By Dick Sparrer
Jim Marino was worried about Palo Alto even before the season began in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Marino figured that Palo Alto would be the title favorite in the division in the 1995-96 race. He knew his own Los Gatos Wildcats would be a force to be reckoned with in the division, but he was sure that Paly would be the team to beat.
As it turns out, Marino was something of a prophet.
Palo Alto is off to a perfect 5-0 start in the division race, and among those five victories in a 62-39 win over Los Gatos.
That one came last week when the Vikings battled from behind to outscore Gatos 43-17 in the second half to pull out a 23-point victory.
The Wildcats rebounded with a 53-45 win over Los Alto on Friday to improve to 4-1 in the division and to 13-3 for the year.
The Cats will close out the first round of the De Anza Division season when they visit Monta Vista on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m., and they'll open the final half of the season on Jan. 26 at Lynbrook in a 7 p.m. tipoff.
But after last week's results, it's a Feb. 7 rematch with Paly that looms largest on the Gatos second-half schedule.
Los Gatos had a tough time on the Paly floor last week, especially in the second half.
The Cats were down just 10-9 at the first buzzer, and they outscored the Vikings 13-9 in the second quarter to lead by three at intermission, 22-19.
But Palo Alto topped Gatos 20-8 in the third period to go in front, then the Vikes whipped the Cats 23-9 to claim the win.
High-scoring 6-foot-5 junior forward Brad Griffith led the Wildcats with 17 points. He was the only LG player to score in double digits.
Josh Rogers supported with seven points, and Sean Daily had five. Matt Aiken and Kris Coughran added four points apiece, and Court Showerman had two.
Griffith came back with 14 points and Dailey supported with 11 to help get the Cats back on the winning track in the 53-45 victory over Los Altos.
Coughran chipped in with eight points and Showerman and Dave Utt added seven each. Aiken had four points and Raleigh Nielsen added two.
The Wildcats were down 18-12 in the first period, but cut the lead to one by the half, 28-27. The Cats handled the Eagles 14-8 in the third and 11-9 in the fourth to pull out the win.
Gatos had run its league record to 3-0 the week before with wins over Milpitas and Gunn.
The Wildcats handled the Trojans 69-55. Griffith poured in 21 points and Daily added 12 points. Aiken buried a three on his way to 11 points, and Nielsen and Coughran canned nine points apiece. Coughran also hit a three.
Showerman added three points for the Wildcats, and Rogers and Utt had two each.
Griffith tossed in 23 points and Coughran bombed 20 in a 62-48 win over Gunn. Coughran drained three three-pointers in the win.
Nielsen supported with seven points, Showerman had four, Aiken and Daily three each and Mike Ozawa two.
Marcyes leads Leigh
Troy Marcyes pumped in 17 points to lead the Leigh boys' basketball team to a 64-41 win over Leland last week.
Chris Karanastasis supported with 14 points for the winners and Jeff Kakes had 10. Brian Utsumi and Andy Nelson chipped in with six apiece, Dan Ljepava had five and Greg Garrison, David Cardenas and Will St. Clair added two each.
Leigh lost a tough 62-60 decision to Andrew Hill a couple of days later to slip to 3-3 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and to 10-8 for the year.
Karanastasis led the Longhorns with 19 points and Kakes had 14. Marcyes and Garrison supported with seven each, Utsumi and Todd Ishumatsu had four apiece, and Nelson added three.
Leigh gets a day off Wednesday, but the Longhorns will be back on the floor Jan. 26 when they visit Oak Grove at 7:30 p.m. to open the second round of the league season.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 24, 1996.
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