Photograph by George Sakkestad
Saratoga's Clancy Roberts drives for two of her eight points in a tough 39-26 CCS playoff loss to James Lick.
By Dick Sparrer
The first round of the Central Coast Section was not kind to the teams from the Saratoga area.
The Prospect boys and girls' teams from Saratoga, Prospect and Westmont all lost in the first round of the Division II and Division III playoffs.
Prospect hung right with Alisal through the first half before losing a tough 69-59 decision in the boys' CCS Division II tournament.
The Panthers matched 15 first-quarter points with Alisal and trailed by just two at the half, 31-29, before getting outscored 17-11 in the third period and 21-19 in the fourth to lose by 10.
Senior Aaron Harmon capped an outstanding high school career by going for 29 points in his final game. The 5-foot-9 guard tossed in 10 buckets, including a three-pointer, and added four free throws.
Senior Vince Corcoran joined Harmon in double digits with 14 points, and senior Aaron Winters added 10. Steve Sharpen chipped in with three points, and Brandon Morgan added two.
Despite the loss, the Panthers ended the season with a winning record, finishing at 13-12.
The Prospect girls, meanwhile, lost a tight 54-49 decision to Alisal the same night to fall out of the CCS Division II tournament.
The Panthers were up by three at the first buzzer, 18-15, but were outscored 13-4 in the second quarter to trail by six at intermission, 28-22.
Alisal added a point to its lead in the third period, outscoring Prospect 10-9 to take a seven-point lead into the final quarter, 38-31.
The Panthers cut the lead but two in the fourth, but Alisal held on for the five-point victory.
Senior guard Heather Winkleman and junior guard Lyndsey Najima each tossed in 15 points to lead all Prospect scorers in the game. Winkleman buried three three-pointers for the Panthers and Najima hit a pair of threes.
Elizabeth Harkins, another junior guard, joined the two in twin figures with 13 points. Jennifer Sitter added six points, Adela Sojtaric and Erica Slykhouse hit four apiece, and Summer Ujifusa had two.
Prospect finished the season with an 11-15 record but loses only five players to graduation--Winkleman, Ujifusa, Slykhouse, Cindy Sharpe and Anna Lisa Reyes. Najima, Sitter, Harkins and Sojtaric head up a solid cast of 1997-98 returners for the Panthers.
The Saratoga and Westmont girls each lost tough decisions in the CCS Division III tournament.
The Warriors were seeded No. 6 heading into the post-season, but they were upset 42-38 by No. 11 seed Aragon in the first round.
Aragon, 12-12 for the year, battled back from a 17-12 first-period deficit to outscore the Warriors in each of the final three quarters to claim the four-point win.
The Lady Dons cut Westmont's lead to two by intermission, outpointing Westmont 10-7 in the second quarter to trim the lead to 24-22.
Aragon moved in front by one, 29-28, after topping Westmont 7-4 in the third, then clinched the win by edging the Warriors 13-10 in the fourth.
Junior forward Melissa Newberg tossed in a three-pointer and nine free throws to lead the Warriors with 12 points. Sheryl Mahaffey supported with 11 points, including three three-pointers.
Alyssa Parsons pitched in six points, Tiffany Reiblein added five and Emillia Ortiz hit four to round out the scoring for the Warriors. Reiblein canned a three-pointer.
Westmont, champions in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, finished the season with an impressive 22-3 record.
Saratoga, meanwhile, capped a solid season by earning a place in the CCS Division III playoffs, but the Falcons lost 39-26 in the first round to James Lick.
Despite the loss, it was a successful year for Saratoga. The club's goal when the season began was to finish "better than last year," said head coach Bret Yeilding. And a 15-9 record and CCS playoff berth is certainly an improvement over the 5-18 mark the Falcons recorded in the 1995-96 campaign.
The Falcons actually hung right with the Comets for three periods last week before losing by 13 points.
Saratoga was up 7-4 after a period and trailed by just a point at the half, 15-14. Lick, 22-5 for the year and champions in the West Valley Division of the BVAL, started to pull away in the third, though, and outscored the Falcons 9-4 and 15-8 in the final two periods.
Junior point guard Clancy Roberts tossed in eight points to lead all Saratoga scorers in the battle with the Comets. Sarah Ruby, Saratoga's 5-foot-10 senior center, supported with seven points, and sophomore guard Nancy Fathali added six. Allison Zisko chipped in with four points, and Jennifer Chan hit one.
The successful season could be just the beginning for the Falcons, who lose only five players to graduation--Andrea Lo, Jill Moon, Amy Woo, Rudy and Caroline Wu. Returning to lead the 'Toga attack next winter will be Roberts, Fathali, Zisko and five other varsity returners.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 5, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.