 |
|
|
|
Homestead's girls soccer team lost a 1-0 decision to Santa Teresa in the Central Coast Section Division semifinals. The Saints went on to beat Carlmont 2-0 in the section championship game.
Photograph by Paul Myers
|
Great year ends for Homestead boys
Homestead girls lose to Santa Teresa in CCS soccer semi's
By DICK SPARRER
There were likely a few heads hanging after the Homestead boys basketball team dropped a 51-49 overtime decision to Los Gatos in the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs last week.
After all, the loss brought the Homestead season to an abrupt end, while Los Gatos will go on to play in the CCS semifinals against St. Francis.
Still, while the loss in the year's final game had to sting the Mustangs, they can't be disappointed with their performance in the 2001-02 season. Quite the contrary--the Mustangs have no reason to hang their heads and every reason to take great pride in their accomplishments of the recently completed campaign.
What did Homestead accomplish in '01-02? Plenty.
*The Mustangs won the title in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara, their first league championship since 1992;
*They set a new single season record for victories with 23, crushing the old of 16;
*And they made it to the CCS quarterfinals.
Included among those 23 wins was a 48-43 non-league win over CCS Division I powerhouse Milpitas, the champions of the SCVAL's De Anza Division.
Homestead posted an 11-1 record to win the El Camino Division championship and the Mustangs opened the CCS playoffs with a 53-43 win over Gunn before falling to Los Gatos.
Brad Sasaki poured in 21 points and Garren Strong buried 17 to lead the Mustangs to the win over the Titans in the first round of the playoffs.
Sasaki had five three-pointers among his six field goals and he added four points at the free-throw line in leading the Mustangs to the victory. Strong also popped a pair of threes.
Tim Strombel tossed in nine points in the win, Gus Gauntlett hit a three, Randy Chang had two points and Matt Johnson hit one.
Homestead opened up a 10-3 lead after a quarter and was up by eight at the half before Gunn outscored the Mustangs by seven in the third period to cut the lead to one at 32-31. But Homestead handled Gunn 21-12 in the final quarter to pull out the 10-point win.
The Mustangs, 23-6 for the year, couldn't pull off the same kind of fourth-quarter magic against Los Gatos on Saturday, though. The clubs finished regulation in a 49-49 tie, and the Cats scored two points in overtime to pull out the tight 51-49 victory.
Sasaki led the Mustangs with 15 points, including three three-pointers, and Strong had 12 points, including two threes. Strombel finished with nine points, Bryan Silverman eight and Gauntlett five. Silverman had two threes and Gauntlett hit one.
One of the most satisfying wins of the year for the Mustangs had to be the 48-43 victory over Milpitas in the last week of the regular season.
Homestead trailed the powerful Trojans 19-2 after a quarter and 29-16 at the half. But the Mustangs came on strong in the second half to pull out the victory.
Silverman's free throw in the fourth quarter put Homestead up 37-36, and the Mustangs went on to complete a 22-point run in the final period.
Silverman led Homestead with 21 points, 19 coming in the second half, and Sasaki hit 14 points. Silverman buried four three-pointers and Sasaki hit a pair.
Strombel had seven points in the game, Strong hit four and Gauntlett had two.
Homestead closed out league play with a 79-57 win over Monta Vista. Strong and Sasaki hit 16 points apiece, Johnson canned 11, Armen Ekmekji jammed 10, Strombel nine, Gauntlett eight, Chang seven and Roozbey Yabri two.
Split for Mats
The Monta Vista girls opened the CCS Division I playoffs with a tight 37-34 win over Andrew Hill last Tuesday, but the Matadors were eliminated by Mitty 83-20 last Thursday night.
Senior center Deanna Sainten helped get the Mats off to a good start when she pitched in 16 points to lead her club to the close win over the Falcons.
Monta Vista jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the first period and held onto a two-point edge at intermission. The Mats were up by four heading into the final quarter, then held on for the three-point victory.
Sainten's eight field goals led the Monta Vista scoring attack. Junior forward Marissa Cerros supported with eight points and Rekha Arakeri, Diana Chien and Melanie Wen added four points each. Lauren Fabrizio rounded out the scoring with a free throw.
Things didn't go quite as well later in the week against Mitty. The Matadors could score just 20 points in the loss to the Monarchs.
Chien led the Mats with eight points and Sainten added five. Arakeri hit a three-pointer and Wen and Emily Maples had two points apiece.
The split left the Matadors 13-15 for the season.
|
|
|
|
Cupertino, California Since 1947
