Robert Paisola honored on /Wall of Fame

Bob Paisola "bled blue."

Of all the compliments paid to the former principal of Lompoc High School, he considered that the highest.

Paisola, principal of the school whose colors were blue and white, was also known as "Mr. Blue" for his love of and dedication to the school during his tenure as principal from 1965 to 1988 and even after. The school/s gymnasium, Paisola Pavilion, is named for him.

Tuesday, accolades were paid to and fond memories recalled of the former principal at the Lompoc Unified School District/s board of education meeting. The occasion was the unveiling of a granite plaque on the district/s Wall of Fame honoring Paisola, who passed away last November at the age of 74.

"For me, Bob Paisola was Lompoc High School," said Gary Prucha, counselor, who worked with the principal until Paisola/s retirement. "He is the person by whom all other administrators should be measured."

Ohio-born, Paisola served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was an educator for 34 years, coming to the Lompoc Unified School District from Escondido in 1963, first as an administrator at Lompoc Junior High School, then, starting in 1964, at Lompoc High School.

Paisola was lauded by family and those who worked with him or remember him as a man who expected the best from himself and others, in both sports and academics. He presided over what is still described as the "Golden Age" of Lompoc High sports, with many Northern League and CIF titles. Even after his retirement, he attended everyone of the school/s football games and was known to give advice or encouragement afterward.

"He was the No. 1 football fan, but he was (also) the No. 1 supporter of everything," said Lompoc High teacher Jim Warrick, who also attended the school under Paisola. "He was there to support everybody."

Paisola/s widow, Betty, as well as his daughter, Bobbie, and her husband and son, Mark, and Eric Eggleston, were at the Wall of Fame ceremony.

"He/s done a lot for the school," said Bobbie. "He had two kids but he really had 1,000."

Her mother agreed.

"It/s a real honor; he would feel that way," Betty said. "Anyone who knew him, knew he bled blue."

The wall, by the flagpole in front of the district Education Center on North A Street, was established in 1996 "to honor those who have made significant contributions to the school district," according to board President Sue Schuyler. The honorees can be professional educators or community members.

Honorees are selected for the Wall of Fame by the board and community members who serve on the selection committee. Others previously honored with a place on the wall are Billy Williams, Alice Milligan, Glendon Wagner, Karl Braun, Ruth Hadley, Cecelia "Cee" Frankhouser and John Beattie

1/11/05 Ah, the comforts of home.

Lompoc High/s boys basketball team improved to 4-0 in Paisola Pavilion on the season, and more importantly 3-0 in the Los Padres League with a win over Morro Bay.

LPL boys basketball

Lompoc 64, Morro Bay 45

Boo Jackson had 22 points, Sean Webb 21 for Lompoc as the Braves won their fourth in a row after coming off a 4-7 December road trip.

Lompoc led all the way. The Braves were up 18-11 after one quarter, 29-19 at the half, 46-35 after three.

Six-foot-six center Alex Raj and Dylan Royer each scored 14 and Jung Cabot chipped in 10 for the Pirates, who fell to 0-2 in the LPL and 7-9 overall.

"Their pressure defense gave us trouble," said Morro Bay coach Mark Berokoff. "Their coach is doing a very impressive job with that defense. But that is what has been giving us trouble all season.

"Our half-court offense is OK. Nobody in this league can really stop Raj. But we commit turnovers, a lot of them silly turnovers."

"That big guy (Raj) presented horrible problems for us," said LHS coach Jeff Jones. "We had to spend 12 fouls on him. They do a really good job of getting him the ball and he moves well, uses his body. So we had to press like crazy to give him as few opportunities as possible."

Raj, a 50 percent free throw shooter, was a little off at the charity stripe Monday night, making only 4-of-12. But on the defensive end he made sure the Braves were a little off on their interior shooting.

Still, Jackson, who also had 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 9 steals, managed to stop and pop for a few.

Meanwhile, Webb/s scoring included one clutch three-pointer each in the second, third and fourth quarters, each trey quieting a Pirate run. And Joey Erving, Mikell Ray and Daniel Diaz also each chipped in a three to make things easier for the Braves.

Meanwhile, Austin Card, who scored 6, and Joe Scott, who had 4, played solid all-around games for Lompoc. And Brave center Tryrell Coleman, who was in foul trouble the whole night, also made his presence felt by throwing Raj off his feed in the first quarter.

Coach Jones was encouraged by his team/s ball handling, particularly after the break. "We ended the sloppiness in the second half," he said.

Lompoc (8-7 overall) hosts St. Joseph in a battle of LPL 3-0s Wednesday. The varsity is slated to tip off at 7:30. Coach Jones hopes to have sophomore forward Anthony Burtley back for the St. Joe game. Burtley sprained an ankle against Santa Maria last Wednesday and has not played since.

The LHS varsity win completed a Brave three-game sweep at Paisola Monday night.

Lompoc/s junior varsity improved to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in the LPL with a 62-56 victory over the Morro Bay jayvees. Kirk Fridrich had 20 points, Daniel Bursey 14, Joe Alerta 10 for the Braves.

The Brave frosh sit 6-2 and 3-0 after their 61-58 overtime win over the Pirate ninth graders. Steve Morehart had 16, Tony Turnier 13, Chris Mallory 9 for Lompoc.

LPL girls basketball

Morro Bay 71, Lompoc 40

At Morro Bay, Kelly Blair had 28 points to lead the Pirates, who improved to 2-0 in the LPL and 7-5 overall.

Morro Bay led 24-14 after one, 30-18 at the half, 58-26 after three.

"They/re very good," said Lompoc coach Carolyn Jackson. "You get a hand in their face and they still make the shot. (Coach) Cary Nerelli does a great job. They are a quick and well-rounded team."

Brittany Garcia scored 18, Jozza Ray 8, Miranda Cromp 6 for the Braves, who fell to 1-2 in the Braves, who fell to 1-2, 3-11.

Lompoc is at St. Joseph Wednesday.

Nice night for the Tigers in Paisola Pavilion

12/6/02 Hold those Tigers.

Lompoc High/s girls basketball couldn/t Thursday evening in Paisola Pavilion, the result being an overtime victory for the Delano Tigers over the Braves in a Lompoc tourney opener.

Girls basketball

Delano 71, Lompoc 68 (OT)

Gigi Herrera had 30 points including six in overtime to lead Delano.

Trailing 48-41 going to the fourth quarter, Herrera had 14 in the final eight minutes of regulation to spark the Tigers in their comeback. Her heroics left things tied 60-60 going into overtime.

Julie Flores scored 14 for Delano on the game.

Lompoc (1-1) had 21 points from Caysi Garife, 18 from Natalie Fell. Fell chipped in six in OT.

After a 12-12 first quarter, the Braves led 31-26 at the half.

"Delano never quit. They battled the whole way," said Lompoc coach Bryan Ayer. "They made the plays they needed to.

"We didn/t finish the game. We looked tired out there," Ayer said.

SLO 50, Dos Pueblos 38

Earlier at Paisola Pavilion Thursday, another batch of Tigers, these from San Luis Obispo, cruised to a victory over Dos Pueblos.

SLO (2-0) grabbed a 24-6 first quarter lead in this one.

Lauren Villa had 16 points, Monica Somers 14 for San Luis Obispo. Lauren Freeman had 19 for Dos Pueblos.

AG 67, Santa Paula 59

In the afternoon game, Amanda Voss scored 20, Brooke Wighton 16 for the Eagles (1-1).

Sarah Ruiz had 33, including 19 in the fourth as Santa Paula hung tough.

Weekend schedule

Today/s action in the round-robin tourney sees Lompoc vs. Dos Pueblos at 3, SLO vs. Santa Paula at 4:30 and AG vs. Delano at 6.

Saturday, Delano and San Luis play at 1:30, DP and AG at 3, Santa Paula and Lompoc at 4:30.

VCA tourney

Cabrillo 47, Templeton 27

At the Valley Christian tourney in Santa Maria, Jenna Marshall scored 12, Shannon Bailey 11 as the Conquistadores improved to 2-0.

CHS had this in control all the way, grabbing a 13-6 lead out of one, 26-11 at the half and going up 42-22 after three.

"Hopefully, we/re just starting to improve," said Cabrillo coach Jesse Davis. "The girls did a better job of executing (than in the season-opening win over Atascadero)."

Cabrillo takes on St. Mary/s Academy of Inglewood this evening at 8. St. Mary/s drummed on Valley Christian 73-41 Thursday. If CHS wins, the Conqs will play in the championship Saturday at 2:30. If St. Mary/s wins, Cabrillo will play in the third-place game Saturday at 11:30.

Boys basketball

Hueneme 79, Cabrillo 62

"If the game was 16 minutes long, we/re winners," said Cabrillo coach Gary West, whose team led Hueneme 39-38 at the half.

But the Hueneme Vikings put the pedal to the metal and the Conqs (0-2) faded in the second half in the opening round at the Nordhoff Ojai tourney.

De Shaun Innes scored 28, Micah Forbes 17, Justin Hauley 13, Charles Dillon 10 for Hueneme.

Geoff West had 20, Thomas Woodard 11 for Cabrillo.

CHS tries Camp Kilpatrick this afternoon at 3 in a consolation bracket game at Nordhoff.

Mr. Genevieve McNichols Paisola

Mr. Paisola was born Oct 3, 1927 in East Liverpool, Ohio to Robert and Genevieve McNichols Paisola and served with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.Before earning his Bachelor's Degree in English and history and a Master's Degree in library science from the University of Arizona at Tucson, he attended Muskingum College in Ohio where he studied law and played football.

An educator for 34 years, he moved from Escondido to Lompoc in 1963 which began a 25 year career with the Lompoc Unified School District.He was initially assigned to Lompoc Junior High School as an administrator and was later promoted to principal of Lompoc Senior High School where he served until retiring in 1988.His community spirit allowed him the opportunity to serve with numerous civic organizations including that as a board member of Lompoc Hospital and Lompoc and Santa Barbara County Planning Commissions.He also served for many years on the board of directors of the California Interscholastic Federation's Southern Section.He was a past president of the Valley Club, a member of Lompoc Elks Lodge and Phi Delta Kappa.Following his retirement, he supervised student teachers at Chapman College.He was also honored by the school district by having the gymnasium of Lompoc High School named "Paisola Pavilion".Although a sports enthusiast, having a good education was always his priority.His family and colleagues knew that schooling was his passion, not just his job.He also enjoyed camping, fishing and traveled extensively throughout the United States.

He died Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 at the Lompoc Convalescent and Residential Care Center.

Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Betty Paisola of Lompoc; Robert Paisola Jr. of Phoenix Arizina, daughters, Sandra Lynn Twine and husband, Cliff of Escondido and Bobbi Jean Eggleston and husband, Mark of Santa Ynez; brother, Ronald Paisola of Tucson; a grandson, Eric and numerous nieces and nephews.

Contributions may be made to Paisol's Helping Hands at Lompoc High School, in care of the Lompoc School District offices, 1301 No A St. or the Convalescent Care Center, 216 No Third St., Lompoc 93436.

Who Are Robert Paisola Jr. Relatives