Saratoga News

Prospect boys are unbeaten

Warriors cruise to two wins

By Dick Sparrer

The Prospect boys' basketball team followed two different paths last week.

But they both led the same way for the Panthers--to victories in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

Three Prospect players scored in double figures in a week-opening 70-55 victory over Silver Creek.

Later in the week, no Prospect player could hit in double digits, but the Panthers came through with a balanced scoring effort to pull out a 44-27 win over Lincoln. The bottom line was two more victories in a perfect division season for the Panthers. Prospect is now 5-0 in West Valley Division play and 10-7 for the year.

Senior forward A.J. Forney got hot and tossed in 23 points in the win over Silver Creek. Aaron Harmon pitched in a couple of three-pointers on his way to 18 points for the Panthers and Eli Cates joined the two in double digits with 13 points.

Uriah Bojorquez finished with seven points in the win, including a three, and Jeff Lin added five points. Aaron Winters and Baruti Armstrong had two points apiece.

The Panthers trailed the Raiders 14-13 after one period and led by just two at the half, 28-26. But Prospect bombed Silver Creek 22-14 in the third and 20-15 in the fourth to claim the win.

The scoring was a bit more balanced for the Panthers in the 44-27 win over Lincoln. Harmon led the Panthers with nine points and Cates tossed in eight points.

Bojorquez had six points, Forney and Armstrong five apiece, Winters four, Spencer Melville three and Zach Melvin and Justice Rose two each.

Prospect outscored Lincoln in every period but the fourth on the road to the victory.

The Panthers will try to maintain their winning ways when they host James Lick on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. and visit Pioneer on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.

Warriors win two

The Westmont boys, meanwhile, nailed a pair of wins last week to jump to 5-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL and to 15-2 for the year.

David Newberg fired in 12 points to top a list of four Warriors in double figures in a 64-45 win over Mt. Pleasant. Hoon Chung canned 11 points and Matt Tait and Lee Reyes added 10 apiece for Westmont in the victory.

Andy Brown and Rob Lambourne supported with five points each for the Warriors and Sean Anderson had four. Tom Hahn, Zach Felder and Nate Tomforde hit two points each in the win and Tyler Cripe had one.

Westmont jumped out to a quick 12-point lead in the first period and rolled from there to the win.

Earlier in the week, Chung had pumped in 12 points and Newberg had 10 in a 35-32 win over Del Mar. Reyes hit a three and finished with five points in the win, Tate had four points and Lambourne and Brown added three points each.

The Dons were 4-0 in division play heading into the game, but were stung with their first league loss by the Warriors.

The Warriors led by a point after a period, trailed by one at the half and led by one again after three quarters in the see-saw game. Westmont managed to top Del Mar 9-7 in the final period to pull out the three-point win.

Westmont was top host San Jose on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. and will visit Valley Christian on Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Split for Falcons

The week started out fine for the Saratoga boys' basketball team--the Falcons whipped Homestead 48-29.

But the week ended on a dismal note for the Falcons when they dropped a 36-33 heartbreaker to Mountain View to fall to 3-2 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and to 11-7 for the year.

Saratoga pounded Homestead by 19 to open the week, thanks to a big effort by 6-foot-3 senior forward Bryan Webster.

Webster drained a pair of three-pointers on his way to a 16-point game for the Falcons.

Aaron Martlage and Mike Black chipped in with seven points apiece for the Falcons and Andy Uppal hit a couple of threes to finish with six points.

Tom Calderon popped a three and Brennan Carroll had three points for the winners. Joe Yuan, Eddie Jeng and Tony Hsu added two points each.

The Falcons took a commanding 21-12 lead in the first period, then virtually put the game away by blanking the Mustangs 11-0 in the second quarter.

But Saratoga lost a tough 36-33 decision to Mountain View to finish the week, despite a 19-point effort by Martlage. The 6-foot-5 senior forward had a three-pointer among his seven field goals.

Webster added five points for the Falcons, Yuan had four, Jeng hit three and Black added two.

Saratoga is on the road for a pair of 7 p.m. games this week. The Falcons visit Fremont on Jan. 24 and Cupertino on Jan. 26.

Panthers win big

The Prospect girls' basketball team nailed a big win in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL, pounding Independence 54-35.

The Panthers improved to 4-1 in the rugged division with the win and jumped to 16-1 for the year.

Talented 5-foot-6 senior guard Megan Sainsbury led the Panthers with 16 points and 6-foot-2 junior center Ami Forney joined her in double digits with 11 points.

Kristie Carlquist chipped in with nine points and Lyndsey Najima buried a couple of three-pointers on her way to eight points. Shelley Kurose added six points for Prospect and Kim Fujii had four.

Prospect broke the game open early, outscoring Independence 20-4 in the first period. The Panthers went on to outscore the 76ers in every period but the fourth to nail the win.

Lynbrook girls fall

Lynbrook slipped to 1-4 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL after losing 65-31 to Homestead. Yvonne Tseng led the Vikings with nine points, including a three-pointer.

Earlier in the week Lynbrook had lost a tough 56-52 decision to Gunn.

Falcons drop two

The Saratoga girls' basketball team fell to 1-5 in the El Camino Division and to 4-11 for the year after losing 47-46 to Palo Alto and 42-24 to Mountain View.

Amy Leu scored just five points, but that was tops for the Falcons in the tough loss to the Spartans. Sarah Ruby and Mandy Zisko supported with four points apiece.

Earlier in the week, Zisko had tossed in 15 points and Ruby added 11, but the Falcons lost a 47-46 heartbreaker to unbeaten Palo Alto. Leu chipped in with nine points for Saratoga and Erica Miyamoto added six. Andrea Lo and Audrey Lo had two apiece for the Falcons.

Saratoga led 10-9 at the first buzzer, but fell behind by nine at intermission, 26-17, after getting outscored 17-7 in the second quarter.

The Falcons topped Paly 13-11 in the third and 16-10 in the fourth, but could only get to within a point of upsetting the division leaders.

Warriors fall

The girls at Westmont lost twice in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL to slip to 2-4 in division play.

Westmont dropped a 53-31 nod to Piedmont Hills, then lost 48-36 to Valley Christian.

Tiffany Reiblein canned nine points and Lynée Velasco added eight, but the Warriors came up 12 points short against Valley Christian.

Lauren Costanzo tossed in six points and Melissa Newberg added five, including a three-pointer. Melissa Taylor had four points and Courtney Makishima and Emillia Ortiz hit two apiece.

Westmont led 10-6 after a period and 23-13 at the half, but the Warriors were outscored 16-8 in the third period and 19-5 in the fourth to fall by 12.