Saratoga News
Sports
Photograph by Zach Beecher
Saratoga's Lisa Ruddy goes to the floor as she battles for the basketball in Friday night's win over Homestead. Ruddy had a big night earlier in the week when she tossed in six three-pointers and finished with 19 points in a lopsided 44-24 win over Los Altos.
Falcon girls move into first-place tie
By Dick Sparrer
It was a game the Saratoga girls basketball team needed to win.
The Falcons traveled down the road to Homestead last Friday night with first place on the line in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Athletic League--that is, if Saratoga could pull out a victory.
The Mustangs sat atop the division with a 6-0 mark, and the Falcons were close behind at 5-1. A Homestead win would put a little distance between the two clubs--a Saratoga victory would lock them in a first-place tie.
Well, Erica Baba and Alex Sclavos certainly knew how they wanted it to turn out.
Baba, a 5-foot-2 junior guard, handled things on the floor and Sclavos, a 5-foot-8 sophomore forward, controlled things under the boards as the Falcons rolled to a 37-30 victory over the Mustangs.
The outcome left the clubs with matching 6-1 wins in the El Camino Division heading into play this week. The Falcons will now host Cupertino on Jan. 31, 7 p.m., before heading to Lynbrook on Feb. 2, 6:15 p.m.
Saratoga's win over Homestead came just a couple of nights after the Falcons had rolled to a 44-24 win over Los Altos behind the hot hand of Lisa Ruddy, a 5-foot-5 senior guard who tossed in six three-pointers.
It was Baba, though, who was the leader for the Falcons in the key clash with Homestead. The junior had a couple of three among her five field goals to finish with a team-high 12 points. She also led her squad with five assists.
Sclavos supported with nine points and led the Falcons with eight rebounds. She also had a couple of steals and two assists.
Jessica Bramlett tossed in seven points, including a three and two free throws in two tries. She added three rebounds and three assists.
Vanessa Guzman had four points and five rebounds, Ruddy was 3 of 4 at the free-throw line, Sam King had two points and a couple of rebounds and Melissa Lin had four rebounds and three steals.
The Falcons had fallen behind 12-5 in the first quarter against the Mustangs, but took the lead 16-15 by the half. Saratoga stretched its lead to seven by the end of the third, 28-21, then matched Homestead's nine points in the fourth period.
Saratoga, 17-4 for the year, drilled the Eagles 44-24 to open the week, thanks to the 19-point effort by Ruddy. All six of her field goals were from behind the arc, and she was 1 of 2 from the line.
Lin had a big night with nine points, four rebounds, five blocked shots and a steal, and Baba was solid with three points, eight rebounds, two steals and 10 assists.
Sclavos finished with four points and a team-high nine rebounds. She also had a steal and an assist.
King dropped two threes for six points and added three rebounds and blocked two shots, and Bramlett and Guzman added two points apiece. Bramlett also had three rebounds, a steal and two assists, and Guzman added four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Ashley Cole finished with three rebounds and two steals, Jessica Lu had two rebounds and a steal and Shannon Ngyuen had a rebound.
Saratoga opened up a commanding 20-3 first-quarter lead and never looking back against the Eagles.
