Photograph by George Sakkestad
Los Gatos' Dave Utt works for two in a game earlier this season against Monta Vista. The Wildcats will host Monta Vista on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. to close out the regular season.
By Dick Sparrer
Jim Marino knew it was a big week.
His Los Gatos boys' basketball team was taking on De Anza Division powers Palo Alto and Los Altos in back-to-back games.
The Wildcats were first in the division with an 8-1 record, and Paly was close behind at 7-1.
So Marino knew it was a big week, and as it turns out it was--for Palo Alto.
The Vikings knocked off Los Gatos 63-39 to take over first place in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. And they even managed to put some distance between themselves and the Wildcats when Gatos was upset 59-56 by Los Altos just two days later.
"This is a big week for us," Marino had said heading into the two games. "This is the week where we've got to get it going."
"(Palo Alto) beat us pretty good up there," he added, "and Los Altos is not bad."
Marino knew that Palo Alto would be tough. And he also knew that Los Altos could give his Cats a real run. Unfortunately, he was right on both counts.
The two losses dropped Gatos all the way down to third in the division standings. Palo Alto tops the pack at 9-1 with Milpitas second at 8-2. The Wildcats are third at 8-3 with just one game to play. The Cats host Monta Vista on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
The loss to Palo Alto may have been tough for the Cats to take, but the loss to Los Altos was devastating.
The Wildcats fell behind early and were playing catch-up the rest of the way. The Eagles led 21-12 after a period and 32-25 at intermission.
Los Altos took an eight-point lead into the final quarter and held off a late Gatos comeback to win by three.
Brad Griffith and Kris Coughran led the Los Gatos scoring attack against the Eagles. Griffith, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, poured in 22 points for the Cats and Coughran, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, tossed in four three-pointers on his way to 22 points.
Senior center Sean Daily chipped in with six points, Court Showerman had four and Dave Utt hit two.
The Wildcats, now 17-5 for the year, were pounded by Paly early in the week.
The Vikings jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first period and stretched that to 33-12 by intermission. Paly coasted from there to the win.
Griffith was the Gatos scoring leader with 14 points.
Raleigh Nielsen dropped six points and Coughran added five, including a three-pointer.
Daily and Matt Aiken had four points apiece, Utt popped three, Showerman hit two and Payam Bagheri had one.
Leigh wins two
The Leigh boys climbed up and over the .500 mark in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League last week with a pair of wins.
Senior sensation Troy Marcyes pumped in 47 points in two games to lead the Longhorns to wins over Independence and Leland.
The 6-foot-3 Marcyes poured in 30 points to lead the Longhorns to a 71-53 win over Leland. Marcyes buried three three-pointers among his 12 field goals.
Jeff Kakes had a three and finished with 15 points for Leigh. Chris Karanastasis added 13 points for the Longhorns.
Brian Utsumi supported with six points, Andy Nelson dropped a three-pointer, and David Cardenas and Greg Garrison had two points apiece.
Leigh opened up a 20-14 lead in the first period, but Leland cut the lead to two by intermission, 33-31. The 'Horns bombed the Chargers 23-8 in the third, though, and coasted from there to the win.
Leigh, now 6-5 in the division and 13-10 for the year, was coming off of a 58-34 win over Independence.
Marcyes led the Longhorns with 17 points, including three three-pointers, and Kakes had 15 points, including a three. Karanastasis joined the two in double digits with 10 points.
Garrison popped six points for the winners and Utsumi, Nelson and Dan Ljepava added two each.
It was another outburst that pushed Leigh to the win. The Longhorns led 15-7 after a period, but just 26-17 at the half. In the third, though, Leigh blitzed the 76ers 17-8.
Leigh was coming off of a 56-49 loss to Yerba Buena. Kakes led the Longhorns with 21 points and Karanastasis had 13. Marcyes finished with nine points, including a three-pointer. Utsumi, Ljepava and Todd Ishumatsu had two points each for Leigh.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 14, 1996.
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