High School Basketball Roundup : James and Miller Lead San Diego Against Poway

SAN DIEGO — Clark James is the guy with the last name first and the first name last. Milton Miller is San Diego County’s other Miller. Torrey Pines’ Courtie Miller steals most of the ink.

Combined, the two San Diego High stars, who will lead their team against Poway (23-4) tonight in the San Diego Division I boys’ basketball final at 8:30 in the Sports Arena, have been known to cause a worry or two for opposing coaches.

Neville Saner, Poway’s coach, is in that position tonight. He expects his team to get a workout from San Diego (20-4) but likes the looks of his defense.

“We’ve got good talent on this club,” Saner said. “This one works as hard as any defensive club I’ve had.”

Since San Diego forwards Raynard Wells and J.R. Greer were declared academically ineligible before the playoffs, James, a 6-foot-3 guard/forward, and Miller, a 6-6 center, have picked up the scoring slack.

Poway’s scoring has been balanced all season, with no one averaging more than 13 points. The Titans, led by forward Adam Jones and guard Gabby Awbrey, will likely be without starting guard Greg Sorrell, who has mononucleosis.

Torrey Pines, which lost in last year’s Division II semifinals, will play Madison, the defending Division II champions, today at 4:30.

Top-ranked Torrey Pines (30-1) is led by forward Courtie Miller and center Kevin Flanagan, both three-year starters.

Madison (17-12) is led by senior Robby Robinson, the county’s second-leading scorer with a 27.0 average.

It seems nobody is giving Clairemont (13-15) much of a chance against Lincoln (26-1) in the Division III final at 12:30.

Greg Lee, Clairemont’s coach, said, “If (players from both teams) played a pickup game in the gym, the next nine players chosen after Ray (McDavid) might well belong to Lincoln.”

The first pick might be a tossup between McDavid, who finished fifth in the county in scoring with a 25.1 average, and Lincoln’s Joe Temple, who finished fourth at 25.8.

Lincoln has defeated Clairemont twice this season.

Girls

Point Loma (29-1), led by the passing of 5-6 point guard Monica Filer, takes an undefeated San Diego County record into its 6:30 meeting with Mira Mesa (21-7) in the Division I girls’ final.

Filer’s passing has been complemented this season by Tyeast Brown’s rebounding and Chris Drumm’s scoring.

Mira Mesa is led by guard Carrie Carambas, Leonora Lambert and Tweet Castillo.

The trick to defeating Vista in the Division II girls’ game at 2:30 is obvious for San Marcos (21-6) but next to impossible: stop Chris Enger. The 6-4 center has 2,477 career points and has led Vista to a 25-3 record.

San Marcos counters with Susie O’Brien, the leading scorer in San Diego County at 30 points a game.

USDHS’s Amy Seidlinger and Ann Casey, both all-league selections in the City West, look to help their team unseat Ramona, the defending champion, in the Division III title game at 10:30.

Ramona (20-3) is led by Gina Tamburrino and Kris Miller. USDHS (13-7) upset Our Lady of Peace to reach the finals.