Cats lose to Paly in fight for first in girls basketball

By Dick Sparrer

A night that started out so right for the Los Gatos girls basketball team ended up... well, not so great.

The Wildcats were battling Palo Alto for first place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and they jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead when senior Julia Pugliese buried a three-pointer to open the game.

Gatos stretched that lead to 7-0 in the early going, but Paly turned it on to overtake the Wildcats and go on to a 47-35 victory.

The win pushed the Vikings into a first-place tie with St. Francis, the clubs sporting matching 8-2 records. Los Gatos slipped to third place at 7-3.

Earlier in the week the Cats had whipped Homestead 48-27 to not only set up the first-place game, but to also clinch a place in the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Gatos will finish off the regular season this week. The Wildcats will host fourth-place Los Altos on Feb. 13, 7 p.m., in senior night at Los Gatos, then will visit Fremont on Feb. 15, 7 p.m.

The Wildcats had their shot at the division championship when they battled Palo Alto last Friday night as part of an LG-PA quadheader at Los Gatos. But after the quick start, fouls and costly mistakes kept the Cats from claiming the win.

Pugliese, who had buried four three-pointers and pitched in 15 points in the win over Homestead to open the week, had just the one bucket in the loss to Paly. She missed much of the first half because of foul trouble, then fouled out early in the second half.

The early three by Pugliese helped the Wildcats build the early lead against Paly, and "things were looking good," said Los Gatos assistant coach Paul Williams. But the Vikings took a 13-10 lead by the end of the period, and led by 15 at intermission.

The Wildcats managed to pull within six points in the fourth quarter, but Palo Alto was able to pull away to post the 12-point win.

Senior Michelle Beritzhoff finished the night with 10 points and six rebounds, but she too was in foul trouble and missed much of the first half.

Freshman Alexa Anderson was the stat leader for the night, tossing in 11 points, ripping down 10 rebounds and grabbing three steals. She scored six of her team-high 11 points in the final period.

Los Gatos, now 16-10 for the year, opened the week with the lopsided win over Homestead.

Pugliese was the scoring leader for the Cats with her 15 points. Four of her five field goals were from behind the three-point line.

"She was shooting very well," said Williams of Pugliese.

Virginia Fritsch supported with nine points in the win. Beritzhoff tossed in eight points and Annie Green had five, including a three.

Marissa Nunn and Anderson chipped in with four points apiece, Carrie Awalt had two and Katie McClenathan had one.

The Cats held Homestead to just eight points in the first half, and led 27-8 at intermission. They coasted from there to the win.

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