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Justin Zebb stars, but Falcons just get split
By Dick Sparrer
Justin Zebb had a pretty big week for the Saratoga boys basketball team.
The junior guard pitched in an impressive 43 points in two games for the Falcons. He buried 20 points in a game against Gunn to open the week, then came back with 23 against Los Gatos on Thursday night.
Unfortunately for Saratoga, though, Zebb's efforts were enough only for a split in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Zebb's 20-point performance on Tuesday sparked the Falcons to a 57-43 win over the Titans, but his 23 points on Thursday weren't enough to help the Falcons avoid a 56-51 loss to the Wildcats.
Still, Zebb and the Falcons gave the playoff-bound Cats a pretty good scare on Thursday. Saratoga actually led 12-9 after a period and, after Gatos took control in the second and third quarters, the Falcons came back to make a run at the Cats in the final stanza.
Saratoga went into the fourth quarter down 13 points at 42-27, but the Falcons outscored the Cats 22-14 to cut the lead to five. That would turn out to be the Los Gatos margin of victory, though.
Zebb had the hot hand for the Falcons. The guard had two three-pointers among his eight field goals and he added five points at the free-throw line to lead all scorers in the game with 23 points.
Eric Lee, a 6-foot-4 junior, supported Zebb's effort with 10 points for Saratoga. Jesse Alejandro had six points, Alexi Sevastapoulus added four, Daniel Ruby and Alan Tsai hit three apiece and Mark Elving had two. Sevastapoulus hit a three-pointer.
Saratoga, now 2-7 in the De Anza Division and 10-12 for the year, had opened the week with a 57-43 win over Gunn.
The Falcons led just 5-3 after a quarter, but they outscored the Titans in every period on the road to the win.
Zebb was the scoring leader for the Falcons with 20 points. Ruby chipped in 12 points and Alejandro finished in double digits with 10 points.
Sevastapoulus had a three among his five points, Tsai and Matt Ashburn had four points apiece and Lee hit two.
In other local boys basketball action, Westmont split a pair of decisions in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
The Warriors lost 56-44 to Pioneer, but came back to beat Silver Creek 69-52. At 8-1, the Warriors remain in first place in the division. They are 17-5 for the year.
Caleb Pitts poured in 25 points to lead Westmont to the win over the Raiders on Friday night. The 6-foot-4 senior center had a pair of threes among his eight field goals and he picked up seven points at the free-throw line.
Derek Nelson finished with 14 points and Clay Tolbert added 12 for the Warriors. Each of them popped a couple of threes.
Brandon Sligh chipped in with 11 points, Todd Bethke hit four and David Jennings added two.
Earlier in the week, Pitts tossed in 11 points, but the Warriors lost 50-46 to Pioneer.
Prospect won twice last week to push its record to 5-4 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
Josh Miner buried 14 points and Todd Stone added 13 to lead the Panthers to a 61-57 win over Leland. Mike Stephens had a pair of threes among his 10 points and Chad Holan was close behind with nine. Brent Hughes supported with six points, T.J. Wyatt and Roma Ngaleo had three each, Ryan Sainsbury popped two and Alex Polovetsky hit one.
The Panthers, 13-11 for the year, had opened the week with a 62-48 win over Santa Teresa.
Holan had the hot hand for the Panthers in this one, tossing in 16 points to lead Prospect to the win. Miner tossed in 14 points to join Holan in twin figures.
Hughes fired in nine points, Stone had eight, and Stephens and Ngaleo hit four each.
Girls Basketball
The Saratoga girls basketball team dropped a pair of tough decisions last week, falling 41-40 to Lynbrook and 39-37 to Mountain View. The two losses left the Falcons 3-7 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
Stephanie Morrison canned 10 points, but the Falcons lost by a point to the Vikings.
Dernie Wang supported with eight points, Karen Woo and Tannaz Altafi hit six apiece, Szu-Han Wang four and Lynn Chouw, Tiffany Tan and Melody Lee two each. Woo popped a pair of three-pointers for her six points.
Tan hit a couple of threes on her way to a 10-point night against Mountain View, but the Spartans rallied for a two-point win over the Falcons.
D. Wang tossed in six points in the game and S. Wang had five. Chouw, Rebecca Yang and Altafi added four points each and Morrison and Woo each hit a pair. Chouw had a three-pointer for the Falcons.
Over in the BVAL, Prospect won a pair of games in the Santa Teresa last week and Westmont lost twice in the Mount Hamilton Division.
Lacy Johnson had 12 points and Amber Madsen added 10 to lead the Panthers to a tight 39-38 win over Santa Teresa. Carolyn Okazaki supported with six points.
Stacey Lisica led the Panthers with 16 points in a lopsided 52-14 win over Willow Glen. Johnson chipped in with 13 and Leyli Ghadira had 10.
The Panthers are now 5-4 in the division and 11-10 for the year.
Westmont slipped to 2-8 in the Mount Hamilton Division and to 9-13 for the year after falling 51-26 to Leland and 56-49 to Presentation.
Jennifer Brown poured in 22 points and Jennifer Brownridge tossed in 19, but the Warriors lost to the Panthers. Brownridge had an impressive five three-pointers in teh game and Brown hit two.
Brownridge had a couple of threes among her eight points in the loss to Leland to open the week. Brown finished with seven points and also had a three.
Wrestling
The Westmont wrestling team could manage wins in just two weight classes in a lopsided 63-9 Mount Hamilton Division loss to Oak Grove last week.
Senior Jason Kennedy rolled to a 7-0 decision win at 173 pounds for the Warriors and Ashkon Jadali won by injury default at 142.
The teams of the BVAL will wrap up the league season this weekend when they compete in the league finals slated for Feb. 10 at Overfelt. Wrestling begins Saturday at 10 a.m. with the finals that evening.
The teams of the SCVAL will converge on the Wilcox mats on Feb. 10 for their league finals. Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. with the finals scheduled for the evening. Junior varsity league finals will begin at 1 p.m. Friday at Wilcox.
High School Rugby
The Silicon Valley Rugby Football Club is looking for high school players (ages 14-18) from Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Saratoga, Mountain View and Santa Clara for the spring season. No experience is needed, and everyone plays. For more information, contact Joel Roman by phone (408.732.3212) or by e-mail (JoelRoman@aol.com) or check the Web site at www.mediaframe.com/svrfc.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
