Saratoga News

Photograph by Lea Tauriello

Saratoga's Aaron Martlage goes up for two of his 20 points in a playoff loss to Palma.

Old rivalry renewed at CCS

Prospect girls in Division III semi's

By Dick Sparrer

An old rivalry will be renewed when Westmont and Los Gatos collide in the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals this week.

It's a rivalry the players may not understand too well.

It's not like the clubs play in the same league. The Warriors are members of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and the Wildcats play in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

But it's a rivalry that Gatos coach Jim Marino and Westmont boss Gary Brinck remember very well.

Because for more than two decades, the two clubs were in the same league--the old West Valley Athletic League. And during the decade of the 1980s, there were seldom any other champions than the Wildcats and Warriors.

But realignment sent the Cats and the Warriors their separate ways. And, with the exception of a few preseason tournament match-ups, the clubs haven't seen much of each other.

Until now, that is.

Los Gatos and Westmont meet again this week. And like the days of old, a shot at a championship will be at stake when they collide on Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. on the floor at Bellarmine.

The winner of Wednesday's game will meet the Palo Alto-Santa Cruz winner in the CCS Division III title game on March 2, 2 p.m., at the San Jose State University Events Center.

Los Gatos enters Wednesday's game with a 20-5 record after beating Seaside 68-57 and San Mateo 67-50 in playoff action. Westmont is 24-2 after edging Los Altos 48-46 and beating Monterey 54-48.

Hoon Chung and David Newberg combined for 59 points in the two games to lead the Warriors to back-to-back wins to open playoff action.

Chung fired in 20 points and Newberg jammed 12 to pace the Warriors to the 48-46 win over Los Altos. Chung had a three-pointer among his five field goals and he buried nine free throws.

Lee Reyes added a three-pointer and finished with eight points. Matt Tait tossed in six points and Rob Lambourne added two.

The Warriors had to fight back to claim the win. Westmont trailed 11-4 at the first buzzer, but outscored the Eagles 19-8 in the second quarter to lead by four at intermission, 23-19.

Westmont added to its lead by a point in the third period, then hung on in the fourth to win by two.

Newberg bombed 18 points and Tait had 13 in the six-point win over Monterey a game later. Reyes joined the two in double digits with 10 points and Chung had nine. Reyes and Chung each dropped three-pointers.

Lambourne and Andy Brown rounded out the Westmont scoring with two points apiece.

Panthers split

The Prospect boys opened the CCS Division III playoffs with a 44-39 win over Mitty, but the Panthers lost to Monterey a game later to fall out of the playoffs.

Uriah Bojorquez and A.J. Forney pumped in 11 points apiece to lead the Panthers to the tight win over the Monarchs. Bojorquez fired in three-pointers for the winners.

Aaron Harmon dropped a pair of threes on his way to nine points for Prospect. Eli Cates supported with eight points and Spencer Melville came through with five points, all at the free-throw line.

The Panthers led by four after a period and held that lead through intermission. Prospect added to its lead by a point in the third, then matched Mitty's 15 points in the fourth quarter to clinch the five-point victory.

The loss to Monterey later in the week dropped the Panthers out of the playoffs.

Prospect, champions in the West Valley Division of the BVAL, finished the year with a 14-11 record.

Falcons fall

The Saratoga boys made it to the CCS Division IV playoffs, but the Falcons lost their opener 59-56 to Palma.

Still, it was quite a year for the Falcons, who finished second in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL. Saratoga ended up with a solid 17-9 season record, despite the season-ending loss to the private Catholic school from Salinas.

Seniors Bryan Webster and Aaron Martlage tossed in 20 points apiece to lead the Saratoga effort against Palma. Webster had a three-pointer among his seven field goals.

Guard Tom Calderon chipped in with nine points, including a pair of threes, and forward Joe Yuan muscled in five points. Andy Uppal added two points for the Falcons.

Saratoga trailed by just a point at the first buzzer, but fell back by six in the second. The Falcons cut the lead to three in the third period, but that was as close as they would get.

Prospect girls win

Sophomore center Ami Forney tossed in 18 points to lead the Prospect girls to a 61-36 win over Harbor and into the CCS Division III semifinals against Carlmont.

The Panthers will take on the Scots on Feb. 28 at 6 p.m. at Piedmont Hills with the winner advancing to the CCS title game March 2, 4 p.m., at the San Jose State University Events Center.

Prospect enters the game 22-3 for the year, its only losses to top-ranked Mitty and powerful Presentation. Carlmont is 18-9.

The Panthers earned the semi spot with the win over Harbor. Shelley Kurose supported Forney's effort with 10 points.

Kristie Carlquist pitched in nine points for the winners, Kim Hawkins had six and Megan Sainsbury hit five. Kim Fujii finished with four points and Lyndsey Najima added three.

Prospect outscored Harbor in every period on the road to the win.

Warriors lose

Sophomore guard Lauren Costanzo popped 10 points, but the Westmont girls lost 47-30 to Carlmont in the first round of the CCS playoffs.

Costanzo had a three-pointer among her three field goals, but it wasn't enough for the Warriors.

Lyneé Velasco tossed in seven points for Westmont, Courtney Makishima hit six, Mandy Williams and Melissa Newberg each dropped three-pointers and Stephanie Herrera added a point in the loss.

Westmont finished the year with a 13-10 record.