Saratoga girls plan to play fast-paced game

By Dick Sparrer

It's been a slow start for the girls basketball team at Saratoga High School.

But head coach Bret Yeilding is hoping for a fast finish when he leads his Falcons into league play in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League in January.

Yeilding is looking for his club to contend for the title in the division, and he's preparing the Falcons now for the kind of game he figures could wear out the opposition in the league campaign.

"We had a good summer, and with all this experience and depth, we will play a fast-paced brand of basketball, running and pressing," said the veteran Saratoga coach. "This is the best shooting team I've had at Saratoga, and the fastest."

Leading the charge, and heading up a list of 11 returners from last year's club, is senior point guard Dernie Wang (5-foot-5), back for her third varsity season.

Juniors Stephanie Morrison (5-foot-8) and Karen Woo ( 5-foot-6) are top outside shooters for the Falcons and seniors Tannaz Altafi (5-foot-8) and Szu-Han Wang (5-foot-10) will attempt to control the inside game.

Seniors Courtney Miyamoto (5-foot-6) and Melody Lee (5-foot-4) are solid defensive players for Saratoga and Yeilding calls freshman Tiffany Tan (5-foot-3) "an exciting newcomer."

Senior Lynn Chouw (5-foot-5) is back for her fourth season on the Saratoga varsity, and D. Wang, Miyamoto and Morrison are all third-year varsity players. Woo, Lee, Altafi, Wang, Diana Shih (5-foot-2), Sarah Yee (5-foot-4), Tina Hsu (5-foot-5) and Rebecca Yang (5-foot-5) round out the list of returners for the Falcons.

Morrison won second-team all-league honors and D. Wang was an honorable mention pick for the Saratoga team that posted an 8-6 league record last winter.

Yeilding figures his Falcons for a top three finish in the division this season with Milpitas entering the year as the title favorite.

The Falcons are off to a slow start, winning just one of their first three games.

Saratoga fell 63-36 to Leland and 46-42 to Los Gatos in the first week of the season. Then, after winning their opener in the Mt. Pleasant Tournament, they lost to Mt. Pleasant 49-30 and Santa Teresa 41-32 to settle for fourth place in the preseason tourney.

D. Wang pitched in 10 points, but the Falcons lost by nine to the Saints in the battle for third place in the tournament.

Lee and Tan fired in five points apiece for Saratoga and Morrison hit four. Woo canned a three-pointer, Chouw and S. Wang hit two points each and Altafi had one.

D. Want had 11 points, including a three, and Woo drilled a pair of threes to finish with six points, but Saratoga lost 49-30 to host Mt. Pleasant in the tournament semifinals. The Cardinals went on to beat Independence.

Morrison added four points in the loss and Chouw, Miyamoto, Lee and S. Wang had two each.

Morrison had the hot hand with 12 points, but the Falcons lost to Leland to open the season. Morrison had a three among her four field goals and she added three points at the free-throw line.

Woo popped two threes on her way to an eight-point night. Tan hit five points, Yee and Altafi three apiece, Chouw and D. Wang two each and Miyamoto one.

Woo was the scoring leader for the Falcons in the 46-42 loss to Los Gatos. Woo buried three three-pointers and a field goal to finish with 11 points in the loss.

Morrison tossed in nine points in the game and D. Wang had a pair of threes among her seven points.

Saratoga will be back in action this week at the Yerba Buena Tournament, which begins on Dec. 13. The Falcons won't be home again until they host Milpitas in their second league game on Jan. 5.

Photo: Kevin Moran Park receives new playground equipment

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