The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Photographs by George Sakkestad Fremont's Tam Kim drives for two of his eight points in a 44-32 division win over Cupertino. Firebirds, Mustangs win Homestead girls knock off Mats By DICK SPARRER A week that started out on a dismal note ended with a positive finish for the boys basketball teams at Fremont and Homestead. The Firebirds and Mustangs each lost their league openers last Tuesday, but they both came back with victories on Thursday night to even their records at 1-1 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The news wasn't quite as bright for Cupertino and Monta Vista, however. Because it turns out that the Pioneers and Matadors were the Thursday night victims in a pair of tough division battles. Fremont lost 53-36 to Saratoga to open the league campaign, but the Firebirds battled back to beat Cupertino 44-32 on Thursday. Homestead dropped a 36-29 nod to Mountain View in the division opener, but the Mustangs rebounded with a thrilling 49-48 overtime win over the Mats two nights later. Homestead had to battle from behind to tie Monta Vista 41-41 in regulation, then the Mustangs edged the Matadors 9-8 in the extra period to pull out the exciting victory. Senior Steve Lambert led a balanced scoring attack for Homestead with 11 points. Matt Hovik hit three three-pointers to finish with nine points for the Mustangs. Matt Hoffman dropped a pair of threes to add six points, and Max McKay and A.J. Pepper had four points apiece. The Mustangs jumped out to an impressive 13-2 lead in the first period, but the Matadors battled back to cut the lead to three by the half, 17-15. Monta Vista topped Homestead 16-9 in the third to take a five-point lead into the final period. But the Mustangs rallied to tie it, then won the game in overtime. The Mustangs had dropped a 36-29 decision to Mountain View earlier in the week. Lambert led Homestead with nine points, Hoffman hit eight, Hovik five, Pepper four and Dat Lai three. Hoffman and Hovik each buried three-pointers. Homestead, now 4-11 for the year and 1-1 in the division, will visit Saratoga on Jan. 13, 7 p.m., before hosting Gunn on Jan. 19, 7 p.m. Over at Fremont, the Firebirds jumped on Cupertino early and held on for a 12-point win over the Pioneers. Reynold Carlos pitched in 14 points to lead Fremont to the division win. Tam Kim and Cameron McNeil supported with eight points apiece, Glenn Marasigan and Darrel Sansano hit six points each, and Renato Carlos had two. Kim and Marasigan each popped three-pointers. Fremont, 6-10 for the year and 1-1 in the division, had opened the week with the 53-36 loss to Saratoga. McNeil paced the Firebirds with 12 points, including a three. Kim supported with eight points and Sansano with six, both of them hitting a pair of threes. Rey. Carlos and Jacab Esau hit three points apiece, Ren. Carlos added two and Marasigan and Marcus Porter had one each. Homestead girls win Michelle Wald tossed in 13 points to lead the Homestead girls to a big 42-37 win over Monta Vista in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL. Julie Speckels added nine points, Tanya Green seven, Shelly Mellberg and Julia Randall four apiece, Chris Strombel three and Vickie Chiang two. The Mustangs opened up a 17-7 lead in the first quarter, but the Mats cut it to 21-20 by intermission. Homestead stretched its lead to six in the third period, and hung on for the win. Homestead, now 2-0 in the division and 15-2 for the year, visited Palo Alto on Jan. 12 for a 7 p.m. game. Knights win Ben Jones, Ryan Hazley and James Terada each scored in double figures to lead the King's Academy to a 64-43 win over San Francisco Christian in the Christian Private Schools League. Jones led the Knights with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Hazley supported with 12 points, and Terada added 10. Tony Castillo and Dan Leong tossed in eight points apiece, Nate Morrow had six, Steve Vanderet added three, and Dan Friske hit two. The Knights are now 8-6 for the year. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 13, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.