Saratoga News Lamotte, Weger lead the Falcons to victory By Dick Sparrer Geoff Lamotte and Micah Weger really toed the line for the Saratoga basketball team last Friday night. And Falcons head coach Mike Davey was glad they did. Because Monta Vista sent Lamotte and Weger to the free-throw line enough times for the two deadeye sharpshooters to bury 23 of their combined 34 points, and that was more than enough to spark the Falcons to a 53-35 win over the Matadors in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The win helped the Falcons improve to 3-2 in the division and to 12-7 for the year as they prepare for a key game against El Camino co-leader Gunn this week. Saratoga will play host to the Titans on Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m. Gunn and Fremont currently share the division lead with matching 4-1 records. The Falcons nailed their third league win last Friday when they broke open a two-point game by capitalizing on their opportunities at the free-throw stripe in the fourth quarter. Lamotte led all Saratoga scorers in the win with 19 points, including 15 free throws, and Weger supported with 15 points, including eight from the line. Weger also hit a three-pointer for the Falcons. Daniel Goñi chipped in with six points, Mike Crosby had four, Robert Kim hit a three-pointer, and Matt Garrapolo and Spencer Jamison added two points apiece. Saratoga led 10-3 after a quarter and by nine at the half, 21-12, but the Matadors pulled to within two by topping the Falcons 12-5 in the third period. Saratoga came on strong in the fourth, though, to outscore the Matadors 27-11 to clinch the 18-point victory. The Saratoga girls, meanwhile, split a couple of league games last week. The Falcons edged Cupertino 46-43, but lost 60-35 to first-place Milpitas later in the week. Junior Nicole LaMore tossed in seven buckets, including a three-pointer, to finish with 15 points in the win over the Pioneers. Karin Bencala supported with nine points for Saratoga, Stephanie Morrison and Karen Woo popped eight apiece, Nancy Fathali had four, and Courtney Miyamoto added two. The game was a nailbiter throughout. The Falcons were up 14-13 at the first buzzer, but it was tied at the half, 29-29. Saratoga went up by one again in the third, then topped 'Tino 8-6 in the fourth to win by three. Things didn't go quite as well later in the week against Milpitas. The Falcons were down just a point after a quarter, but the Trojans outscored Saratoga by nine in the second, eight in the third and seven in the fourth to win going away. LaMore led the Falcons with 11 points. She had a three-pointer among her two field goals and added six points at the free-throw line. Fathali and Bencala each buried 10 points to join LaMore in double digits. Woo and Melinda Peterson added two points each. The Falcons slipped to 8-7 overall and to 3-3 in the El Camino Division with the loss. In other locals girls action, Westmont lost 61-26 to Leland and 50-40 to Presentation in a pair of games in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Sheryl Mahaffey had a pair of threes among her eight points in the loss to the unbeaten Chargers. Alyssa Parsons added five points, and Kristen Huger and Kim Castillo had three apiece. Parsons led the Warriors with 12 points, and Mahaffey tossed in 10, but Westmont lost by 10 to Presentation. Victoria Sifuentez added eight points, Gina Kottikas had four, Zuleeka Mohamed three and Jenny Brown two. The Warriors slipped to 2-3 in division play and to 10-8 for the year. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 27, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.