By Dick Sparrer
An old rivalry will be renewed when Westmont and Los Gatos collide in the Central Coast Section Division III semi-finals this week.
It's a rivalry the players may not understand too well.
It's not like the basketball clubs play in the same league. The Warriors are members of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, and the Wildcats play in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
But it's a rivarly that Gatos coach Jim Marino and Westmont boss Gary Brinck remember very well.
Because for more than two decades, the two clubs were in the same league--the old West Valley Athletic League. And during the decade of the 1980s, there were seldom any champions other than the Wildcats and Warriors.
"In the 1980s, we alternated championships," Marino said. "It seemed like, if we didn't win it, they did."
But realignment sent the Cats and the Warriors their separate ways. And, with the exception of a few preseason tournament match-ups, the clubs haven't seen much of each other.
Until now, that is. Like the days of old, a shot at a championship will be at stake when Los Gatos and Westmont collide on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. on the floor at Bellarmine.
The winner of Wednesday's game will meet the Palo Alto-Santa Cruz winner in the CCS Division III title game on March 2, 2 p.m., at the San Jose State University Events Center.
Los Gatos enters Wednesday's game with a 20-5 record after beating Seaside 68-57 and San Mateo 67-50 in playoff action. Westmont is 24-2 after edging Los Altos 48-46 and beating Monterey 54-48.
Junior Brad Griffith has starred for the Wildcats in the first two rounds of the playoffs, scoring 48 points and ripping down 26 rebounds in the two wins.
"He's playing strong inside and playing great defense for us, too," Marino said.
Griffith pumped in 28 points to lead the Cats past San Mateo. He tossed in nine buckets and was 10-for-10 at the free-throw line. He tied a single-game school record for free throw percentage, set two years ago by his brother Chris. He also led the club with 14 rebounds.
Raleigh Nielsen joined Griffith in double figures with 14 points. Kris Coughran hit eight points, including a couple of three-pointers, and Sean Daily had seven points. Each one pulled down eight rebounds.
Matt Aiken had three points and a team-high six assists.
"He did an outstanding job of handling the ball against their pressure," Marino said of Aiken. "He did a great job of bringing the ball up the floor and making good decisions."
Court Showerman, Dave Utt and Nick Yaconelli had two points each, and Payam Bagheri added one to round out the scoring for the Cats.
Gatos jumped out to a 20-13 lead in the first period but was outscored 15-4 in the second to fall back by four.
"We stumbled in the second quarter," the coach said. "We threw the ball away and didn't make very wise decisions on shot selection. We tried to concentrate on controlling the tempo a little bit in the second half."
That's just what the Cats did, and they outscored San Mateo 41-22 to clinch the win.
Earlier in the week, Griffith tossed in 20 points and nailed 12 boards to drive the Cats past Seaside. Nielsen had 16 points and three assists, and Coughran popped 13 points, including three three-pointers.
Daily had nine points to go with eight rebounds for the winners, and Utt contributed six points and six boards. Aiken had three points along with six assists, and Showerman added a point.
"We did a pretty good job on the boards in both games," Marino said. "We did a good job of blocking out and keeping them to one shot."
Leigh splits
Leigh opened the CCS Division II playoffs with a tight 69-67 win over Jefferson, but the Longhorns saw their season come to an end when they dropped a 68-65 heartbreaker to Andrew Hill last weekend.
Jeff Kakes pitched in 18 points, and Troy Marcyes and Chris Karanastasis added 17 apiece to lead the 'Horns to the win over Jefferson. Kakes and Marcyes each bombed a pair of threes.
Brian Utsumi joined the three in double digits with 10 points. Andy Nelson hit a three-pointer, and Dan Ljepava and Greg Garrison had two points each.
Karanastasis came back with 29 points and Kakes had 23, but Leigh lost to Hill.
The Longhorns finished the year with a 14-12 record.
Gatos girls split
Los Gatos beat Santa Clara 63-53 to open the CCS Division II playoffs, but the Wildcats fell out of the playoffs a game later when they lost 48-32 to Woodside.
Deva Dawson pumped in 19 points and Elizabeth Coughran added 13 to drive the Cats to the win over Santa Clara.
Nina Vinther joined the pair in twin figures with 10 points, Tina Cseuz hit nine, Geneva Foster had eight and Niki Bumbaca popped four.
But a 14-point night by Coughran wasn't enough for Los Gatos against Woodside. Vinther had seven points, Cseuz and Dawson four apiece, Christina Cordes two and Bumbaca one. The loss left the Wildcats 20-8 for the season.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 28, 1996.
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