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Saratoga's Justin Zebb, working the ball up the court in a game earlier this season, was the tournament MVP at the Saratoga Shootout.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Saratoga wins the Shootout
Zebb named tourney MVP
By Dick Sparrer
The Saratoga basketball players have a lot to learn about being good hosts.
Oh, they were nice enough to the teams that visited them last weekend for the annual Saratoga Shootout--at least until they faced them on the court. Then they weren't very gracious hosts at all.
The Falcons beat three straight teams to win the team championship in their own tournament. Saratoga edged Lincoln 51-50 in the first round, whipped St. Lawrence Academy 63-51 in the semifinals and blasted Cupertino 50-39 in the championship game.
Saratoga junior guard Justin Zebb was named the tournament's most valuable player after leading the Falcons in scoring over the last two games, and Daniel Ruby won a place on the all-tournament team.
Rounding out the all-tourney squad were Brandon Clark of Cupertino, Eddie Lewis of Pioneer, and Daniel Logan and Cristino Rivera of St. Lawrence.
Zebb tossed in 15 points, including a three-pointer, to lead the Falcons to the 11-point win over Cupertino in the championship game. Alexi Sevastapoulus pitched in three threes on his way to a 13-point night for the Falcons.
Matt Ashburn and Alan Tsai each fired in a three-pointer and finished with seven points apiece in the win. Mark Elving and Ruby added four points each for the Falcons and Eric Lee hit one.
The Falcons and Pioneers were locked in an 8-8 tie after a period, and the Falcons led just 22-20 at intermission. But they added to their lead by three in the third quarter, then outscored 'Tino 15-9 in the fourth to clinch the win.
Saratoga, now 6-3 for the year, beat St. Lawrence 63-51 in the semi's. Zebb led the Falcons with 15 points and Lee joined him in twin figures with 14. Tsai and Ruby canned nine points apiece and each popped a three, Elving had six points, Jesse Alejandro four and Ashburn two.
Lee, Ruby and Tsai were each hot in the tourney opener against Lincoln. Lee and Ruby finished with 11 points apiece and Tsai was close behind with 10. Tsai buried a couple of threes and Lee hit one.
Ashburn canned three three-pointers to finish with nine points and Sevastapoulus added five points, including a three. Zebb had three points in the win and Elving hit two.
St. Lawrence ended up beating Monta Vista 51-46 to finish third in the tournament and Pioneer topped Lincoln 56-37 to take the consolation championship.
Panthers lose two
Prospect lost two straight in the tournament, falling 64-50 to St. Lawrence and 48-44 to Lincoln.
Chad Holan poured in 21 points, but the Panthers lost their opener by 14 to St. Lawrence. Josh Minor had a three among his 12 points and Mike Stephens added 11 points. Roma Ngaleo had three points, Alex Polovetsky two and Ryan Sainsbury one.
Holan buried 13 points and Stephens and Minor went for 10 apiece in the 48-44 loss to Lincoln. Stephens hit a three-pointer for the Panthers.
Ngaleo added four points in the loss, Polovetsky had three and Sainsbury and Brent Hughes added two each.
The two losses evened Prospect's record at 6-6. The Panthers are now out of action until after Christmas when they visit Cupertino on Dec. 28, 7 p.m., and Saratoga on Dec. 29, 6:30 p.m.
Westmont wins
The Westmont boys pushed their season record to 5-2 with a 65-42 nonleague win over Carlmont last week.
Brandon Sligh poured in 21 points to lead the Warriors to the lopsided victory. The 6-foot-4 transfer tossed in eight buckets from the floor and added five points a the free-throw line.
Westmont outscored Carlmont in every period but the fourth, including a 19-10 run in the second quarter and a 21-10 cushion in the third.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
