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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Westmont senior Shannon Stenzel works the ball up the court in an early season game at the Pioneer Tournament. Stenzel and the Warriors will take on league favorite Mitty on Friday night.
Tolbert's 38 leads Warriors to win
Saratoga girls open league with two wins
By Dick Sparrer
It was a good start to the 2002 league season for Clay Tolbert and the Westmont boys basketball team.
Who's kidding who? It was a great start for the Tolbert and Westmont last week when the Warriors opened play in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a rousing 83-35 victory over Yerba Buena. And Tolbert poured in 38 points.
The Warriors outscored YB in every period, including a 28-8 run in the third quarter that put the win on ice.
Tolbert was the key to success for the Warriors in the league-opening win. The senior guard bombed six three-pointers among his 15 field goals and added two points at the free-throw line to finish with his impressive 38-point night.
Despite the relatively high 88 point total, only one other Westmont player managed to get into double digits in the win. Brandon Sligh chipped in with 11 points to support Tolbert's effort. John Baumgardner added seven points to the cause.
Things didn't go quite as well for Prospect in the first week of play in the Santa Teresa Division. The Panthers lost 59-53 to Leland and 47-45 to Santa Teresa.
It was a heartbreaking week for Prospect. The Panthers led both games at the half, but ended up losing both of them to slip to 0-2 in the division and to 11-6 for the year.
The Panthers led the Chargers by three at intermission, 27-24, and actually took that three-point lead into the final period. But Leland outscored Prospect 20-11 in the fourth quarter to claim the victory last Friday night.
Kyle Bonvechio tossed in 16 points, including a pair of threes, to lead all Prospect scorers against Leland. Ryan Najima had three threes among his 15 points.
David Garduque pitched in a couple of threes and finished with eight points for Prospect. Matt Jasper and Roma Ngaleo added six points apiece.
It had been a similar story for the Panthers earlier in the week. They jumped out to a 13-9 lead in the first quarter and were up on Santa Teresa 27-20 at the half. But the Saints outscored the Panthers in each of the last two periods to win by two.
Najima had four threes among his seven field goals to finish with a team-high 18 points. Bonvechio added 10 points, including a couple of threes.
Ngaleo added seven points for the Panthers and Jasper hit six.
Prospect had opened the week with a 62-49 non-league win over Branham. Strangely, the Panthers found themselves down by a bucket after a period in this one, but they tied it by the half and outscored the Bruins 25-12 in the third to take control of the game.
Najima had the hot hand in this one with 19 points, including two three-pointers. Bonvechio had two threes among his 12 points and Steven Smith joined the two in double figures with 10 points.
Jasper added eight points, Ngaleo five and Kevin McPeck four, including a three-pointer.
Panthers fall
The Prospect girls, meanwhile, lost their Santa Teresa Division opener 50-36 to Santa Teresa.
The Panthers were down by just three at intermission, 17-14, but were outscored 16-8 by the Saints in the third quarter.
Warriors at home
The Westmont girls basketball team will play at home on Wednesday before hitting the road to take on the team that coach John L. Mackey considers to be the Mt. Hamilton Division favorite--Mitty.
The Warriors host Mt. Pleasant on Jan. 9, 7 p.m., before traveling to Mitty on Jan. 11, 7 p.m.
Leading the Warriors into the league season this winter are senior returners Jenny Brown, Shannon Stenzel and Shantale Higginson, and junior returner Jennifer Chaney.
Falcons win two
The Saratoga girls basketball team opened the season in impressive fashion in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic, beating Lynbrook 51-43 and Santa Clara 60-34.
Tiffany Tan, an all-tournament team pick at the Silver Creek Tournament over winter break, was the scoring leader for the Falcons in the win over the Vikings last Friday night. The sophomore guard tossed in 16 points, including a couple of threes, to lead all Saratoga scorers in the win.
Freshman Bryte Nielsen had a three among her nine points in the Saratoga win, and freshman center Julia Anderson finished with eight points.
Victoria Liu canned seven points in the win, Karen Woo had five, Katie Levinson three, Jordan Henry two and Natalie Zisko one. Woo and Levinson each hit a three-pointer.
Saratoga had to battle from behind to get the win over the Vikes. The Falcons were down 15-10 after a period and 26-24 at the half. But they tied it by the end of the third, 35-35, then outscored Lynbrook 16-8 in the fourth to clinch the win.
The two wins left the Falcons 2-0 in the division and 7-4 for the year. And the win over Lynbrook was a big one considering the fact that Saratoga coach Bret Yeilding considered the Vikings to be title contenders this winter.
Yeilding also looks to Monta Vista as a division title contender, and the Falcons will take on the Matadors this week when they visit Monta Vista on Jan. 9, 7 p.m. Saratoga hosts Cupertino on Jan. 11, 7:30 p.m.
Falcons open with win
The Saratoga boys opened the league season with a win, beating Santa Clara 43-32.
Like the girls, the Saratoga boys trailed early, but outscored the Bruins 15-4 in the second period and 17-7 in the third to take control of the game.
Senior power forward Eric Lee led the Falcons with 14 points in the win and Justin Zebb, a senior point guard, was close behind with 13.
Junior guard Matt Ashburn tossed in a couple of three-pointers and two free throws to finish with eight points. Lawrence Hui added six points and Mark Elfving had one.
The Falcons, now 8-8 for the year and 1-0 in the El Camino Division, face a Tuesday bye before hosting Cupertino on Jan. 10, 7 p.m.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
