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Warriors fall to Homestead in Del Mar final
Challenge was purposely tough
By Dick Sparrer
Wade Nakamura was looking forward to a tough preseason for his Homestead girls basketball team. So he scheduled powers like Westmont, Santa Cruz, Sacred Heart Prep and Amador Valley for a reason. "Those tough games will hopefully prepare us for the league season," said the Homestead coach.
Well, the Mustangs are prepared, at least if last week's showing in the Del Mar Tournament is any indication.
Homestead breezed through the Del Mar Tourney with three straight victories, including a hard-earned 45-42 win over powerful Westmont in the tournament championship game.
The Mustangs jumped out to a 13-5 first-period lead, but Westmont tied it by intermission, 23-23. Homestead opened up a six-point cushion by outscoring Westmont 16-10 in the third quarter, and held on as the Warriors got within three in the fourth.
No Westmont player could score in double figures in the loss. Mia Simmons and Alyssa Parsons led the Warriors with nine points apiece. Jenny Brown added eight points, Sheryl Mahaffey hit seven, Gina Kottikas had three, and Zuleeka Mohamed and Kim Castillo added two each. Mahaffey had a three-pointer.
The Warriors opened the tournament with a lopsided 71-32 win over Carlmont, then crushed Lynbrook 69-23 to move into the tourney final.
Mahaffey, Westmont's talented 6-foot-1 returning senior, had the hot hand in the first two games, pitching in 41 points in the two games, including six three-pointers. She finished the tournament with 48 points in three games and seven threes.
Mahaffey pumped in 22 points to lead the Warriors to the win over Carlmont in the opener. Four of her nine field goals were from three-point range.
Simmons joined her in double digits with 16 points. Parsons supported with nine points, Mohamed hit eight, Jennifer Brownridge six, Brown four and Kottikas, Veronica Sifuentez and Shannon Stenzel two each.
Mahaffey came back with 19 points, including a pair of threes, and Simmons had 10 in the easy win over the Vikings. Parsons chipped in with nine, and Mohamed and Sifuentez hit eight apiece.
Falcons rolling
The Saratoga boys basketball team continued to roll last week, beating Westmont 55-46 and Prospect 71-57 to improve to 14-1 in preseason.
Micah Weger, the talented 5-foot-10 senior guard, bombed 17 points, including three threes, to lead Saratoga past Prospect.
Senior Scott Snider chipped in with 14 points in the win, and Jesse Alejandro added 10. Bill Wallace had seven points, Mike Crosby six, A.J. Peper five, Todd Anderson four, Alan Tsai three, Robert Kim two and Tony Kau, Ori Kawahara and Alexi Sevastapoulus one each.
Kelley Stevens led the Panthers with 14 points, including four three-pointers. Slaven Moro joined him in double digits with 10 points.
Sal Washington supported with nine points, and Stephen Juran had eight. Washington hit a pair of threes, and Juran hit one.
Later in the week, Saratoga knocked off Westmont 55-46. Crosby led the Falcons with 17 points, and Weger added 13. Crosby hit a three-pointer for Saratoga, and Weger popped a pair.
Alejandro, Peper and Kau supported with six points each, Snider hit three, and Wallace and Tsai had two apiece.
Caleb Pitts and Daniel Sherburne were the big scorers for the Warriors in the loss to the Falcons. Pitts bombed 16 points, and Sherburne added 14, including a three.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
