Kiwanis Basketball Tournament : Lincoln’s Press Flattens La Jolla

SAN DIEGO —  Lincoln High School boys’ basketball Coach Ron Loneski knows that if his team can stay close in a game, its press will usually eventually suffocate the opposition, and Lincoln will win.

This was the case in Lincoln’s 82-68 victory over La Jolla in the Limited Division championship at the Kiwanis tournament Thursday night at Serra High.

Lincoln’s swarming, relentless press forced 24 turnovers, most in the second half when Lincoln (9-1) went on three 8-point bursts to make the game seem less competitive than it had been.

It wasn’t just a full-court blanket Lincoln draped over La Jolla (9-3); the variety of defenses kept the Vikings gasping for breath and tugging at their shorts late in the game.

“We want to be able to play man-to-man, half-court trap and full-court pressure,” Loneski said. “The more tired the opposition, the more effective our press is.”

La Jolla led, 24-15, after the first quarter on the strength of three David Berteaux 3-pointers and eight points from Adam Kleid. It was still leading, 52-48, with a 1:30 to play in the third quarter. But Lincoln then scored eight consecutive points to end the quarter with a 56-52 lead, which appeared momentarily to take the life out of La Jolla.

But to start the final quarter, Berteaux made a layup and a jumper and center Kyle Kupiec dropped in a hook, and La Jolla led, 58-56, with 6:15 to play.

Enter heavy breathing and shorts-tugging--and the second 8-point spurt.

A turnover led to a jumper by Daryl McMillan (14 points, 10 rebounds). Then a steal by Joe Temple (25 points, 7 rebounds) forced a foul, and he made both free throws. Then John McCartney stole a pass and fed Temple for a slam. Then it was McCartney again, swiping a dribble and taking it in for a layup for a 64-58 lead. La Jolla timeout.

After a 6-3 run, Lincoln led, 70-61, but Kleid scored two 3-pointers to bring La Jolla back to life, 70-67. Loneski didn’t panic, didn’t even call time out. He just hollered for his team to tighten up on Kleid and keep the pressure on.

“I’m not going to defense the 3-point shot, except in a tight game,” Loneski said. “You will never consistently get beat by 3-point shooting teams. Teams will beat you once in a while on a 3-point shot but not consistently.”

He was right. Kleid, who had 28 points, didn’t score after that second 3-pointer, and Lincoln outscored La Jolla, 12-2, over the final 3 minutes.