The La Jolla High boys basketball team is making a push to finish strong and grab a spot in the CIF playoffs later this month. Head coach Kamal Assaf’s squad comes into play this week with an overall record of 8-12, 2-4 in Western League action. “While we have four new starters, our record is somewhat deceiving because we’ve had a number of close games against quality opponents all season,” Assaf commented. In league play this year, La Jolla has defeated Saint Augustine (top team in the league) and has lost four league games by a combined seven points. “We are playing competitive basketball right now and we are looking forward to begin our second round of league this Tuesday (Feb. 3) at home versus University City High,” Assaf said. La Jolla will also host The Preuss School on Saturday, Feb. 7, and Mission Bay High a week from Friday. To date, La Jolla has been getting balanced scoring from starters Tyler Heap, Alec Giusti, Taylor Davis and Jack Latta, who are averaging in double figures. “Playoffs begin in three weeks, and we are looking to continue to improve and prepare for a great final push this season,” Assaf added. At La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School, the Torreys under head coach Ryan Meier headed into action this week with an overall mark of 11-10, 0-4 in Coastal League play. “We have struggled as of late with the season-ending injury to our leading scorer, Ryan Watt,” Meier noted. “Junior JT Kelley (24 points vs. Crawford) and freshman Frankie Bamford (21 points vs. Crawford and 21 vs. Francis Parker) played well for us this week.” According to Meier, the Torreys believe they have a chance in the second half of league play, and are heading into the playoffs to gel and put together big wins. LJCD will visit Horizon High this Friday night for a Coastal League contest at 7:30 p.m. Elsewhere, The Bishop’s School raised its record to 17-3 last week with a convincing 77-38 victory over Army-Navy on Friday. Malik Love led the way for the Knights with 24 points, while David Stotelmyre chipped in with 20. Finally, University City High also posted its 17th win of the season last Friday, scoring a 78-67 win over Lincoln High. University City’s Mark Hills led all scorers with 31 points.
