Several local scholastic boys basketball teams hit the hardcourt last week.
La Jolla High went 2-2 last week and earned fourth place in the annual Kiwanis tournament.
The Vikings coasted to an 88-30 win in the first round over outmanned Borrego Springs, and then pulled away from a strong San Pasqual team in the second half for a 69-57 victory.
In the semifinals of the tournament Friday night, La Jolla played even with eventual tournament champion Serra for three quarters before losing 60-46. In the third-place match on Saturday night, La Jolla lost a tough one in overtime to Torrey Pines, 45-42.
Senior captain Andrew Heap led the team in scoring and was named to the All-Tournament team.
La Jolla plays at home against Montgomery at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22, and then travels to San Francisco for the Marin Catholic Tournament Dec. 26-31.
“The season is going well ” we are playing together, working hard every day and we are starting to see the value of all of our hard work last summer,” La Jolla head coach Kamal Assaf remarked. “As a team, we have established a culture that values defense, toughness and ball movement. We are looking forward to the league season and feel fortunate to have such a strong group of student-athletes and high quality young men.”
At La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School, the Torreys entered play this week with a record of 3-1.
LJCD took second place in the San Diego Small Schools Tournament, with wins over Cornerstone Christian, L.A. Windward, and Coronado. LJCD’s lone loss came at the hands of cross-town rival Bishop’s. Kevin Ings and Kyle Reese were selected to the All-Tournament team.
“I am really pleased with the team’s progress thus far,” LJCD head coach Ryan Meier said. “We are still far from what we are capable of. We haven’t had a full team or a consistent period of practices yet. As soon as we get our basketball legs under us, we should be able to get a better picture of what level we are as a team. We need to clean up some things, like turnovers and free throw shooting, but I guess it’s a good sign that we won a couple games in spite of those things.”
In other action last week, University City High placed four players in double figures en route to a 65-40 win over Patrick Henry.
With the win, UC raised its record to 6-0 on the season.