Saratoga News

Saratoga wins a pair

Westmont girls place third at Dons Holiday Tournament

By Dick Sparrer

Saratoga needed a win.

The Falcons had just two games remaining in the boys' basketball nonleague season, and they needed to win at least one of the two to ensure that they would take a winning record into league play.

Well, the Falcons will take a winning mark into the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. But not just because they won a game last week--because they won two.

The Falcons knocked off Eastside 52-49 and backed that up with a 52-37 win over Westmont to improve to 8-5 in the nonleague season.

Saratoga was just 6-5 heading into the Eastside game. A loss would have dropped the Falcons to .500 with just one game to play in the preseason.

But the Falcons pulled out the three-point victory, despite falling behind early in the nonleague game.

Saratoga trailed 14-8 at the first buzzer, but the Falcons cut the lead to one by the half, 23-22, then outscored Eastside 10-8 in the third and 20-18 in the fourth to win by three.

Micah Weger led all Saratoga scorers with 17 points in the win. Weger buried a pair of three-point buckets for the Falcons.

Mike Black poured in 14 points, and Luke Weger added 13 to give Saratoga three players in double digits.

Geoff Lamotte, Matt Garrapolo, Adam Weiskal and Justin Zebb tossed in two points each to round out the scoring for Saratoga.

The win clinched a winning preseason record for the Falcons, but they maintained their winning ways nonetheless when they battled Westmont last week.

Black pumped in 17 points to lead the Falcons to the victory. The senior guard had a three-pointer among his six field goals, and he added four points at the free-throw line.

M. Weger supported with 11 points in the win, and Corey Schwaderer chipped in with 10 points, including a three.

L. Weger tossed in seven points for the Falcons, Andre Sorbe had three, and Zebb and Jason Ng hit two apiece.

The Falcons outscored the Warriors in every period on the road to the win, opening up a 17-12 lead in the first and upping that to 31-20 by the half.

Justin Bouldry led the Warriors with 12 points in the loss.

Westmont, 5-8 for the year, had beaten Leigh 63-60 earlier in the week. Bouldrey and Doug Shin had 14 points apiece for the Warriors.

Warriors third

The Westmont girls rolled to a third-place finish at the Dons Holiday Tournament at Del Mar, beating Homestead 42-37 in their final game.

The Warriors opened the tourney with a 59-34 win over Wilcox but lost to host Del Mar 51-46 a game later. The Dons went on to beat Carlmont 53-39 in the tourney title game, and Westmont went on to beat Homestead to clinch third.

Melissa Newberg, who scored 53 points in the three games, and Sheryl Mahaffey, who added 31 points, were each named to the all-tournament team for the Warriors.

Newberg poured in 18 points, and Mahaffey and Melissa Taylor dropped eight points apiece in the win over Homestead that clinched third for the Warriors.

Alyssa Parsons, Sabine Bosklopper and Emillia Ortiz chipped in with two points each in the win, and Lauren Costanzo and Linda Matar had a point apiece.

Newberg drilled a pair of threes on her way to 18 points in the 59-34 win over Wilcox to open the tourney. Mahaffey canned nine points, including a three. Ortiz dropped eight, and Jennifer Casselberry had six.

Bosklopper, Matar, Taylor and Lindsay Hahn drilled four points each, and Zuleeka Mohamed had two.

Newberg popped 17 points and Mahaffey 14, but the Warriors lost 51-46 to Del Mar in the semifinals. Newberg drained three three-pointers, and Mahaffey hit a pair of threes.

Bosklopper added six points, Costanzo four, Hahn and Matar two apiece and Ortiz one.

The Warriors improved to 10-3 for the year later in the week with a 47-39 nonleague win over Hillsdale. Mahaffey bombed five threes on the road to a 17-point night, and Newberg added 12 points, including a three-pointer.

Rounding out the scoring were Mohamed and Hahn with four each, Ortiz and Parsons with three apiece and Bosklopper and Taylor with two each.

The Warriors, who were to visit Terra Nova for a nonleague game on Jan. 6, 7 p.m., will open play in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League on Jan. 8, 7 p.m., when they host Santa Teresa.

Panthers win two

The Prospect boys wrapped up the nonleague season with back-to-back victories over Freedom and Lincoln high schools.

Junior guard Antonio Park tossed in 10 points to lead the Panthers to a 51-28 win over Freedom, and Eric Ostgarden and Thomas Turner buried 11 points apiece in a 42-27 win over Lincoln later in the week.

The two wins helped Prospect improve to 6-8 for the year as the Panthers head into league play in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this week.

Park led the Panthers with 10 points, and Andy Cates added eight in the win over Freedom. Ostgarden supported with seven points, and Spencer Tolbert and Gil Vasquez dropped six points apiece. Danny Baucus had five points; Turner and Bryan Spratling, four each; and Barry Sharpe, three.

Turner and Ostgarden led the Panthers with 11 points apiece in the win over Lincoln a few days later. Baucus had seven points; Jerome Ort, four; and Tolbert and Sharpe, two each.

Prospect opens league play this week, visiting Willow Glen on Jan. 6, 7 p.m., before hosting Mt. Pleasant on Jan. 9, 8 p.m.

Prospect girls split

The Prospect girls, meanwhile, split last week in their last two games in the New Year's Classic at Mitty.

The Panthers, who had lost to Live Oak (41-39) and Piedmont Hills (51-42) to open the tourney, beat Harbor 42-39 but lost their final game to Robert Louis Stevenson 48-24.

Still, the Panthers managed to finish the preseason with a 10-5 heading into league play this week.

Senior guard Lyndsey Najima poured in 32 points in the two games last week, but the Panthers could manage just a split.

Najima jammed 21 points, including a pair of threes, in the win over Harbor. Adela Sojtaric and Jennifer Sitter supported with six points apiece, Elizabeth Harkins added five and Christina Connery hit four.

Najima came back with 11 points, including another three, but the Panthers lost by 24 to Stevenson. Harkins had five points; Kim Schultz, four; and Cindy Sharpe and Edina Blazevic, two each.

Falcons fall

The Saratoga girls lost a 36-35 heartbreaker to Los Gatos in their final game of the 1997-98 nonleague season.

The Falcons fought back from a seven-point halftime deficit but came up a point short in the loss to the Wildcats.

Despite the loss, Saratoga is 6-3 for the year heading into league play this week. The Falcons open play in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL when they visit Wilcox on Jan. 6, 7 p.m., before hosting Mountain View on Jan. 8, 7 p.m.

Junior forward Karin Bencala tossed in 11 points and senior forward Allison Zisko added 10, but it wasn't enough for Saratoga against Gatos.

Clancy Roberts pitched in seven points for the Falcons, Robyn Katzman had five and Jenn Chan hit two.

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