Saratoga News Photograph by Skye Dunlap Saratoga's Robert Kim fires a pass inside in action in the Wildcats Shootout in Los Gatos. The Falcons lost the opener, but then won two straight to claim fifth place in the tourney. Falcons fifth in Shootout Saratoga prepares to host its own basketball tourney By Dick Sparrer The Saratoga boys wanted a tournament championship. But the best the Falcons could hope for after losing their opener to Armijo of Fairfield was a fifth-place finish in the Wildcat Shootout last week. And that's just where they finished. The Falcons rebounded from a tournament-opening loss to beat Aragon 52-40 and Leland 60-56 to win the consolation championship in the Los Gatos tourney. The fifth in the Wildcat Shootout came a week after the Falcons claimed third in the Cupertino Shootout. Saratoga is now 6-2 for the year. The Falcons hope to continue their tournament success this week when they host their own Saratoga Tournament Dec. 17-19. Saratoga lost by five to Armijo to open the Wildcat Shootout last week, but rallied back with the 12-point win over Aragon to win a place in the consolation championship game. Spencer Jamison led all Saratoga scorers with 11 points in the important victory. Micah Weger supported with nine points. Geoff Lamotte, who buried 11 three-pointers in the three games and earned a place on the all-tournament team, chipped in with eight points, including a three, and Daniel Goñi also had eight points in the win. Bill Wallace jammed seven points, Matt Garrapolo had four, Mike Crosby hit two, and Paul Snider had one. The Falcons, who led by one after a period, were even with the Dons at the half, 18-18, but pulled away by three in the third and nine more in the fourth. Saratoga kept its momentum in the consolation title game with a 60-56 win over Leland. The Falcons trailed this one by two points after a period, by three at the half and by eight heading into the fourth. But Saratoga rallied to outscore the Chargers 24-12 in the final quarter to claim the four-point win. Lamotte had the hot hand for the Falcons, tossing in 20 points. He had four three-pointers among his eight field goals. Weger supported with 19 points for Saratoga, including a three. Weger tossed in six points from the free-throw line. Crosby finished with six points for the Falcons, Garrapolo and Snider had four apiece, Goñi, Jamison and Wallace had two each and Robert Kim hit one. Saratoga suffered a tough loss to Armijo to open the tournament. The clubs were even after three quarters, but Armijo outscored the Falcons 19-14 in the final period to pull out the victory. Lamotte had his biggest game of the tourney, pouring in 25 points. Six of his seven field goals were three-pointers, and he added five points at the line. Weger joined Lamotte in double digits with 12 points, including a three, and Jamison had nine points. Crosby added four points, Garrapolo three, Wallace two and Goñi one. Armijo lost to Willow Glen a game later, but beat Pioneer to finish third in the tourney. Host Los Gatos beat Willow Glen 55-44 in the finals. The Cats had beaten Leland 58-35 and Pioneer 57-26 to get into the title game. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.