GRIZZLIES’ HOFMEISTER GETS VICTORY NO. 400
Mission Hills boys basketball coach Curtis Hofmeister has joined an elite group.
Last Friday, Mission Hills beat Ramona 78-60 to give Hofmeister a 400-290 record in 24 years at Christian, Orange Glen and Mission Hills.
Hofmeister is the 15th boys basketball coach in San Diego County to reach the 400-win mark. He is one of just four active coaches with at least 400 wins, joining John Olive of Torrey Pines (619), Mike Haupt of St. Augustine (609) and Dave Cassaw of La Costa Canyon (520).
The Grizzlies have had five 20-win seasons under Hofmeister. This year’s team is 18-6 and ranked No. 8 in the county.
El Camino’s Ray Johnson (817 wins) is the San Diego Section’s all-time leader.
“That’s some pretty good company,” Hofmeister said. “What it tells you is that you’ve been around awhile. Really, though, you don’t get to that number without help ... great administrators, assistant coaches, families and players.”
It has been a family affair for Hofmeister. His wife, Anna, is the team’s scorekeeper. His son, Caleb, was a shooting guard on his father’s teams and is now an assistant coach.
“The focus has kind of changed from when I started coaching,” Hofmeister said. “At first, it was ‘try and win as many games as possible.’
“I honestly didn’t think a coach could change lives. Certainly, we want to win now, but it’s more about helping kids and making great people.”
Hofmeister was reluctant to choose his favorite team, but finally named a 14-14 team at Orange Glen and a .500 team at Mission Hills that beat San Marcos in the San Diego Section playoffs in the final game played in the old San Marcos gym.
“Those teams gave me everything they had,” Hofmeister said.
Hofmeister said his most talented team was the 201213 San Diego Section Division 1 championship squad that featured 6-foot-11 Kameron Rooks, point guard Kibret Woldemichael and standouts Erik Reider and Tony Stanich. That team beat Dana Hills and Inglewood in the Southern California Regionals before losing at Santa Monica.
Asked how long he plans to coach, Hofmeister said “as long as they’ll have me.”
Four at 20
With two weeks left in the regular basketball season, only the boys basketball teams from Carlsbad (22-2), Montgomery (21-2), St. Augustine (21-4) and Olympian (20-2) have reached the 20-win plateau.
There are no 20-win teams on the girls’ side.
Winning streaks
Mission Hills has the longest winning streak among boys teams at 14 games. Southwest-San Diego (13), Carlsbad (12) and Montgomery (8), Rancho Buena Vista (8) follow. Olympian started the season 20-0 before losing two straight.
Hilltop leads the girls with 10 wins in a row, followed by Vincent Memorial (8) and High Tech-North County (8).
Playoff picture
If the playoffs were to begin today:
Carlsbad with a 34.81 ranking would be the No. 1 seed in the Boys Open Division. The Lancers would be followed by Montgomery (31.71), St. Augustine (31.67), Torrey Pines (26.74), La Jolla Country Day (24.70), La Costa Canyon (23.98), Mission
Hills (22.82) and Santa Fe Christian (22.35). However, Montgomery beat Carlsbad 63-55 on Dec. 23, so the Aztecs would jump the Lancers and grab the top seed. Cathedral Catholic (21.35) is the top seed in Division 1.
On the girls side, Mission Hills (29.80) would be the top seed in Division1, followed by La Jolla Country Day (28.75), Poway (21.75), Del Norte (20.83), Westview (19.99), Rancho Bernardo (18.44), Bonita Vista (17.00) and Grossmont (14.69). Scripps Ranch (14.34) is the top seed in Division 1.
Stats leaders
There are 11 boys players averaging 20 points a game or better, led by Angel Ochoa of St. Joseph Academy at 36.7. Jahsir Bosley of El Cajon Valley is next at 25.5 points per game. With 10 or more games played, Lathan Fry of Granite Hills is the top rebounder at 14.3. Pancho Tejada of Vincent Memorial and Exavier Williams of Hoover are averaging 6.8 assists a game.
On the girls’ side, Jaylene Hughes of Mount Miguel leads all scorers with 38.2 points per game. San Diego State commit Bailey Barnhard of Del Norte is next at 24.2 points per game. San Diego’s Mackenzie Nitzel leads all rebounders with 17.4 per game. Grace Nordeen of Fallbrook is next at 14.2. Brianda Benitez of Steele Canyon is the assists leader at 6.3.
Battle at the Bay
Saturday’s Battle at the Bay at Mission Bay High School features seven games spread over two sessions. The first session features San Diego-San Marcos at 10:30 a.m., followed by Francis Parker-Victory Christian at noon, Lincoln-Temecula Valley at 1:30 and University City-Norco at 3:30 p.m.
The evening session features No. 6 Santa Fe Christian-No. 7 La Costa Canyon at 5 p.m., No. 2 MontgomeryNo. 4 Torrey Pines at 6:30 and No. 10 Mission Bay-Rancho Christian at 8.
Admission for each session is $15.