By Dick Sparrer
Jim Marino and his Wildcats could use a breather.
The Los Gatos boys' basketball team is off to a 4-0 start in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, but those last two wins certainly didn't come easy to them.
Gatos fans were holding their breath as the Cats battled from behind for a last-second 69-68 victory over Santa Clara to open last week, and they were gulping air again Friday when the Wildcats beat Palo Alto 54-52 in the final seconds.
So Marino and his Cats would like nothing more than a breather--but they won't get it this week.
Marino expects more of the same when Gatos visits Milpitas on Jan. 22, 7 p.m., in a crucial De Anza Division game. The Trojans are coming off of a win over Paly that was identical to that of Los Gatos--54-52.
But while Marino doesn't expect a breather, he does hope for a little breathing room in the division title race. Los Gatos remains as the lone unbeaten team in the circuit, and a win over the Trojans could give the Cats a two-game lead over the rest of the pack.
It was the two clutch victories last week that kept Los Gatos in first place in the division.
It all started on Wednesday night when the Cats fought back from a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Bruins.
"We were down seven with 212 minutes to go," Marino said. "But we just didn't give up. We didn't give up in either of these games."
Los Gatos trailed by one with eight seconds to play, but had possession of the basketball. Court Showerman drove to the hoop and was fouled, sending him to the free-throw line with .6 seconds left and the Cats a point down.
He hit the first free throw to tie it, then dropped the second to give the Wildcats to the thrilling victory.
Showerman had a solid night for the Cats with 12 points and a team-high nine assists. "He's doing a good job with his decision-making," Marino said of Showerman.
Brad Griffith was the Gatos leader in the win with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Dave Utt supported with 11 points and eight boards.
Mike Pugh came through with 14 points in the win, including three three-pointers. He now has 45 threes for the year, breaking the single-season school record set a year ago by Josh Coughran.
Lee Mokri added five points to round out the scoring for Gatos.
Los Gatos had "another go down to the wire" later in the week against Palo Alto.
The lead bounced back and forth throughout the game, but Griffith put the Cats up by two with a three-point play with 26 seconds left to play. He tossed in a shot to put Gatos up 51-50, and was fouled on the play. His free throw gave LG a 52-50 lead. But Palo's Bruce Powell tossed in a turn-around jumper in the lane to tie it.
"Griffith ended up with the ball at the top of the key and dished it to Utt, who scored at the buzzer," said Marino. "It was pretty exciting."
Showerman was the big scorer for the Cats with 19 points, and he led the club with five assists. Griffith came through with 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
Utt chipped in with 13 points, including the important bucket at the buzzer, and he pulled down four boards. Mike McSweeney tossed in a three-pointer, and Pugh had two points. Pugh was held without a three in the game, but he helped in other ways, said Marino, including dishing off four assists.
"It was a pretty exciting week," said Marino, whose club is now 15-2 for the year.
Leigh splits
Todd Ishimatsu buried 19 points and Guy McGowan poured in 18 to lead the Leigh boys to a 53-43 win over Independence. Ishimatsu canned a couple of three-pointers and McGowan had one.
Dan Ljepava supported with eight points in the win, Greg Garrison had five, Scott Yamamoto two and Marcus Lua one.
Leigh, now 2-1 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and 10-7 for the year, opened the week losing a 56-41 decision to Oak Grove.
McGowan topped the Longhorns with 10 points, and Ljepava and Garrison had eight each. Ishimatsu tossed in seven, Lua added six and Yamamoto had two.
Gatos Girls
While the Gatos boys were winning, the girls were losing a pair of De Anza Division decisions, falling 43-31 to powerful Monta Vista and 58-50 to Palo Alto.
Gatos actually jumped out to a 7-4 first-period lead against the unbeaten Matadors and trailed just 16-15 at the half. But Monta Vista outscored the Cats 12-7 in the third and 14-9 in the fourth to claim the victory.
May Shishido led the Wildcats with 12 points, including a couple of three-pointers, and Liz Coughran added nine points. Deva Dawson hit six points and Christina Cordes and Niki Bumbaca had two each.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.