Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Cats fall to Willow Glen in Westmont title game

By Dick Sparrer

They just played last Friday night.

But the Willow Glen and Los Gatos basketball boys' teams could meet again this Saturday night. And Wildcats head coach Jim Marino wouldn't mind one bit if they did.

Because to meet again this weekend, the Rams and Cats would have to be playing for the championship in the Wildcat Shootout at Los Gatos. And Marino certainly wouldn't mind seeing his Wildcats play for a tourney title a week after playing for a crown in another tournament.

Willow Glen knocked off Los Gatos 69-49 last Friday in the finals of the Westmont Tournament. The Cats had edged Prospect 61-57 in overtime and beat host Westmont 57-47 in the second round to earn the spot in the championship game.

But the Cats lost by 20 to the Rams to settle for second in the tourney.

"Their quickness and athletic ability kind of took over," said Marino after the championship game. "They're pretty quick with quick jumpers.

"And we're pretty inexperienced," he added. "All five of our starters graduated."

Mike McSweeney, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, is the only returner who saw more than minimal playing time on last year's club.

"Because of our inexperience, we'll have a lot of ups and downs this year," added the coach.

Gatos had its share of "ups" in the Westmont Tournament. McSweeney poured in 16 points to lead the Wildcats to a 61-57 win over Prospect in the first round of the tournament.

"We had the lead, but they kept coming back," Marino said. The Cats led by six after a period and by nine at the half, but the Panthers cut the lead by seven in the third and tied it with 10 seconds left in the game to force the overtime.

"But we scored the first eight points in overtime," he said. "We got four quick baskets on some back doors. We finally started to execute our offense."

McSweeney hit five points in overtime, and Matt Gingery, a talented 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, tossed in four.

Gingery finished the game with 12 points and a team high eight rebounds. Pat Bartelmie, a 6-foot senior forward, chipped in with 13 points.

David Whiteside pitched in a couple of three-pointers to finish with six points. The 6-foot-1 junior guard also led the squad with six assists.

Darin Mills added six points, Jonathan Groff had three, Steve Bidermann hit two and Collin Black popped one.

Groff, Gingery and McSweeney led all Gatos scorers in the 57-47 win over Westmont a game later. Groff, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, buried 13 points, including a three, and Gingery canned four threes on his way to 13 points.

"Groff came on the bench and gave us a big lift," Marino said, "and Gingery hit all four of his threes in the third quarter."

That was a key point in the game for the Cats. Gatos led all the way and was up by 22 midway through the third. But Westmont cut the lead to four before the Wildcats regained the momentum in the final period.

McSweeney tossed in 11 points for the Wildcats. McSweeney and Gingery ended up claiming all-tournament team honors for Los Gatos.

Whiteside tossed in seven points for the Cats. He also led the club with eight rebounds and four assists. Gingery finished with seven boards.

Biderman added seven points, and Bartelmie, Aaron Jahn and Mills hit two points each.

The Cats ended up losing 69-49 to Willow Glen in the tourney title game. McSweeney drilled three three-pointers and led the club with 15 points.

Gingery finished with eight points, Groff seven, Sky Swab five, Whiteside four, Jahn three, Bartelmie two and Jeremy Sontag one.

Biderman, Groff, Jahn and Black pulled down five rebounds each to share game-high honors, and Biderman and Whitehead each handed out five assists.

The Cats fell behind 22-9 in the first period against the Rams and never could catch up.

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