Brady, Dan Courtney, Nancy Manno, Phil Merten and Greg Salmon won the
most votes, allowing each of the six La Jollans to serve a full term as an LJCPA trustee, according to LJCPA representatives. Members John La Raia, Ryan Hill, Alice Perricone and Michael Morton ran but were not elected. Perricone and Morton served as LJCPA trustees since 2006, SEE LJCPA, Page 2
BY DAVE THOMAS | VILLAGE NEWS
the game, Bishop’s righted the ship and carried a 26-18 lead into intermission. As he has for much of the year, junior Malik Love hit a key basket (3-pointer to end the second quarter) and give the Knights momentum at the half. “Our trademark is defense,” Bishop’s head coach Tom Tarantino said afterward. “Malik (hitting big shots) has done that all season. Each time we’ve played Park-
While it may not have been the prettiest basketball game ever played, it was definitely an effective one as far as The Bishop’s School Knights are concerned. With a CIF Division IV title hanging in the balance last Saturday afternoon at the University of San Diego, Bishop’s used a tough defense to limit rival Francis Parker to 12 second-half points, en SEE TITLE, Page 4 route to a 46-30 victory. The win gave the Knights the CIF gold and VILLAGE NEWS | DON BALCH a first-round home game (March Bishop's David Stotelmyre (right) 10) in this week’s state playoffs. spots up for a shot during the March After falling behind 6-0 to start 7 CIF Div. IV championship vs. Parker.