HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : Poway Teams Up to Topple RBV : Division I Boys: Milling, Rarity, Fletcher figure heavily in 70-50 victory for Titans’ fifth section championship.

SAN DIEGO —  Team vs. two.

That was the matchup Saturday night in the Division I boys’ basketball championship game between Poway and Rancho Buena Vista.

Poway was the team.

Rancho Buena Vista was the two.

The result was a 70-50 Poway victory in front of 6,225 at the San Diego Sports Arena. The Titans (20-6) captured their fifth San Diego Section title.

The reason was simple. Poway used its entire team, passing, weaving and helping each other out. Rancho Buena Vista (15-14) checked in with Darryl Parker and Brad Grubaugh, and then checked out.

Parker finished with 27 points. Grubaugh added 16. The rest scored seven points. Seven.

It wasn’t until 7:32 remained in the third quarter that someone besides Parker or Grubaugh scored for RBV. That was forward Bond Schoeffel. He made a free throw.

That was it for the rest of the gang until James VanderVeur made a layup and connected on a free throw with 4:39 to play.

“We’re up and down, on and off,” Grubaugh said. “Sometimes we’re there, sometimes we’re not. Poway is a good team; they deserve to win. They’re the best team. Not the best players, but as far as team unity, they’re the best.”

Poway ran a balanced offense, led by Kyle Milling (23 points), Bill Rarity (21) and Matt Fletcher (12).

In the first quarter, it appeared this game would swing back and forth and come down to a late bucket. RBV raced to early leads of 10-3 and 16-9.

But it wasn’t long before Poway climbed back. Fletcher’s jumper at the end of the first quarter pulled the Titans within one, 18-17.

Poway began to pull ahead in the second quarter, when Milling scored eight points on inside maneuvers and a pair of free throws.

Rancho Buena Vista fell apart in the third quarter, unable to use the running game that had worked so effectively in the first quarter.

“We hit a dead spot, didn’t we?” RBV Coach John O’Neill said. “We were going along and then all of a sudden we stopped running. We weren’t pushing the ball anymore. We were running a set offense and that’s not what we do best. Everything just stopped.”

And that’s when things started for Poway. The Titans led by 24 at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter was just for fun.

The Titans, who split two games with Rancho Buena Vista during the regular season, left little doubt who belonged at midcourt celebrating by the end of the game.

“We are a more balanced team,” Rarity said. “Our starting five all average over 10 points a game. We know our players very well. No one forces a shot.”

This victory was especially gratifying for Poway Coach Doug Wealch, who coached the Titans for a season and a half 10 years ago and returned this year to succeed Neville Saner.

“It felt sweet,” Wealch said. “The kids deserved it. They’ve worked their fannies off.”