Almaden Resident

Sports

Leland, Pioneer girls each lose two more games in league play

By Mike Barnhart

Little has come easily this season for the girls basketball teams at Leland and Pioneer high schools. Unfortunately for the two squads, little has come at all.

It has been an off year for the Chargers and the Mustangs, regular participants in the Central Coast Section playoffs during recent seasons. After last week's action, both teams were 0-4 in Blossom Valley Athletic League play. The Chargers had two non-league wins to their credit, but the Mustangs were still searching for their first victory.

Still, if either team can win seven of their last 10 games, it will finish 7-7 in its BVAL division and qualify for the CCS tournament. However, considering that few members of either team began the season with any varsity experience, the challenge is great.

After their third road game in a row, Tuesday at Westmont (3-1), the Chargers finally will return home for a 7 p.m. game against Gunderson on Jan. 24 and Santa Teresa (2-2) two nights later. Like Leland, Gunderson entered the week winless in the Mt. Hamilton Division, so a breakthrough could come against the Grizzlies.

Meanwhile, in the Santa Teresa Division, Pioneer hoped to end its victory drought Tuesday at Branham (1-3). The Mustangs host Sobrato (3-1) on Jan. 24 before traveling to Mt. Pleasant (2-2) on Jan. 26. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

Win or lose, both teams hope to make the games closer than last week's contests. While Leland lost 45-20 at Piedmont Hills (3-1) and 72-42 at Evergreen Valley (4-0), Pioneer dropped a pair of home games, 37-22 to Willow Glen (2-2) and 68-29 to Silver Creek (4-0).

Leland juniors Ana Castillo and Kelly Nakamura scored 13 points apiece at Evergreen Valley on Jan. 18, but the first-place Cougars jumped out to a 34-15 lead and never looked back. Mari Yanai and Ana Bushman added four points apiece and Janice Chen, Jennay Hawkins, Jennifer Ricco and Jennifer Egelston had two each. Nakamura and Yanai each canned three-point buckets.

Two days earlier at Piedmont Hills, Leland made just nine baskets. Chen, Yanai and sophomore Samantha Wilson each scored four points in the loss. Castillo, Bushman, Hawkins and Egelston each had two.

Willow Glen's 24 first-half points were more than Pioneer put in the hoop during the entire game on Jan. 15. Junior Haley Schorr was the Mustangs' top scorer with nine points, including a couple of three-pointers. Freshman teammate Marisa Sarabia scored six, sophomore Mandy Swearingen four, Colleen Bush two and Katelyn Rebozzi one.

Pioneer put up a fight against first-place Silver Creek in the first quarter of their game on Jan. 17, but wilted during the final three periods. The Mustangs only trailed by two, 17-15, after eight minutes, but the Raiders outscored the home team by 20 points in the second quarter and by 15 in the third. Swearingen paced Pioneer with nine points, while Schorr and sophomore Marie Barlaan scored seven each. Sarabia and Jessica Kothara had two apiece, and Rebozzi and Reylene Rodriguez had one each. Schorr popped a three for the Mustangs.