The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Cupertino reaches final four of CCS playoffs

By Mike Barnhart

Prior to the boys basketball season, neither Craig Ellegood nor Matt Tait envisioned the success their teams would achieve. Now, looking back at the recently concluded Central Coast Section playoffs, both coaches can admire the accomplishments of the surprising Cupertino and Monta Vista squads.

"If someone had told me at the beginning of the season that we would have the year we did, I'd say, 'Fine, I'll take it,' " reflected Ellegood, whose Cupertino squad came one game from reaching the Division III finals and a berth in the Northern California tournament.

Although Monta Vista had gone 17-32 in the previous two seasons and had not been in the playoffs since 2003, first-year coach Tait realized that the players were "a bunch of good kids, willing to work very hard." But he certainly did not know they were capable of a division championship, an 11-game winning streak and their first postseason win in six years.

Cupertino, after two straight Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division championships, made a strong bid at a De Anza crown this winter. Led by senior Ryan Matsuoka and junior Eric Heslin, the Pioneers followed up a second-place finish in the rugged De Anza circuit with two CCS playoff wins and reached the Division III semifinals opposite top seed Riordan, the West Catholic League co-champion.

"We had to play a perfect game to win, and we did pretty good in the first half, " Ellegood said of the contest Feb. 28 at St. Ignatius in San Francisco. "Down one point at halftime, the score was right."

But Riordan's unrelenting full-court pressure defense wore out the No. 5 Pioneers in the second half, and turned a one-point halftime lead into a 44-28 victory. Cupertino scored two points in the third quarter and managed just six in the final period, while committing many of its 17 turnovers and making only three of 16 shots after the intermission.

"They are strong, athletic, quick and deep," Ellegood praised the Crusaders (28-3), who lost to league and city rival St. Ignatius in the finals, "and Rob Jones is tremendous."

Jones, a 6-foot-5, 240-pounder who will join the University of San Diego program next fall, was double trouble for Cupertino. He powered his way to game highs of 16 points and 16 rebounds, one more than the entire Cupertino team, as the Pioneers' outstanding 23-7 season drew to a close.

Heslin, a springy, 6-foot-4 forward who paced the Pioneers' two playoff wins with a combined 47 points and 14 rebounds, finished with a team high of 10 points and just one rebound against Riordan.

Matsuoka pumped in three three-pointers for nine points and point guard Brian Ly tallied five, while Mike Carson and J.D. Deborba added two each.

Carson, a 6-foot-5 junior who gave up 50 pounds to Jones in the post, put together a double double in the quarterfinals. Carson's 12 points and 10 rebounds helped the Cupertino beat Hillsdale of San Mateo 62-49 and achieved a team goal.

"Just like last year, getting to the final four was one of our team goals," explained Ellegood, whose 2006 squad had a better record (25-4), but could not get past Santa Cruz in the quarterfinals.

Cupertino built a 21-12 lead in the first quarter against Hillsdale and cruised into the semifinals. Heslin (20 points) and Matsuoka (16) joined Carson in double-digit scoring. Ly added five, Kevin Lew four, Deborba three and Blake Warren two.

In the Pioneers' playoff opener, a 63-47 home win over Jefferson of Daly City, Heslin (27) and Matsuoka combined for 50 points and Ly passed out 10 assists to go with his eight points. Carson (six rebounds) and Deborba (five) scored two each and senior center Kenji Mitchell added a free throw.

Like Cupertino did in Division III, Monta Vista advanced to the Division I quarterfinals.

Senior Eric Lee's 33 points, including five of the team's 11 three-pointers, sparked the Matadors' 86-79 win over Everett Alvarez of Salinas. Senior Marcus Woo bucketed 18 points and sophomore Kevin Lang scored 17 in the winning effort. Junior Sean Brar chipped in with seven, David Byun five, Eric Sum four and Phil Kou two.

Monta Vista led 45-43 at halftime, stretched the advantage to 68-57 in the third quarter, then hung on in the fourth quarter, securing the school's first boys basketball playoff win since it beat another Alvarez team in 2001. The win was the Matadors' 11th in a row, since a 55-44 defeat to Mountain View back on Jan. 5.

The Matadors played a solid floor game (12 assists, seven turnovers), complementing its full-court pressure defense (19 steals, eight blocked shots). Brar was terrific on defense with five blocks, four steals and five rebounds. Woo produced five steals and six rebounds, while Byun was huge with 14 rebounds and two blocks. Senior Ben Hodges did not score, but pulled down six of the team's 38 rebounds.

Two days later at Independence, the Matadors' fun run ended against Piedmont Hills. The Pirates, who would go on to finish second to Oak Grove, stopped Monta Vista 68-58. The loss closed out the Matadors' season ledger at 19-11, after winning 11 of 12 en route to the El Camino crown.

Again, the Mats connected on 11 three-pointers, but managed just seven other field goals.

Lang led the Mats with 18 points, including three from beyond the arc and 7-of-8 foul shooting. Brar followed with 17, Lee 12, Byun and Woo four and Kou three. Hodges was tops in the rebound department with six.

Girls basketball

Neither Homestead, Monta Vista nor Lynbrook made it through the first round. In Division I, the Mustangs lost 40-38 at Gilroy, while host Evergreen Valley pulled away from the Matadors 79-66. In Division II, Lynbrook lost at Gunn 48-35.

Although Gilroy ran off 15 straight points to open the second quarter, Homestead did not quit. Instead, the visiting Mustangs made a game of it. In fact, Homestead outscored Gilroy in every period except the rough second, and the Mustangs nearly pulled off a victory when Gilroy went scoreless in the last 4:27 of the game.

Kate Mower's 10 points led Homestead. Desiree Prevo finished with nine and Emily Blazensky added eight for the El Camino co-champions, who finished with a 14-11 overall record.

Monta Vista finished the year at 12-13, despite another brilliant offensive outburst by senior guard Sophia Tam. For the 10th time this season, Tam broke the 20-point barrier, drilling 26 at Evergreen Valley.

Tam, who finished with 26, received support from Sabina Lau (15) and Kelly Bodwin (12).

Lynbrook, which shared the El Camino title with Homestead, closed out the season with a fine 21-7 record.

Senior Mira Stauffacher's 12 points paced the Vikings' offense.

Harutyunyan just misses

Cupertino's Aris Harutyunyan capped an outstanding senior season with four wins at the CIF State Wrestling Championships last weekend at Bakersfield's Rabobank Arena.

Paul Kim, another Cupertino senior, went 1-2 at 160 pounds, and Monta Vista senior Alex Kadokura lost both of his bouts at 130.

Harutyunyan, a 145-pounder who qualified for the state meet by placing third in the CCS tourney, lost a tough 4-0 opening match to Bakersfield's Travis Rasmussen, who was ranked third in the state and went on to place third.

Competing in the consolation bracket, Harutyunyan won four in a row, including a 2-1 triumph over league rival Nic Giaccia of Gunn, to reach the final 12. The next day, though, the SCVAL champion was eliminated 4-2 by Northern Section champion Jason Post, who went on to place seventh.