Saratoga News

Sports

Saratoga boys, girls in CCS playoffs

By Dick Sparrer

Saratogans will have a choice to make this Wednesday night--drive across San Jose to the Almaden Valley, or drive to Felton.

Of course, the decision will be an easy one for local residents, depending upon where their allegiance lies.

The Saratoga boys and girls basketball teams will open the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs on Feb. 21 in very different places. The girls, seeded No. 9 in the tournament, will take their 19-7 season record up against No. 8 Pioneer (12-12) at 5:30 p.m. at the Blossom Hill Road home of the Mustangs. The winner of that game advances to a Feb. 24 date at Notre Dame-Belmont against No. 1 Sacred Heart Cathedral (22-2).

The boys, meanwhile, are seeded No. 9 in their tourney and will take a 16-10 season mark to Felton to visit No. 8 San Lorenzo Valley (24-6) at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to face the No. 1 Archbishop Riordan (25-2)-No. 16 Terra Nova (13-11) winner on Feb. 24 at St. Ignatius.

The two Saratoga clubs each enter the playoffs after nailing Friday night victories last week.

The Saratoga boys went double overtime to knock off Milpitas 63-55 after falling 65-45 to Gunn earlier in the week, and the girls edged Santa Clara 36-35 after losing 38-33 to Los Altos a few days earlier.

Junior guard Erica Baba tossed in 11 points and senior guard Lisa Ruddy dropped 10 to lead the Saratoga girls to the tight win over the Bruins. The Falcons finished the regular season with an 8-4 record in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Santa Clara was 3-9.

Baba had a pair of three-point buckets and five free throws to lead all Saratoga scorers in the game. Ruddy also had a pair of threes among her three field goals and she added a couple of points at the free-throw line.

Jessica Bramlett, another junior guard, drained two threes to finish with six points and sophomore forward Alex Sclavos had a three among her six points. Soph forward Melissa Lin also popped a three to round out the scoring for Saratoga.

The Falcons jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the first period and held a 21-16 cushion at the half before Santa Clara started to battle back. The Bruins cut the lead to one after three quarters, 25-25, but the two teams matched 11-point fourth periods and Saratoga held on for the one-point win.

Things didn't go as well earlier in the week against Los Altos (7-5 in league). The Falcons fell behind by 15 inn the first half and couldn't catch up, even though they outscored the Eagles in each of the last two quarters.

Ruddy had the hot hand for the Falcons, tossing in four threes and a couple of free throws to finish with a team-high 14 points.

Baba had a three among her five points. Vanessa Guzman, a junior forward, supported with four points, Sclavos and senior forward Jessica Lu had three each and Lin and sophomore guard Sheeva Hamidieh added two apiece.

The Saratoga boys wrapped up De Anza Division play with a 5-7 record after a thrilling 63-55 double overtime victory over Milpitas (6-6) on Friday night.

The Falcons trailed early in the back-and-forth game, down 15-12 at the first buzzer. But Saratoga topped Milpitas 13-7 in the second quarter to lead by three at the half, 25-22. The Trojans cut the lead by two in the third quarter to go into the fourth down just 34-33, then topped Saratoga 12-11 in the fourth to tie it 45-45 at the end of regulation.

The clubs matched four points in the first overtime, but the Falcons blasted the Trojans 14-6 in the second OT to win by eight.

Senior forward Bo Nielsen, who had been sidelined with an injury, returned to the court with a vengeance. The 6-foot-2 senior tossed in a couple of shots from the field, one from three-point range, and added eight free throws to lead the Falcons with 13 points.

Junior center Steven Walker finished in double digits with 10 points, including four at the line, and sophomore forward Ryan Pak pitched in three threes to finish with nine points. Junior guard Keon Ghafouri supported with eight points, big 6-foot-1 senior forward Nick Valuri had seven, Kourash Agahdel and Andy Capek hit six apiece, P.J. Rezaii popped a three and Chris Chiou had one.

Earlier in the week, Gunn (8-4) outscored Saratoga in every period on the road to a 20-point victory.

Ghafouri was the scoring leader for the Falcons with 23 points. He had four three-pointers among his eight field goals and he added three points at the charity stripe.

Walker finished with 10 points, Sean Casserly six, Agahdel four and Capek two.