Saratoga News

The league championship Saratoga girls' basketball team point to coach Bret Yeilding after clinching the title. Members of the championship team include Katie Wokas (kneeling in front), and (l-r) Robyn Katzman, Karin Bencala, Clancy Roberts, Liana Huie, Allison Zisko, head coach Yeilding, assistant coach Nancy Curtis, Mathilde Pelaprat, Lynn Chouw, Jenn Chan, Nicole LaMore and Joanne Haggerty.

Titanic, Falcons are winners

Saratoga wins first girls title in 24 years

By Dick Sparrer

It was 1974. The Godfather, Part II was winning the Academy Award as the year's best picture, and the Saratoga girls' basketball team was winning a league championship.

Since that time, The Godfather, Part II has passed through network television and on to the "American Movie Classics" cable channel, and the Falcons have gone without another basketball title.

Until this year, that is.

While Titanic was filling movie theaters with spectators and winning critical acclaim, the Saratoga girls were filling baskets with basketballs and winning their first league championship in 24 years.

"I knew we were going to be a good team," said Saratoga coach Bret Yeilding. And they certainly were. The Falcons posted a 12-2 record to win the championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and they posted a solid 18-6 mark overall.

"Strangely enough, it was a loss that convinced me we were going to be good," admitted Yeilding. "We lost to Westmont in the finals of the Yerba Buena Tournament. I knew that they were going to have a good team, and I knew that if we could play with them, we were going to have a good team."

Saratoga lost that game by a slim eight points. Westmont went on to have a super season, and so did the Falcons.

Seniors Clancy Roberts, Allison Zisko, Jenn Chan and Robyn Katzman helped the Falcons dominate their division.

Zisko, a 6-foot center, led the Falcons with 14 points a game, and she was also the club's top rebounder. Roberts, a 5-foot-5 point guard, averaged nine points and four assists a game.

The two seniors played well enough for the Falcons to share the most valuable player award on the all-league team. Chan was named to the all-league second team, and junior Karin Bencala was an honorable mention pick.

Chan led Saratoga in three-point buckets and was also "our best defensive player," said Yeilding, and Bencala tossed in eight points a game and was a "good rebounder," said the coach.

Sophomore Nicole LaMore, a 5-foot-8 forward, rounded out the starting lineup for the Falcons, and Katzman was Saratoga's first player off the bench.

"She was our second leading rebounder and our best shot blocker," said Yeilding of Katzman, a 5-foot-11 forward. "We were very good on defense," added the coach. "If we scored 40 points, we knew we were going to win."

The Falcons were also tough on the boards, he said, and "we were pretty good in transition, thanks to the decisions of Clancy Roberts."

But the key to Saratoga's success was teamwork and hard work.

"Nobody was concerned with who got the credit. Our biggest attribute was that the girls were very unselfish," said the third-year Saratoga coach. "We also made more free throws than our opponents shot," he added. "So we were pretty good at taking the ball to the basket, and that's because of the work we did in the off-season."

The Saratoga girls participated in the school's four-week clinic in the summer and played summer league basketball.

"They made a pretty big time commitment," said Yeilding, "and it paid off for us."

Boys nail second

It was a great year for Saratoga basketball. Not only did the girls win a title, but the boys finished second in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

Michael Black led the Falcons to an outstanding 17-11 season by averaging 17 points and seven rebounds a game. The senior forward was named the team's most valuable player for a second straight season, and he was selected to the all-league first team.

Black, who starred for the Falcons during the football season last fall, will play one more game this season. He was picked to play in the Santa Clara County All-Star Game on April 5, 4 p.m., at Bellarmine.

Luke Weger, another senior forward, was tabbed to the all-league second team after pitching in 13 points a game, and sophomore Micah Weger was an all-league honorable mention pick.

Senior center Oliver L'Abbe was voted the team's most inspirational player, and senior guard Jason Ng was named the team's scholar-athlete for the second straight year.

The Saratoga boys' frosh-soph team also had a great year, posting an impressive 19-5 season record.

Sophomores Spencer Jamison and Bill Wallace were named the team's co-most valuable players, and each one earned a place on the all-league first team.

Mike Crosby joined the two on the all-league first team, and Todd Anderson and Kendrick Askew won all-league honorable mention spots. Robert Kim was tabbed the team's most inspirational player, and Daniel Ruby was picked as the most improver player.

Vikes are all-league

Senior forward Nick Emmanuel and senior guard Emmy Opene of Lynbrook were each named to the all-league team for basketball in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this winter.

Emmanuel was named to the all-league first team after leading the Vikings to a fifth-place finish in the league standings. Ben Selby of Palo Alto was the league's most valuable player, and other first team picks were Mike McSweeney of Los Gatos, Dino Quintero of Los Altos, Jose Suarez and Delbert Haynes of Wilcox, Dave Persyko and Lucas Danna of Paly and Billy Craig of Milpitas.

Opene was named to the second team along with Matt Gingery of Los Gatos, Greg West of Wilcox, Isaac Gradman of Paly and Jason Billie and Fernando Pelazzo of Milpitas.

Alex Jackson of Milpitas and Joseph Griffin of Paly were named co-MVPs of the De Anza Division's all-league frosh-soph team.

Players earning first-team recognition included Beau Knight, Ben Winkelman and Jeff Patterson of Los Gatos, Mike Wright and Chris Catral of Milpitas, Aaron Wilson and Joey Willis of Paly and Michael Stevens and Steven Davis of Lynbrook.

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