High school basketball, one of the country’s most exciting sports, has almost come to an end for La Jolla High. Our Vikings’ boys varsity basketball team has had an up-and-down season, going 10-19 overall, with a league record of 3-9. The Vikings’ have had many memorable moments this season, including their first home game on November 29 vs University City. The Vikings won the game 63-43 in front of a packed crowd. Senior guard Jacob Duffy scored 18, leading to the nickname “Homecourt Duffy”. The next day, the Vikes had a 52-41 win over Eastlake in the Hilltop Invitational. A day later, on December 1, La Jolla had another big victory in the Hilltop Invitational, this time over Canyon Crest Academy, winning 65-61 in overtime.

Some of the best memories for players are to have a stretch of home games, always a very exciting occurrence for both the players and fans as well. Every player loves having a gym packed with fans, and that is exactly what happened in December. From December 12-15, the Vikings were playing in the Grossmont Invitational, with all four games at home. After losing 1 the first game of the tournament, La Jolla bounced back. On December 13, they had an intense 63-62 win over Tri-City Christian.

The next game, in front of a big crowd on a Friday night, the Vikings came out to play, winning 35-32 in a defensive slugfest over Scripps Ranch. Up by three with 2 seconds remaining, a Scripps Ranch player pulled up for a game-tying shot from behind the arc, and from behind him came Max Raulston with the block to win the game. Max Raulston, a 6’2” freshman, was a relentless rebounder all season, pulling down countless offensive and defensive rebounds every game. After losing the next night, La Jolla went six straight days without a game, returning the the court on December 21 and showing no rust. They won 55-50 over Oceanside, with senior Behzad Hashemi hitting the dagger to go up by five with 17 seconds left. Hashemi, who finished the game with 28 points, quoted, “We played well tonight. After going almost a week without a game, our squad came out and took a nice dub”. Behzad has been a major leader on the team this season while starting at point guard. After having another long stretch without a game in the two weeks during winter break, the Vikings had a great 64-60 home win on January 3 over Patrick Henry in their league opener. After playing in a tough Western League against teams like Saints and Cathedral, and Mission Bay, the Vikings finished off their regular season on February 8. In perhaps the most packed home game in La Jolla High history, La Jolla fell 69-57 in a hard-fought battle against the star-studded Mission Bay Buccaneers. The “Basketball Bonanza” Friday night game had everything from Senior Night to a loud and packed crowd to even a downpour of boos on Mission Bay star and Duke commit Boogie Ellis. The game was exciting in a night where we honored our eight seniors. Sadly, the season came to an end in a hard-fought 56-54 loss to Mater Dei Catholic in the first round of the CIF Division I
playoffs.

(Photo via Paula Conway)