Junior guard Cristen McClenathan is heading to the hoop for the Los Gatos girls basketball team in a game earlier this season against Cupertino. McClenathan helped Gatos to two wins last week, and the Cats will be chasing a league title this week.

Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Los Gatos girls fight for title

Los Gatos boys pull out big win over Paly

By Dick Sparrer

It's a three-team race in the fight for the girls basketball championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. And the Los Gatos Wildcats are not backing down.

The Cats remained very much alive in that race with two victories last week, a 50-31 win over Lynbrook and a 55-28 win over Mountain View a few days later.

The two wins upped the Gatos league record to 10-2 with just one week remaining in the regular season.

The Cats share the division lead with Wilcox. The Chargers improved to 10-2 with an impressive win over Milpitas last week. The loss dropped the Trojans a game back at 9-3.

Kristin Ozawa had the hot hand for the Wildcats in last Friday night's lopsided win over Mountain View. The senior guard tossed in four three-pointers among her five field goals, and she added four points at the free-throw line to lead all scorers with 18 points.

Nancy Shishido joined her in double digits with 13 points, including a three, and Brett Sickler also finished with 13.

Cristen McClenathan hit a three on her way to a six-point night. Stephanie Anderson had three points, and Michelle Bertizhoff and Erin Cook hit one apiece.

The Cats, 19-7 for the year, opened up a commanding first-half lead, outscoring the Spartans 17-6 in the first period and 18-5 in the second to lead 35-11 at intermission. They coasted from there to the win.

It was much the same story earlier in the week against Lynbrook. Gatos jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first period and topped the Vikings 16-7 in the second to lead 28-10 at the half. The Wildcats cruised to an easy 19-point victory in that game.

McClenanthan led a balanced scoring attack with 11 points, and Tara Eichenger supported with eight points. Shishido and Julia Pugliese tossed in seven points apiece, and each one bagged a three.

Beritzhoff finished with five points, Ozawa and Cook hit four each, and Sickler and Katrina Sortino had two each.

Cats top Paly

The Los Gatos boys faced a tough test last week, meeting the De Anza Division co-leaders in back-to-back games.

The Cats lost the first of the two games, falling 58-48 to Milpitas, but they came back strong with a tight 37-36 win over Palo Alto on Thursday night.

The mild upset left the Cats just a game behind Paly in losses in the race for second place. Milpitas tops the pack at 9-1 with Paly second at 8-2 and Gatos third at 7-3.

With talented senior Beau Knight out with a knee injury, senior Matt Gingery stepped up to take over the offense against Paly. The 6-foot-6 forward poured in 22 points to lead the Cats to the win over the Vikings. Gingery had four three-pointers among his seven field goals and added four points at the free-throw line. He also led the club with 11 rebounds.

"It was his best game of the year," said Marino, adding that the 22 points figured as his season high for points scored.

Junior Ben Kane supported with nine points, including a three. Matt Swanson added four points and Trent Edwards had two. Swanson chipped in on the boards with 10 rebounds, and Kane and Edwards each had three assists.

Gatos held just a slim 11-10 team after a period, but the Wildcats were held scoreless in the second quarter and trailed 18-11 at the half. The Cats fought back, though, topping Paly 12-7 in the third and 14-11 in the fourth to pull out the one-point win.

"We played great defense, and actually they played great defense," said Marino. "It was tough to score. We showed a lot of character and heart in coming back."

Earlier in the week, Gatos was outscored in every period but the fourth in a 10-point loss to first-place Milpitas.

Gingery led the Cats with 20 points, including a three, and Kane ended up with 11, also hitting a three. Swanson tossed in nine points, and Alex Holcomb buried a pair of threes on his way to eight points.

Swanson was tops with 10 rebounds, and Gingery pulled five. Kane and Edwards each had three assists.

The Cats close out the regular season this week when they visit Gunn on Feb. 16, 7 p.m., and host Santa Clara on Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats will then advance to the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Leigh wins two

Josh Kreuzer pitched in 31 points in two games, and Antwon Guidry canned 29 to lead the Leigh boys basketball team to consecutive wins over Oak Grove and Gunderson last week.

The two wins helped the Longhorns improve to 9-1 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and to 19-6 for the year. Leigh tops the circuit with Independence still a close second.

Kreuzer fired in 22 points, and Guidry added 17, including five three-pointers, to spark Leigh to a 64-49 win over Gunderson to open the week. Byron Taplin joined the two in twin figures with 13 points, and Kevin Rawson and Mark Perry added six points apiece.

Keith Miyakusu led the Longhorns with 13 points, including a couple of threes, in Friday night's 47-35 win over Oak Grove.

Guidry had a pair of threes among his 12 points, and Kreuzer jammed in nine points. Perry his six points, and Darren Fujikawa had five, including a three.

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