Saratoga News

Photograph by Lea Tauriello

Saratoga's Mike Black battles for a rebound in action against Los Gatos in the Wildcat Shootout. Black earned a place on the all-tournament team after helping the Falcons to a team second.

Saratoga in Wildcat finals

Falcons post rare win over Gatos

By Dick Sparrer

It's been a long time since Saratoga has beaten Los Gatos in basketball.

It was back during Barry Mendenhall's reign as the Saratoga head coach, many years ago.

And before that? Well, that was the only loss Los Gatos head coach Jim Marino had been handed by the Falcons since taking over the Gatos program in 1980.

The only loss, that is, before last Friday night.

The Falcons upset the Wildcats 49-41 to move into the finals of the Los Gatos Lions Club Wildcat Shootout, and they did it by putting together a valiant comeback against the host Cats.

Saratoga fought back from an eight-point deficit to outscore Gatos 20-4 in the final quarter to pull out the victory and move into the tournament championship game.

The Falcons lost to Willow Glen in the finals, but just being there was an accomplishment for the Saratoga cagers.

"They are much better than they have been," Marino said of Saratoga. "They have a pretty good team."

The Falcons had been struggling with just one win in four games heading into the tournament. But Saratoga crushed Pioneer 60-40 in the first round of the tourney, then beat Los Gatos 49-41 to advance to the finals.

Mike Black, who poured in 32 points in the first two games to help the Falcons to back-to-back wins, earned a place on the all-tournament team for his efforts.

Willow Glen's Rayvon Jackson was named the tourney most valuable player. Dion Saunders of Willow Glen, Mike McSweeney of Los Gatos, Andy D'Amico of Soquel and Nate Strickland of Armijo rounded out the all-tournament team.

Black and Micah Weger were the big scorers for the Falcons in each of their victories.

Weger, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard, buried three three-pointers on his way to a team high 18 points and Black, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, pumped in 15 points to lead the Falcons to the important win over Los Gatos.

Senior Corey Schwaderer, a 6-foot-1 forward, supported with seven points, including a three-point bucket. Saratoga's 6-foot-2 senior center Oliver L'Abbe added six points and junior Geoff Lamotte, a 5-foot-10 guard, hit a three-pointer.

Los Gatos took the early lead with a 14-9 cushion in the first period. The Cats led by seven at the half, 24-17, and by eight after three quarters, 37-29.

But there was no quit in the Falcons. They battled from behind to outscore Los Gatos 20-4 in the last period to pull out the win and clinch a place in the finals.

Black had the hot hand with 17 points, and Weger added 12 points to lead the Falcons to the 60-40 win over Pioneer in the tourney opener. Black had a couple of threes among his seven field goals.

L'Abbe joined the two in double digits with 10 points. Matt Garrapolo had six points, Lamotte and Luke Weger five apiece, Schwaderer four and Ryan Anderson one. L. Weger also hit a three-pointer.

Falcon girls win

The Saratoga girls ran their season record to an impressive 4-1 with a solid 37-16 win over Lynbrook.

Allison Zisko and Karen Bencala led all Saratoga scorers in the win over the Vikings. Zisko buried 13 points for the Falcons, and Bencala added 12.

Robyn Katzman tossed in eight points for the winners, and Nicole LaMore and Jenn Chan added two apiece.

The five Falcons, along with senior point guard Clancy Roberts, are all top returners for Saratoga this season--a season that head coach Bret Yeilding hopes will find his club a contender.

"Our starters are experienced," Yeilding said, "our subs are not."

Still, the Saratoga coach looks for his club to battle for a spot in the top three in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this year. He rates Los Altos as the division favorite.

Zisko, a 6-foot senior forward, returns after winning all-league first team honors for a team that tied for second in the division last year with a 9-4 record.

Mannina third

Prospect wrestler Joey Mannina came through with a solid individual showing at the Ed Axline Tournament at Santa Clara last Saturday. Mannina finished third at 140 pounds for the Panthers.

Mannina had finished third at 145 pounds a week earlier in the Blossom Hill Invitational at Oak Grove.

The same day, Westmont posted a 2-2 record in the Westmont Dual Match Tournament, and Vuong Luong and Phat Dinh were each unbeaten to win spots on the all-tournament team.

Luong recorded a 4-0 mark to go undefeated at 112 pounds, and Dinh was 4-0 at 125 pounds.

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