Photograph by Scris Copora
Saratoga's Robert Kim leaps out of bounds as he attempts to save the ball in last week's win over Homestead. The Falcons won twice last week to improve to 3-0 in the El Camino Division.
Important Win for Warriors
Falcons off to 3-0 start in league play
By Dick Sparrer
It was an important game for the Westmont basketball team.
But, then, every game has become more important for the Warriors since a heartbreaking overtime loss to Leland a couple of weeks back, even though it's still very early in the season in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
The Warriors figured they needed a win over Pioneer last Friday night to keep pace in the division title race. And they won a 53-48 thriller over the Mustangs with an exciting second-half comeback.
But as it turns out, the win didn't just help Westmont keep pace in the division race. The win pushed the Warriors into a first-place tie with Leland and Yerba Buena.
Leland lost to YB to leave the three clubs with matching 3-1 records, thanks in no small part to Westmont's Friday night effort against the Mustangs.
Westmont got off to a slow start against Pioneer--or maybe it was just a fast start by the Mustangs, who got three-pointers from Kevin Mack and Eddie Lewis and a solid bucket inside by 6-foot-1 center Mike Nakamura to jump out to an 8-0 lead.
The Warriors cut the lead to 12-8, but Lewis threw up a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Mustangs a 15-8 edge after a period. The shot was good enough to earn "Play of the Week" honors on KICU-TV's "High School Sports Focus" show.
Westmont crept close before intermission, cutting the lead to 27-26 by the half. Then the Warriors took control in the third quarter.
Vincent Chung drove to the baseline and stopped to pop an 8-foot jumper. The shot bounded off the rim, but Clay Tolbert soared high for the tip-in to give the Warriors their first lead of the night, 36-35 with 2:00 left in the third.
Todd Bethke popped a three with 1:31 left in the period, and Chung took a steal the length of the floor for a lay-in with 25 seconds left to give the Warriors a 41-35 lead by the end of the quarter.
Nakamura drilled a free throw with 4:05 left in the game to cut the Westmont lead to 45-44 with 4:05 left to play, but Daniel Sherburne drove for two with 3:14 remaining, and Caleb Pitts scored off an Erik Cisler assist with 1:54 left to give Westmont a 49-44 cushion.
Cisler's 10-foot fade-away jumper upped Westmont's lead to 51-44 with just 1:08 left in the game, but Pioneer battled back. Brian Davis hit a free throw, then snagged a rebound off a Westmont miss and tossed in a three at the other end of the floor to cut the lead to 51-48 with just 13.5 seconds on the clock.
But Cisler buried a couple of free throws with 10.6 seconds left, and Sherburne rebounded a Pioneer miss in the final seconds to secure the win.
Pitts topped the Warriors with 12 points, and Sherburne and Cisler supported with 11 apiece. Chung and Clay Tolbert finished with eight points each, and Bethke hit a three.
Davis and Lewis had 16 points apiece to lead the Mustangs. Nakamura hit seven points, Mack and Shawn Abadojos had three each, John Klag hit two, and Landers Niven hit one.
The Warriors, 3-1 in the division and 10-9 for the year, had opened the week with a lopsided 72-50 win over James Lick.
Pitts had a big game for Westmont with 23 points. Cisler dropped a pair of threes on his way to 14 points, Chung hit 13 points, and Sherburne joined the three in double figures with 12. Mike Chapman had five points, John McAvoy three and Colin McAvoy two.
Falcons win two
Micah Weger pumped in 29 points in two games to lead the Saratoga boys to back-to-back wins in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Weger buried 16 points, and Scott Snider chipped in with 10 in Saratoga's 65-37 win over Homestead to open the week.
The Falcons, who opened up a 30-15 lead by intermission, outscored the Mustangs in every period on the road to the victory.
Weger had a pair of threes among his 16 points, and Snider canned four of his 10 points at the free-throw line.
Mike Crosby tossed in nine points for the Falcons in the win. A.J. Peper hit seven points, and Alan Tsai, Todd Anderson and Daniel Ruby had five each. Jesse Alejandro added four points, and Bill Wallace and Alexi Sevastapoulus had two apiece. Anderson hit a three.
The Falcons, 3-0 in the division and 17-1 for the year, came back later in the week with a lopsided 66-36 win over Mountain View. The Falcons took a commanding 19-3 lead in the first period and coasted from there to the victory.
Weger led the Falcons with 13 points, and Ruby joined him in double digits with 11. Crosby had another nine-point outing, and Anderson, Peper and Sevastapoulus hit seven each. Alejandro added five, and Snider, Wallace and Robert Kim hit two each.
The Falcons will try to make it four straight in the division this week when they host Monta Vista on Jan. 19, 7 p.m., at Saratoga. The Falcons visit Cupertino on Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Panthers edge Dons
Prospect upped its record to 3-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL with back-to-back wins over Willow Glen and Del Mar last week.
The Panthers, 12-6 for the year, opened the week with a lopsided 40-24 win over the Rams, then they edged the Dons 50-49 in overtime on Friday night.
Prospect jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first period against Del Mar, but the Dons trimmed the lead by two in the second quarter, one more in the third and two in the fourth to tie it 46-46 at the end of regulation.
The Panthers edged the Dons 4-3 in overtime to pull out the thrilling victory.
Prospect sophomore guard Zak Diriya poured in 17 points to lead all scorers in the game. Slaven Moro and Chad Holan pitched in 10 points apiece for the Panthers, John Minor had six, Stephen Juran four, Kelley Stevens two and Mike Senteio one. Diriya and Juran each hit three-pointers.
Earlier in the week, Prospect had walked past Willow Glen 40-24 despite falling back 10-4 in the first period. The Panthers blitzed the Rams 14-4 in the second, 10-2 in the third and 12-8 in the fourth to clinch the win.
Juran jammed 11 points, including a three, to lead all Prospect scorers in the game. Holan finished with eight points, Diriya seven, Senteio five, Moro four, Sal Washington three and Ryan Sainsbury two. Diriya and Washington each hit three-pointers.
Westmont girls win
The Westmont girls are off to a hot 4-0 start in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. The Warriors turned back Piedmont Hills 56-30 and whipped Independence 55-47 in league play last week.
Sheryl Mahaffey and Alyssa Parsons sparked the Warriors to the easy win over the Pirates to open the week. Mahaffey had a three among her team-high 15 points, and Parsons supported with 14 points in the win.
Mia Simmons joined the two in double figures with 10 points, Veronica Sifuentez and Jennifer Brownridge hit six points apiece, Kim Castillo and Gina Kottikas had two each, and Jenny Brown hit one.
The Warriors outscored the Pirates in every period on the road to the win, including a 14-4 edge in the third quarter.
Westmont, 11-2 for the year, came back to whip Independence by eight later in the week. Mahaffey finished with 21 points, including three three-pointers. Simmons went for 10 points again, and Parsons chipped in with eight.
Zuleeka Mohamed added five points, Brownridge had four, Brown three and Sifuentez and Kottikas two apiece.
The Warriors and 76ers were tied 15-15 at the first buzzer, and the Sixers went up 30-22 at intermission. But Westmont topped Independence 14-4 in the third to take a 36-34 lead, then outscored the Sixers 18-13 in the fourth.
Panthers split
The Prospect girls basketball team split a pair of decisions last week, falling 44-35 to Pioneer after beating Santa Teresa 45-27 in Santa Teresa Division play.
Lacy Johnson pitched in 15 points, including seven at the free-throw line, and Anna Marie Owens added 13 points in the easy win over the Saints to open the week. Stephanie Calderon supported with nine points, Kristi Ozawa hit six, and Amber Madsen added two.
Johnson and Madsen jammed eight points apiece, and Ozawa added six, but the Panthers lost to Pioneer later in the week.
Falcons win, lose
The Saratoga girls rolled to a 46-34 win over Mountain View last week after losing a tough 46-37 decision to unbeaten Wilcox earlier in the week.
Sophomore Stephanie Morrison poured in 16 points, and senior Nicole LaMore chipped in with 11 points to lead the Falcons past the Spartans. Morrison and LaMore each dropped three-pointers in the game.
The Falcons, 2-2 in the El Camino Division and 5-8 for the year, had lost 46-37 to Wilcox a few days earlier. LaMore led Saratoga with 16 points, including a three.
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