Gatos girls are consolation champions
By Dick Sparrer
They didn't win the championship.
But the Los Gatos girls basketball team did the next best thing last weekend when the Wildcats won the consolation championship at the Mt. Pleasant tournament.
The Cats lost their tourney opener, but they rebounded with back-to-back wins, including a thrilling 40-39 win over Mountain View in the tournament's consolation game.
After the loss to open the tournament, the best Gatos could hope for was the consolation crown. And they won it when Michelle Beritzhoff pitched in 18 points to lead the Wildcats to the tight win over the Spartans.
Beritzhoff nailed eight field goals and tossed in two points from the free-throw line to lead Gatos to the win in the see saw game.
The Spartans held a slim 12-11 lead at the first buzzer, but the Cats tied it 22-22 at the half. Mountain View led by a point again after three periods, 29-28, but the Wildcats outscored the Spartans 12-10 in the final quarter to pull out the one-point victory.
Julia Pugliese supported with nine points in the win and Rachelle Townsend added eight points, including six from the charity line. Cristen McClenathan tossed in a three-pointer and Tess Middlebrook had two points.
The Wildcats, now 3-3 for the year, lost a 46-44 heartbreaker to Leigh in their season opener, but battled back to beat Saratoga 46-42.
Pugliese poured in 14 points, including three three-pointers, but the Wildcats lost to the Longhorns. McClenathan had a three among her nine points and Beritzhoff finished with eight points. Townsend added six, Middlebrook four, Virginia Fritsch two and Erin Cook one.
McClenathan came back with 13 points, including a three, to lead the Wildcats past Saratoga. Townsend and Beritzhoff supported with 10 points apiece, Townsend hitting a three.
Fritsch finished with four, Pugliese three and Middlebrook, Jenny Dixon and Stephanie Anderson two each.
Beritzhoff and Pugliese drilled 10 points apiece, but the Wildcats lost 51-45 to Live Oak. McClenathan chipped in with nine points, Townsend six, Fritsch and Dixon four apiece and Middlebrook two.
Los Gatos head coach Lori Cox is looking for her Wildcats to finish in the top half of the standings this winter in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
She rates St. Francis and Homestead as the title favorites in the division, but figures Gatos to contend for third or fourth place in the standings.
Pugliese, a 5-foot-6 junior guard, and Beritzhoff, a 5-foot-8 junior forward, are top returners from last year's club that won the El Camino Division title with a 10-2 record and posted a 26-4 mark for the year.
Pugliese is a three-year varsity starter for the Wildcats and won all-league second team honors last season. Cox calls her the "best player" on the Los Gatos squad.
McClenathan (5-foot-9), Cook (5-foot-6), Townsend (5-foot-5), Anderson (5-foot-7) and Alison Santana (5-foot-6) are all senior returners for the Wildcats this season.
Dixon, a 5-foot-6 sophomore point guard, and Middlebrook, a 5-foot-9 junior forward, are considered top prospects by Cox.
Fritsch, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, and Carrie Awalt, a 5-foot-8 junior, round out the Gatos squad.
The Wildcats will head to the Westmont Tournament this week, opening Dec. 12, and they won't be home again until Jan. 9 when they host St. Francis in a league game.
|
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
