Westmont's Casey Poehner rips down a rebound in a first-round win over Willow Glen in the Westmont Invitational. The Warriors ended up third in their own tournament.




Photograph by Kathy De La Torre







Dons win at Westmont, Warriors roll to a third

By Dick Sparrer

Bill Gerth couldn't have asked for a better finish to the 34th annual Westmont Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Oh, maybe in his role as Westmont head coach he could have hoped for a championship for his Warriors. But as the tournament director, the finish couldn't have been any better or more exciting has Gerth planned it.

All three games on the final day of the tournament were thrillers with each of three ultimately decided by a single basket.

Del Mar won the championship with a thrilling 47-45 victory over Los Gatos; host Westmont clinched third place with a tight 54-52 win over Piedmont Hills; and Prospect took the consolation title with a hard-earned 36-34 win over Pioneer.

Dons win title

The Dons won three straight games to take the tourney championship. Del Mar opened with a 61-49 win over Fremont, then beat Piedmont Hills 56-44 before edging Gatos in the finals.

Kyle Kelly tossed in 13 points and Steve White added 11 to lead the Dons to the 47-45 championship win over the Wildcats. Jason Campbell buried a couple of three-pointers on his way to 10 points for the Dons.

Rodney Gattis and Jeremy Beene hit four points each in the win, Ryan Lagod dropped a three-pointer and Steve Belton had two points.

White had the hot hand for the Dons in the 56-44 win over Piedmont in the semifinals.

Westmont third

Caleb Pitts drove Westmont to the third-place finish with 19 points in the final game. The 6-foot-4 senior center had a pair of three-pointers among his eight field goals and he added a point at the line.

Clay Tolbert supported with 16 points in the Westmont win over the Pirates and Todd Bethke added eight.

The Warriors were down 9-6 after a period, but battled back to outscore Piedmont 17-9 in the second quarter to lead 23-18 at intermission.

The Pirates came on strong in the third to top Westmont 28-11 and go up 46-34, but the Warriors battle back to whip the Bucs 20-6 in the final quarter to pull out the thrilling two-point win.

Westmont had opened the tournament with a 47-39 win over Willow Glen. Tolbert led the Warriors with 12 points and Brandon Sligh was close behind with 11. Pitts and Bethke supported with seven points apiece.

The Warriors took control of this one early, outscoring the Rams 16-8 in the first period and holding onto that lead throughout the game.

Westmont's only loss was a second-round 53-42 defeat at the hands of Los Gatos.

The Wildcats outscored the Warriors in each of the first two periods, and even a late surge by Westmont wasn't enough to offset the Gatos lead.

Scott Vega was the Westmont scoring leader with nine points. Tolbert and Sligh finished with five points apiece for the Warriors.

Panthers win two

Prospect lost its opener 51-48 to Los Gatos, but won two straight games to take the consolation championship at Westmont.

Senior forward Chad Holan pitched in 12 points to lead the Panthers to a tight 36-34 win over Pioneer in the consolation finals. Ryan Sainsbury supported with seven points, Roma Ngaleo hit six, Josh Miner and Mike Stephens four apiece and Alex Polovetsky two.

The Mustangs jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the first period, but Prospect cut the lead to 19-16 by intermission. The Panthers cut the lead by two more points in the third quarter, then overtook Pioneer but a bucket, outstanding the Mustangs 10-7 in the final period.

Miner tossed in three three-pointers on his way to a 16-point night in a 39-27 win over Willow Glen in the consolation semifinals. Holan joined Miner in double digits with 10 points.

Stephens supported with four points, Sainsbury hit a three and Polovetsky, Caleb Clausen and Matt Jasper had two each.

The Panthers opened the tournament with a tight 51-48 loss to Los Gatos. Holan was on fire, throwing in 18 points in the game. Miner was close behind with 13 points.

Sainsbury hit a three among his nine points, Polovetsky and Stephens hit four each and Ngaleo added two.

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