Prep Review / Steve Scott : Vista Becomes Playoff Factor

SAN DIEGO —  Two weeks ago, Vista High School was 3-3 and in fourth place in the Palomar League boys basketball race.

Since then, however, Vista has emerged as a San Diego Section playoff contender by winning two of its last three games. The Panthers (5-4) trail second place Mount Carmel (5-3) by a half game in the race for the third and final playoff spot.

The game that will perhaps decide who gets that spot is the Vista-Mount Carmel showdown 7 p.m. Wednesday at Vista.

Vista’s improvement became obvious on Jan. 26 in a 62-59 loss to No. 1 Poway. The Panthers had a chance to tie the game in the final 14 seconds before losing.

“The reason the game was so close was Vista played exceptionally well,” Poway Coach Neville Saner said. “Poway played a decent game, but Vista was exceptional.”

After losing to Poway, Vista came back to defeat Torrey Pines, 52-51, on Wednesday and Orange Glen, 58-47, on Friday. Torrey Pines, which was upset by San Dieguito on Friday, dropped into a third place tie with Vista.

Panther guard Ronnie Howard, the San Diego County’s 11th leading scorer, has averaged 24.3 points in his last three games.

Vista may have a scheduling advantage in its quest to make the playoffs. Vista already has played Poway twice. Torrey Pines plays Poway on Feb. 8 and Mount Carmel plays the league’s top team on Feb. 14.

Coming to an end: The 1984-85 prep basketball season begins its final two weeks of the regular season with 13 games on Tuesday and 11 on Wednesday.

The week’s big match-ups:

No. 5 Morse (6-1, 12-4) entertains No. 2 Patrick Henry (7-0, 20-0) on Tuesday in the City Eastern League. Morse has a two-game lead over Point Loma (3-4, 14-6) and Serra (3-4, 12-7), with four games left to play. In their first meeting on Jan. 15, the Patriots beat Morse, 69-67.

City Central League leader Hoover (6-1, 18-3) plays at Crawford (5-2, 9-9) on Tuesday. Hoover seemed to have the title all but clinched until it was upset by Lincoln in overtime, 63-55, last Tuesday. Lincoln, however, was upset by Saint Augustine, 55-49, on Friday. Lincoln (4-3, 8-10) will move back into a tie with Crawford for the second playoff berth if Hoover beats Crawford. Lincoln plays host to Crawford on Friday.

Ramona (5-3, 11-7) faces Avocado League leader, El Camino, on Wednesday. Ramona is in third place behind No. 10 Oceanside (7-2, 13-6) and No. 8 El Camino (8-1, 18-2). A Ramona loss would eliminate it from the playoffs.

Hilltop (4-5, 5-14) and Southwest (4-5, 5-16) have losing records, yet are tied for second place in the Metro South Bay League. Southwest plays host to Hilltop on Wednesday. Southwest also must face No. 9 Chula Vista (9-0, 15-5) on Feb. 13.

Statistically speaking: The Sweetwater boys basketball team has the county’s leading offense, averaging 93.0 points per game. Monte Vista has the leading defense, allowing 44.0. The county’s top 10 offensive teams have a combined record of 161-34 (83%). The top 10 defensive teams have a combined record of 145-48 (75%). The three teams in both categories--Poway, Patrick Henry and Monte Vista--have a combined record of 57-1 (98%). . . . El Camino girls basketball standout, Sharon Turner, still is the county’s leading scorer averaging 33.3 points per game. Following Turner is Point Loma’s Terri Mann (25.4), Monte Vista’s Paula Mascari (23.8), Santana’s Chris Sherman (22.4), Hilltop’s Julie Evans (21.9) and Clairemont’s Karen Chariker (21.1).

Fast company: San Diego Section sprint champion Darron Norris of El Camino High will run against the state champion Henry Thomas of Hawthorne High in the 60-yard dash at the Michelob Indoor track meet at the San Diego Sports Arena on Feb. 15.

Norris finished second to Thomas in the 200-meter dash in the state outdoor meet last season. Thomas also won the 100-meter dash. In their last meeting, Norris false started and was disqualified at the Sunkist Indoor track meet last month at Los Angeles.