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Lagod leads Dons to title at Westmont Invitational
By Dick Sparrer
Ryan Lagod was shooting the lights out in the gym at the 33rd annual Westmont Invitational basketball tournament last week.
But luckily for basketball fans, that's just a figure of speech. The lights didn't actually go out, so fans were able to see the Del Mar junior pour in 57 points in three games, including 10 buckets from three-point range, to lead the Dons to the tournament championship.
Lagod buried 20 points in a tournament-opening 56-47 win over Piedmont Hills, and he came back with 26 points in a 61-49 victory over host Westmont a game later.
Then the junior guard popped 11 points to help the Dons to a 44-29 win over Willow Glen in the championship game.
At the tournament's end, the lights were shining on Lagod and his Del Mar teammates Jason Campbell, Kyle Kelly and Steve White, as the Dons were well-represented on the all-tourney team.
Willow Glen's Guy Beahm and Casey Keegan, Fremont's Cameron McNeil and Renato Carlos, Prospect's Mike Senteio and Pioneer's Shawn Abadajos were other players selected on the Westmont all-tourney list.
White, Del Mar's solid 6-foot-6 junior center, jammed 15 points, and Lagod added 11 in the 44-29 win over the Rams in the championship game. Lagod popped a pair of threes.
Lagod was on fire a game earlier against Westmont. He canned six threes among his nine field goals and ended up with 26 points in the 61-49 win over the Warriors.
Senior forward Daniel Sherburne led the Warriors with 23 points. Erik Cisler added eight for Westmont, Caleb Pitts hit seven, Todd Bethke four, Vincent Chung, Clay Tolbert and John McAvoy two each and Mike Chapman one.
The Dons opened the tourney with a 56-47 win over Piedmont Hills. Lagod hit a couple of threes on his way to 20 points.
The Rams moved into the title game by beating Pioneer 53-51 and Fremont 56-35.
The Firebirds, who had opened with a 48-34 win over Los Gatos, finished up with a 64-52 victory over Westmont to clinch third place in the tourney.
Cisler topped all Westmont scorers with 18 points, and Pitts hit 17. Sherburne supported with 11 points, Chung had four, and Brent Hughes hit two.
Westmont opened with a 38-34 win over Prospect before losing two straight to finish in fourth place.
Sherburne led the Warriors to the win over the Panthers with 13 points, and Pitts added 11. Cisler had eight points, Bethke four and Hughes two.
Zak Diriya led the Panthers with 15 points, including three three-pointers. John Minor added six points, Senteio five, Slaven Moro four and Ryan Sainsbury and Mike Stephens two apiece.
The Panthers fought back from the tournament-opening loss with back-to-back wins to win the consolation title.
Diriya had 14 points to lead Prospect to a tight 39-38 win over Piedmont Hills. Chad Holan added nine points and Senteio seven. Moro finished with four points, Minor two and Sainsbury, Stephens and Kelley Stevens one each.
The Panthers put four players in double figures in a 62-57 win over Pioneer in the consolation championship game. Diriya led the Panthers with 13 points, including three three-pointers. Sainsbury chipped in with 12 points, Senteio had 11, and Holan hit 10. Stephens had six points, Minor four, Thanh Tri three and Moro two.
Falcons second
Saratoga, meanwhile, ended up second in the Cupertino Shootout.
Michah Weger and Bill Wallace each earned places on the all-tournament team after leading the Falcons to second place in the tourney.
Weger poured in 22 points, including three three-pointers, to lead the Falcons to a 55-38 win over American that pushed Saratoga into the tournament championship game against Andrew Hill.
Mike Crosby also pitched in three threes on his way to 14 points in the win. Todd Peper supported with eight points.
The Falcons jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead in the first period and took a six-point lead in at intermission, 19-13. Saratoga added to its lead by three points in the third quarter, then put the game away by outscoring American 21-13 in the fourth.
Things didn't go quite as well for the Falcons in the title game against Hill.
The Falcons led by a point at the first buzzer, 15-14, but were outscored by Hill 20-8 in the second. Saratoga cut the lead by three in the third to trail just 44-36 heading into the fourth, but Hill held on for the win.
Weger led the Falcons with 13 points, Wallace dropped eight, and Crosby supported with seven.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
