By DICK SPARRER
Size may be a problem for the Homestead girls' basketball team this winter. And the Mustangs may lack a little depth.
But as far as talent goes, Homestead should be right up there with the best of them in the 1997 season.
Veteran head coach Ernie Dossa expects senior stars Hilary Parker and Brie Ahern to be among the best players in the tough De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this year. And why wouldn't he? They certainly were last season.
Parker and Ahern were each all-league first-team performers for Homestead in 1996. Parker went on to claim a spot on the all-Central Coast Section second-team and Ahern earned an all-CCS third-team berth after leading the Mustangs to a CCS Division II championship.
The two Homestead superstars are joined on the floor by four returning seniors: Yvonne Chen, Yumi Minn, Erin Morikawa and Kelly Hadden. Three of them were honored with all-league recognition last winter, with Chen earning a second-team spot and Minn and Morikawa claiming spots on the honorable mention list.
"Our first five are fun to watch and can be a real pain for opponents to play against," said Dossa. "But we lack size and experience for a strong bench."
Sophomore Michele Wald, an all-leaguer as a freshman on the junior varsity last season, could be a key player off the bench for the Mustangs this season. Junior Donna Tripiano and sophomores Julie Speckels and Shelly Mellberg are other top young prospects for Homestead.
"We'll have a hard time matching up against big teams like Monta Vista, St. Francis and Los Gatos," he added. The coach picks the Matadors and Lancers as the teams to beat in the division this season.
Homestead will jump right into that league season this week. The Mustangs visit Lynbrook on Jan. 7, 7 p.m., before hosting Monta Vista on Jan. 11, 3 p.m.
The Mustangs enter league play after posting an impressive 11-1 record in the nonleague season.
Parker pumped in 14 points and Hadden added 10 to lead the Mustangs to a 48-23 win over Half Moon Bay to finish off the preseason.
Morikawa supported with seven points, Chen added six, Mellberg and Marie Levey added four apiece, Wald popped two and Minn had one.
Homestead blanked Half Moon Bay 12-0 in the first period to set the tempo for the night. The Mustangs were up by 10 at halftime, then topped the visitors 17-8 in the third to put the game on ice.
Fremont girls lose
No Fremont player could score in double figures when the Firebirds dropped a 42-28 nonleague decision to Del Mar last week.
Junior forward Kim Johnson led the Firebirds with six points in the loss and Chi Tran and Sarah List hit five points apiece. List had a three-pointer for Fremont.
Natalie Woo, Sheila Hess and Charlotte Salvacion chipped in with four points each for the Lady Birds.
Fremont fell back 17-8 in the first period and trailed by 10 at the half, 27-17. But Del Mar outscored Fremont 11-1 in the third quarter to put the game away.
The Firebirds, 2-8 in the nonleague season, will open play in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL this week when they host Los Altos on Jan. 7 and visit Wilcox on Jan. 9 in a pair of 7 p.m. games.
Mustangs tame Lions
On the road to a convincing 55-38 nonleague victory over the Lions, the Homestead boys outscored Lincoln in every period except the second.
Bryan Blasquez poured in 16 points to lead all Homestead scorers in the win. Blasquez had a three-pointer among his six field goals and added three points at the line.
Jimmy Olveson tossed in a pair of threes and finished the night with 12 points for the Mustangs. Steve Papoulias supported with 10 points, Kayzell Milton added nine, Carter Kwok and Jose Alvarez hit three apiece and Chung Lai had two. Milton, Alvarez and Kwok each buried three-pointers.
Homestead jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the first period, but the Lions cut the cushion to five points at the half, 21-16.
The Mustangs topped the Lions 13-8 in the third, though, to regain control of the game, then whipped Lincoln 22-14 in the fourth to clinch the win.
Blasquez, a senior, and Milton, a junior, are each all-league returners for the Mustangs this winter and seniors Alvarez and Lai are each four-year players in the Homestead program.
Papoulias, another senior, was the starting center last season and returns to that position this year.
Olevson, a junior point guard, moves up to varsity from last year's frosh-soph squad. Football star Tony Elam, a senior, and sophomore Dat Lai are other varsity prospects for the Mustangs this year.
"We will try to have an up-tempo game, which will involve passing and running the fast break," said Homestead coach Norm Eliason. "We have some perimeter shooters, but our concern is lack of height inside."
Eliason figures Fremont, Saratoga and Wilcox will be the favorites in the El Camino Division race this winter.
Homestead, currently 2-8 this season, will open the league season at Cupertino on Jan. 8, 7 p.m., before hosting Monta Vista on Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Firebirds fall
Darren Lang popped nine points and Rich Lockmanese added seven, but the Fremont boys finished the nonleague season by dropping a 56-38 decision to Willow Glen.
Melvin Rabena and Danny Douglas supported with six points apiece, Ben Skinner had four, and Reynold Carlos, Michael Harris and Mark Harvey added two points each. Rabena and Skinner each hit three-pointers.
The Firebirds trailed by just three at the first buzzer, but were outscored 18-3 in the second and 18-3 in the third. They outscored the Rams 23-8 in the final quarter, but still lost by 18.
Fremont will open the El Camino Division season at home on Jan. 18, hosting Saratoga at 7:30 p.m.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 8, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.