Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by Aaron Suozzi

Leigh's Dan Ljepava, tossing in two points against Willow Glen in an early season win, scored 22 points for the Longhorns against Los Gatos, but Leigh lost in overtime to the Cats.

Cats beat Leigh in OT

Griffith's tip at the buzzer wins it

By Dick Sparrer

He was showering the court with assists the entire night.

But none of Court Showerman's game-high 12 assists were as important as his last one--it helped the Los Gatos boys' basketball team to a 74-72 overtime win over Leigh last Saturday night.

There were only 2.4 seconds to play when Brad Griffith pitched in two free throws to pull Los Gatos to a 72-72 tie with Leigh.

The Longhorns inbounded the ball, but quickly turned it back over to the Wildcats with just one-tenth of a second left in the game.

"There wasn't enough time for a shot, but one of our assistant coaches asked the officials if there was time for a tip," said Los Gatos coach Jim Marino. "He said there was."

"I had already told Court to just inbound the ball and we'd go to double overtime," Marino added. But the news changed the Los Gatos strategy.

Showerman took the basketball from the official near midcourt and lobbed a perfect pass toward the basket. Griffith leaped and tipped the ball to the hoop. It went through, and Gatos had a thrilling 74-72 victory.

"It was a wild game," Marino said. "It was an exciting game to watch, and it was an exciting way to end it."

It was a battle of league title contenders. Los Gatos is expected to contend for the championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and Leigh figures to be a contender for the crown in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

And they certainly looked like it last Saturday night.

The clubs were tied 16-16 after a period, and Gatos led by just a point at the half, 33-32.

The Cats outscored the Long-horns 18-11 in the third to take an eight-point lead, and they maintained a seven-point lead with just two minutes left to play.

But Leigh battled from behind to tie it 62-62 by the end of regulation and force the overtime.

Gatos went up again in the extra period, leading by five with two minutes to play. But Leigh battled back once again, this time taking a 72-70 lead into the final seconds.

That set the stage for Griffith's heroics in the last two and half seconds.

Griffith, a 6-foot-5 senior, led the Wildcats with 22 points and 14 rebounds in the game.

Senior guard Mike Pugh finished close behind with 19 points. Pugh had a pair of three-point buckets among his seven field goals.

Dave Utt supported with 16 points for the Cats and Court Showerman had 10 points, including a three. Lee Mokri added five points and Mike McSweeney hit two.

Just as important as Showerman's 10 points were his 12 assists.

"He had a great game passing, looking for the open guy," Marino said. "But the big [assist] was the last one."

Leigh's Dan Ljepava shared game-high honors with 22 points. The 6-foot-2 senior forward had a three-pointer among his 10 field goals and added a point at the line.

Guy McGowan poured in 19 points for Leigh. The 6-foot-2 junior hit six buckets from the field, including two three-pointers, and five points at the free-throw line.

Todd Ishimatsu tossed in 13 points for the Longhorns, and Kurt Darrell added 11. Each one canned a three-pointer.

Scott Yamamoto chipped in with three points, and Greg Garrison and Ryan Weeks had two each.

"I don't think either team played much defense," Marino added, "but it was a great offensive game."

Gatos, 11-2 in the nonleague season, will now settle in to league play this week. The Wildcats will visit Gunn on Jan. 8, 7 p.m., and will host Lynbrook on Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m.

"I feel good about the things we've done in the preseason," said Marino, whose club won the Wildcat Shootout and the Soquel Winter Classic. "We played a good variety of teams."

But now he knows that things get very tough in the rugged De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

"I think there are five teams in our league with a legitimate chance to win it," he said, listing Milpitas, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Lynbrook as title contenders along with his own Wildcats.

Leigh slipped to 8-6 in the preseason with the loss. The Longhorns open Mt. Hamilton Division play this week when they visit Gunderson on Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m. Leigh's league home opener is Jan. 15, 7 p.m., against Oak Grove.