Saratoga News Lamotte scores 38 in Saratoga victory By Dick Sparrer Geoff Lamotte took the word "shootout" rather literally when the Saratoga boys' basketball team battled Cupertino for third place in the Cupertino Shootout last weekend. Lamotte literally shot the lights out when he poured in 38 points in Saratoga's 71-59 victory over the Pioneers. Saratoga, a 67-40 winner over Lynbrook on the first night of the tournament, had lost a 48-46 heartbreaker to American in the semifinals. But the Falcons, behind the hot hand of Lamotte, came back to beat league rival Cupertino by 12 in the battle for third. The Falcons and Pioneers are rivals in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. But long before they'll square off on the court in a league game, the two clubs were going at it in a tournament game at Cupertino. And Lamotte was up to the challenge. The 5-foot-10 senior guard buried seven three-pointers on his way to a 38-point night for the Falcons. Spencer Jamison supported Lamotte's effort with 11 points, including a three-pointer, and junior guard Micah Weger joined the two in double digits with 10 points. Michael Crosby popped six points and Matt Garrapolo, Daniel Goñi and Bill Wallace added two points each in the win. The Falcons, now 4-1 for the year, opened up a 19-6 lead in the first period and stretched that to 36-16 by intermission, outscoring the Pioneers 17-10 in the second quarter. Jamison had pumped in 13 points and Crosby added 12, but the Falcons lost 48-46 to American a game earlier. American went on to fall to Andrew Hill 47-38 in the tournament championship game. While Saratoga got off to a fast start against Cupertino, it was American getting off to the quick start in the semifinals. The Falcons trailed 18-9 after a quarter and ended up falling by a bucket. Jamison buried a pair of threes on his way to a 13-point night. Crosby added 12 points and Weger had 10, including a three. Lamotte supported with four points and Goñi had three. Saratoga had pounded Lynbrook, another division foe, 67-40 in the tourney opener for each school. Weger was the scoring leader for the Falcons with 18 points and Crosby tossed in 13, including a three-pointer. Lamotte finished in double digits with 11 points. Jamison chipped in with nine points, Garrapolo had six, Wallace four and Goñi three. The Falcons outscored the Vikings 13-9 in the first period, then took control of the game by topping Lynbrook 19-9 in the second quarter to take a commanding 32-18 lead at the half. Lamotte and Weger went for 15 points apiece to lead Saratoga to a 67-38 win over Lincoln in a nonleague game earlier in the week. Lamotte bombed three three-pointers in the win. Wallace supported with 13 points and Jamison finished with 10 points, including a three. Crosby had six points, Paul Snider four and Adam Weiskal and Max Sandigo two apiece. Another Shootout The Falcons find themselves in another "shootout" this week. Saratoga will compete in the eight-team Wildcat Shootout at Los Gatos, opening play on Dec. 10, 5:30 p.m., against Armijo of Fairfield. Pioneer meets Live Oak on Dec. 9, 5:30 p.m., in the tourney opener with host Los Gatos meeting Leland at 7 p.m. After the Saratoga-Armijo game a night later, Willow Glen meets Aragon at 7 p.m. Second-round games are set for 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday. The finals are to be played on Saturday with the consolation championship game at 4 p.m., the third-place game at 5:30 p.m. and the championship game at 7 p.m. All games are played at Los Gatos High. Vikings top Mats Lynbrook pulled out a 43-40 win over Monta Vista in the battle for fifth place in the Cupertino Shootout. The Vikings had opened the tourney with the 67-40 loss to Saratoga, but battled back to beat Homestead 45-40 to move into the consolation championship game against Monta Vista. Lynbrook, 2-3 in the young season, outscored the Matadors 16-2 in the second period to lead 25-16 at the half, then held on to pull out the three-point win. Scott Stevens, 6-foot-1 senior forward, poured in 14 points to lead the Vikings to the victory. Vic Rajagopal supported with 12 points and Brandon Davis hit a pair of threes to finish with eight points. Dave Hsu and Johnny Wang finished with three points apiece and Ryan Fujihara and Jeff Chan added two points each. Hsu hit a three-pointer. Fujihara had pumped in 15 points, including a pair of threes, to lead the Vikings to a 45-40 win over Homestead a game earlier. Rajagopal was close behind with 14. Wang added eight points, Stevens four and Chan and Davis two apiece. Fujihara poured in 10 points, including two threes, but the Vikings lost 67-40 to Saratoga in their tourney opener. Wang supported with six points and Justin Fujihara, Davis and Rajagopal added five each. Stevens had four, Jeff Cole three and Richard Shen two. Lynbrook Tournament The Vikings will host the Lynbrook Tournament this week with Monta Vista, Capuchino, Pinewood, Lincoln and Cupertino visiting Lynbrook for the Dec. 9-12 tourney. The tourney features pool play the first three days: Dec. 9-- 6 p.m., Cupertino vs. Lincoln, and 7:30 p.m., Monta Vista vs. Capuchino; Dec. 10-- 6 p.m., Capuchino vs. Pinewood, and 7:30 p.m., Lincoln vs. Lynbrook; Dec. 11-- 6 p.m., Pinewood vs. Monta Vista, and 7:30 p.m., Cupertino vs. Lynbrook. Second-place teams in pool play will battle it out for third place in the tournament at 6 p.m. on Dec. 12, but the two first-place teams will meet for the tourney championship at 7:30 p.m. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.