By Dick Sparrer
It was just a nonleague game.
So when the Saratoga and Los Gatos girls' basketball teams took the floor last week, it was a game that didn't mean much to either team.
Yeah, right!
Any time Los Gatos and Saratoga collide in any sport, the game is meaningful because of the longtime rivalry between the two schools in the same high school district.
Add to that the fact that Los Gatos plays in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and Saratoga is a notch below in the El Camino Division, and you know that the game is important.
So it might have been a nonleague game last Friday night, but you can bet that it was more like a championship game for the teams involved.
And it was Saratoga winning the championship.
The Falcons pulled out a thrilling 42-39 victory over Los Gatos to win ... well, win the Los Gatos- Saratoga High School District crown.
Junior forward Allison Zisko poured in 15 points to lead all Saratoga scorers and senior Jill Moon added 10 points, including a couple of three-pointers, to lead the Falcons to the important win.
Elizabeth Coughran led all scorers in the game with 16 points for the Wildcats. The 5-foot-11 junior forward tossed in six buckets from the field and added four points at the line.
Junior guard Niki Bumbaca had a three-pointer among her four field goals to finish with nine points for the Cats. Deva Dawson and Christina Cordes had four points apiece, May Shishido hit three, Sam Sprogis added two and Amy Grabil hit one.
The clubs were tied 9-9 after a quarter, but Saratoga outscored the Wildcats 15-13 in the second and 10-7 in the third to take a five-point lead into the final period. Gatos cut the lead by two points in the fourth, but ended up losing by three.
The win helped Saratoga improve to 6-3 in the preseason as they look forward to their El Camino Division opener this week.
Los Gatos slipped to 4-6 for the year. The Cats open play in the De Anza Division this week when they visit Gunn on Jan. 7 at 7 p.m., and host Lynbrook on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
Gatos jv's win
Six wins in nine games would make any coach happy.
So it's no surprise that Los Gatos junior varsity girls' basketball coach Mike McQuade is pleased with the hot start his team is off to this winter.
Los Gatos sandwiched a pair of nonleague wins around two solid performances in tournament play to get off to a 6-3 start in the 1996-97 campaign.
And it could have been even better.
Gatos split in four games at the Leland Tournament, both losses coming when opposing players hit game-winning shots in the final seconds.
Los Gatos held a slim 30-29 lead late in the game against San Mateo, but Mona Esikia hit a three-pointer with 12 seconds left to stick the Wildcats with a heartbreaking 32-30 loss in the fifth-place game.
Earlier in the tournament, Gatos led Live Oak 26-25 when Katrina Klein hit a jumper with one second remaining to give the Acorns a 27-26 victory and keep them alive in the tournament's winner's bracket.
Los Gatos had opened the tournament with a 37-28 win over Westmont. Annie Farnady led the Cats with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Kristin Ozawa had eight points and five steals. Sara Clark supported with seven points.
Ozawa came back with 12 points and seven steals and Farnady had six points and nine rebounds, but Gatos lost the one-point decision to Live Oak.
The Cats battled back, though. Jenny Swanson popped eight points and Gillian Wadas added seven to lead Los Gatos to a 28-22 win over Homestead and into the tourney's fifth-place game. Ozawa led the Cats with 10 steals.
Emily Jeffers had seven points and Ozawa, Farnady and Nancy Shishido had six each, but San Mateo pulled out the last-second victory.
Ozawa was honored with a place on the all-tournament team.
Farnady was picked to the all-tourney team after leading the Wildcats to the consolation championship at the Oak Grove Tournament a week later.
Amanda Harrington poured in 13 points, 11 in the second period, to spark the Cats to a 58-43 win over host Oak Grove in the consolation title game. Shishido led the club with five assists.
Shishido had a team-high seven points to pace the Cats to a 31-13 win over Alisal a game earlier.
Like the varsity, the Gatos jv's will visit Gunn on Jan. 7 and host Lynbrook on Jan. 9. Tip-off each night is 5:30 p.m.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 8, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved .