Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by Skye Dunlap Junior forward Matt Gingery jammed 21 points to lead Los Gatos to a 55-44 win over Willow Glen in the championship game of the Los Gatos Lions Club Wildcat Shootout. Wildcats win Shootout Gingery, Groff are all-tourney By Dick Sparrer The Los Gatos and Willow Glen boys' basketball teams are getting to know each other pretty well. The Wildcats and Rams met for the first time this year in the finals of the Westmont Invitational a couple of weeks ago, and they met again in the finals of the Los Gatos Lions' Club Wildcat Shootout last Saturday night. But it doesn't end there. The two clubs will meet again this week when they tipoff in the opening round of the Ed Hopkins Classic at Armijo High School in Fairfield. The game is set for Dec. 17, 6 p.m., with the tournament continuing on Friday and Saturday. So at least one thing's for sure--the Cats and Rams won't play for another tournament championship. They played for the title at Westmont, and Los Gatos won the championship game by 27. They played for the title again at Gatos last Saturday night, and, although the game was much closer, the Cats took the crown with a 55-44 victory. "Willow Glen was much better than they were the first time we played them," said Los Gatos coach Jim Marino after the tough clash with the Rams last weekend. "(Guy) Beahm was tough inside, and (Ben) Fuller played very well." The Rams played so well, in fact, that they jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first period before the Wildcats were able to get untracked. Willow Glen led 13-10 after a period, but Gatos outscored the Rams 16-10 to take a three-point lead by the half, 26-23. The Wildcats dominated the third quarter 15-8 to take control of the game. "We had a good effort throughout the game, except for our bad start," said Marino. Junior forward Matt Gingery poured in a game-high 21 points. He had a three-pointer among his six field goals, and he added eight points at the free-throw line. Gingery also led the Wildcats with 11 rebounds in the win. Jonathan Groff supported with 13 points and Beau Knight had eight. David Whiteside had a three-pointer to go with four free throws to finish with seven points, and he also led the club with three assists. "We had one stretch in the third quarter where we scored eight unanswered points on transition baskets with David Whiteside running the floor," said Marino. "He had two good games in a row, against Pioneer and Willow Glen," added Marino. "He's really maturing and playing very well." Devan Denton added three points for the Cats in the win, but it was on the defensive end of the floor where he was a real factor for Los Gatos. "He did a great job defensively, discouraging shots inside," said Marino of Denton. Stephen Pulley had two points, and Jeremy Sontag added one to round out the scoring for the Wildcats. Gingery and Groff were the Los Gatos players named to the all-tournament team. They were joined on the squad by Fuller and Beahm of Willow Glen, Geoff Lamotte of Saratoga, John Pelossi of Leland and Jeff Luu of Pioneer. Los Gatos opened the Shootout with a 58-35 win over Leland. "We jumped off to a great start," said Marino, whose club opened up a 14-0 lead in the first period. The Cats were still up 23-7 by the end of the quarter, and cruised to the easy victory. "We struggled a little bit in the second quarter," said Marino, whose club matched Leland's seven points in the period. "We turned the ball over a little." "But we put together a good second half," he added. The Cats topped the Chargers 15-12 in the third quarter and 13-9 in the fourth. Groff led the Cats with 15 points, and Gingery and Knight pitched in 12 points apiece. Knight hit a pair of three-pointers, and Groff and Gingery had one each. "That was a pretty good effort by those three guys," said Marino of the three players who combined for 39 points. Gingery topped the squad with 12 rebounds and Knight ripped down eight. Whiteside had a pair of threes and finished with seven points for the Cats. He also led the club with four assists. Alex Holcomb and Ben Winkleman had three points apiece for Gatos in the game, and Pulley, Chris Warren and Ben Kane had two points each. Holcomb popped a three. Gatos earned its way into the finals with a lopsided 57-26 win over Pioneer. "They tried to go inside on us, but Knight and Denton did a great job defensively for us," said Marino. Knight led the Cats with 14 points, and Gingery had 11 points. Both hit three-pointers. Whiteside had eight points and four assists, and Winkleman had seven points for the Wildcats. Kane finished with five points, Denton had four, Groff three, Holcomb two and Pulley, Sontag and Dan Brenner one each. Gingery led the Cats with nine rebounds, and Denton snagged six. Los Gatos, now 7-0, hosts San Jose on Dec. 15, 7 p.m., in a nonleague test before heading to Fairfield for the Hopkins Classic later in the week. "This is a great start for us," said Marino. But he was also quick to note that the going gets tough for the Cats over the next couple of weeks. "There will be some tough competition (at Armijo)," said Marino. "But that's good, because we need some tough competition." Following the Hopkins Classic, the Cats will return home to visit Leigh on Dec. 22, 7 p.m. The Longhorns are also undefeated in the early going this season, and are coming off a championship in the Wilcox Tournament. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.