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Titans have tough time at Gatos
Boys, girls beat Gunn on LG floor
By Dick Sparrer
The Gunn Titans have likely spent more time at Los Gatos High School than they care to ... at least, the boys and girls varsity basketball teams.
Both Gunn squads visited Gatos last week, and both took the long trip home to Palo Alto with the memories of losses to the Wildcats.
The Los Gatos girls rolled past the Titans 44-20 on Wednesday night, and the Gatos boys pulled out a tight 61-59 overtime win over Gunn a night later.
Boys win two
"We got off to a pretty good start," said LG boys coach Jim Marino after the Cats opened play in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with the win over Gunn and backed that up with a 53-43 win over Lynbrook.
The Cats, now 8-8 for the year and 2-0 in the division, will be home again this week to face Fremont (14-3, 2-0) on a key league match-up on Jan. 10, 7 p.m.
The Wildcats and Titans battled back and forth until finishing in a 49-49 tie at the end of regulation on Thursday night. The Cats got a shot off with seven seconds left in the game, but it missed its mark and the clubs headed into overtime.
The game remained close through the extra period, and the score was tied 59-59 when Scott Holbert took an offensive charge with a minute to play to give the Cats the basketball.
He came back later to go to the line to drop a free throw that put Gatos on top 60-59 with 18 seconds remaining, then missed his second charity try. But Trent Edwards soared high in the air to tip the miss back to teammate Jayson Furia near midcourt.
"That turned out to be a crucial play for us," said Marino, whose club popped one more free throw and held on for the win.
Edwards had a big night for the Cats with 17 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and five rebounds.
"He really stepped up for us in our first two league games," said Marino of Edwards, who came back with 19 points and 10 rebounds in the win over the Vikings on Saturday night.
Ben Sandigo supported with nine points against Gunn, despite playing on an injured ankle.
"He's still playing on one leg," said Marino. "But in the time he played, he really helped us out."
Chris Clock had a pair of threes among his eight points, and Jamal Modir added eight points in the win. Furia had seven points, including a three, and led the club with seven assists, and Nik Kay had seven points and five rebounds.
Holbert led the Cats on the boards with eight rebounds and he tossed in five points.
"It was a hard-fought game," added Marino.
Los Gatos had a little easier time with Lynbrook, despite trailing 9-7 after a period. The Cats really turned it on in the second half with Edwards leading the way.
"He literally took over the game both offensively and defensively in the third quarter," said Marino of Edwards, who hit 12 of his game-high 19 points in a two and a minute span in the period. "That gave us our spurt and got us pulling away."
Edwards led the club with his double-double. He had three three-pointers among his 19 points.
Holbert finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win, and Kay came through with eight points and eight boards.
"He came off the bench and gave us a real lift inside," said Marino of Kay.
Faria led the Cats with eight assists against the Vikes, and Modir had five points and four assists. Clock added four points, Sandigo three and Rory Bauer two.
Gatos girls split
Michelle Beritzhoff had two big games last week, but the Gatos girls could manage just a split to open the De Anza Division season.
The senior forward pumped in 15 points to lead the Wildcats to a 44-20 win over Gunn, and she came back with 16 points later in the week but the Cats lost 44-28 to St. Francis.
The Wildcats, now 10-8 for the year and 1-1 in the division, will host Fremont on Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m., in their only game this week.
Los Gatos opened the league season in impressive fashion with the win over the Titans. Beritzhoff led the club with her 15 points, Annie Green added seven points and Julia Pugliese and Virginia Fritsch hit five apiece.
Marissa Nunn chipped in with four points, Alexa Anderson had three, Jenny Dixon and Carrie Awalt popped two apiece and Katie McClenathan hit one.
Gatos jumped out to a big 21-6 lead in the first period and outscored Gunn 9-2 in the second to go in at the half up 30-8.
"It was a pretty good defensive effort," said Los Gatos assistant coach Paul Williams. "Gunn had six scorers, and no one was over four points."
Beritzhoff had "probably her best game" of the year, said Williams, but her 16-point effort wasn't enough for the Cats against the Lancers.
Nunn chipped in with four points, McClenathan dropped a three, Pugliese had three and Anderson added two.
The Cats trailed by just four at intermission, but were outscored 16-11 in the third and 10-3 in the fourth.
The Wildcats were coming off a consolation championship performance at the Del Mar Tournament.
Gatos lost 40-33 to Santa Clara in the tourney opener, but came back to beat El Camino 63-55 and Homestead 39-35.
Beritzhoff tossed in 11 points to lead the Cats past Homestead in the consolation title game. Anderson supported with eight, McClenathan hit seven and Pugliese had six on a pair of three-pointers.
Anderson had the hot hand with her 24 points against El Camino. Nunn pitched in nine points in the win and Beritzhoff hit eight.
Pugliese was the Gatos scoring leader with nine points, but the Cats lost to Santa Clara in the tourney opener. Beritzhoff added eight points and McClenathan had six.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
Los Gatos senior forward Scott Holbert battles for one of his team-high eight rebounds in last week's 61-59 overtime win over Gunn.
