With Kiti Out, Valhalla No Match for Monte Vista

SPRING VALLEY —  Rafid Kiti used to play basketball. Very well. When he sat on the bench, it was for a brief rest. Or maybe a few minutes at the end of a blowout.

Now he sits in the second row.

Kiti, a 6-foot-5 1/2 guard/forward, was greatly missed Tuesday by his Valhalla teammates, who were little match for host Monte Vista in a showdown of the cream of the Grossmont 2-A and 3-A boys’ leagues. Monte Vista jumped out quickly in the first half en route to a 93-73 victory.

And Kiti, dressed in street clothes, sat and watched. He worked on a Tootsie Pop and wondered: What if?

Last week, while sitting in class, he began having trouble breathing. He went home. By the time he got there, he could hardly breath at all.

Kiti’s older brother, Steve, asked him what was wrong and decided to take Kiti to the hospital. There, he sat in the emergency room for 4 hours and breathed with help from an oxygen tank. The doctor diagnosed it as a collapsed lung and operated. Twenty minutes. The most pain Kiti had ever experienced. He spent nearly a week in the hospital. And now, in the middle of a senior season in which he is ranked fifth in the county in scoring, he has to sit and hope he’ll be able to come back for the playoffs.

“I can’t believe it happened,” Kiti said.

So what now?

“I sit there watching, thinking (the team) could have done this, they could have done that.”

Tuesday, Valhalla (14-8) could have done a lot more with Kiti’s services. No question about it. And Monte Vista (14-4) took full advantage. As if Kiti’s absence wasn’t enough, Valhalla’s other senior starter, Jon Scurlock, missed the game with the flu.

So Monte Vista played a two-three defense, designed to stop Valhalla’s Tony Clark. He still managed to score a team-high 28 points. Clark’s performance was offset by Joe McNaull, Monte Vista’s center, who scored a season-high 34 points.

Monte Vista led by 20 at halftime and never again was challenged. With Kiti earlier this season, Valhalla beat Monte Vista by 12.

So what if Kiti were healthy?

What if nothing, says Valhalla Coach Manny Silva.

“We can’t think about Rafid,” he said. “We’ve just got to go out there and play.”

Zach Peck, Monte Vista’s coach, realizes things would have been different if Kiti, who averages 24.3 points a game, were on the court.

“Sure,” he said. “If Kiti had been in there it would have been a lot different. Although some of the other kids are blossoming now that he’s gone.”

Bren Jacobsen scored 20 for Monte Vista, and Jeff Polinsky added 19. Tony Lee had 20 for Valhalla, including three three-pointers.