Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Los Gatos Wildcats lose two in the Soquel Classic

By Dick Sparrer

He'd already done it once in the tournament. But the Los Gatos Wildcats called on their sophomore forward to do it again in the third-place game at the Soquel Winter Classic--they called on Matt Gingery to sink a game-winning shot in the final seconds of play.

He had done it to lead the Cats to a thrilling 55-54 win over Watsonville in the first round of the tournament. The second time, though, it wasn't to be--but he sure came close!

Jefferson had tossed in a three-point bucket with four seconds left to play to take a 48-45 lead over the Wildcats.

Gatos set up a play to get the ball to Gingery, but his three-point attempt hit iron, and time ran out on the Wildcats.

The buzzer marked the end of the game and the tournament for the Cats. But what a tourney it was for Gingery. The sophomore poured in 57 points and pulled down 24 rebounds in three games, and was picked to the all-tournament team for his efforts.

Gingery opened the tourney with 20 points and 11 boards in the win over Watsonville, and he came right back with 20 points and six rebounds in a tough 58-55 loss to Santa Cruz in the semifinals.

Gingery poured in four threes on his way to a team-high 20 points, and Mike McSweeney tossed in 15 points, including three threes. McSweeney, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, also led the club with four assists.

Pat Bartelmie pitched in eight points for the Cats, including a three, and Jonathan Groff added six. Aaron Jahn hit a three and ended up with four points, and David Whiteside had two points.

"I thought we did a pretty good job defensively against Santa Cruz," said Gatos coach Jim Marino. "They've been scoring a lot of points this season."

Los Gatos came within a shot of finishing third in the tourney but had to settle for fourth after a 48-45 loss to Jefferson.

"We had a shot at the buzzer," said Marino. And that in itself was rather impressive, considering that Gatos entered the final period down by 15 at 43-28.

"We actually pressed them," said Marino. "And our full court pressure caused them to panic a bit."

Gatos outscored Jefferson 17-5 in the fourth quarter and pulled to the 45-45 tie with two minutes to go. But that's how it remained until Jefferson scored with four seconds left.

Gingery, who scored 10 of the 17 Gatos points in that final period, led the Cats with 17 points, including a pair of threes. He also led the club with seven rebounds. Collin Black and Darin Mills ripped down four boards apiece.

McSweeney had a three among his seven points. Steve Bidermann added six points, and Bartelmie hit four. Whiteside, Jahn and Beau Knight each tossed in three-pointers, and Groff and Black had a point apiece.

McSweeney led the Cats with four assists, and Whiteside had three.

"I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to press them," Marino said, "because Jefferson was a lot quicker than we were."

The Wildcats, now 6-9, will open play in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this week when they visit Wilcox on Jan. 7, 7 p.m.

Leigh loses two

In other local action, the Leigh boys lost a pair of games last week, falling 66-51 to Valley Christian and 63-60 to Westmont.

Alex Kargbo tossed in a pair of threes on his way to 15 points in Leigh's three-point loss to Westmont.

Scott LaBare hit 16 points, and Kargbo added 14 in the loss to Valley Christian to open the week. LaBare popped a pair of three-pointers, and Kargbo added one. Josh Kreuzer joined the two in double digits with 11 points.

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