The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Homestead's Dat Lai sets up the offense, but the Mustangs opened El Camino Division play with a tough 52-50 overtime loss to Cupertino last week.

Firebirds open with win

And Fremont coach is not surprised

By Dick Sparrer

Jason Crutchfield had some lofty goals for his Fremont girls' basketball team this winter.

And nothing that's happened so far in the 1997-98 season has changed his prediction.

The Firebirds posted a solid 7-4 preseason record, and they opened play in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with a solid 43-36 win over Milpitas last week.

So the Fremont coach stands by his early-season statement--he expects his Firebirds to contend for a league championship.

"We're returning all but one of our players from last year," said Crutchfield. "We have also added four talented players from last year's JV team, and we have a great transfer player."

"This team is loaded with good, hard-working and dedicated players," he added. "We have high expectations for this season, including a league title."

The Firebirds took the first step in that direction last week with the seven-point win over Milpitas to open the league season.

La Nolia Ufondu poured in 15 points to lead the 'Birds to the win over the Trojans. Natalie Woo supported with 10 points, Monique Gammon pitched in nine points, Chi Tran added eight points, and Beatriz Corro added a point.

Fremont opened up a quick 10-6 lead in the first period and outscored Milpitas 16-6 in the second to take a commanding 26-12 lead by the half. The Firebirds coasted from there to the victory.

Tran, who returns for her fourth varsity season for the Firebirds, and Woo, who is back for her third year on the varsity, lead the Fremont attack this winter. Tran, a 5-foot-7 senior guard, is a two- time all-leaguer for the 'Birds and Woo, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, joined Tran on the all-league list last year.

Ufondu, a 5-foot-9 senior forward, and Corro, a 5-foot-4 junior point guard, are other returning starters for Fremont. Gammon, a 5-foot-9 sophomore forward, is a top prospect up from the JV team, and Kristie Larkin, a 5-foot-7 junior guard, is a talented transfer from St. Francis. Shade Akanbi, a 5-foot-7 sophomore guard, is another top young player up from the JV team.

Seniors Jessica Ackerman, Pia Galindo, Kim Johnson and Charlotte Salvacion join juniors Samantha Hess, Sarah List and Valerie Lund as other top prospects for Fremont this winter.

The Firebirds will be home on Jan. 14 to host Los Altos at 7 p.m. before visiting Cupertino on Jan. 16, 7 p.m.

Mustangs top Vikes

Julie Speckels tossed in 13 points and Michele Wald added 10 to lead the Homestead girls to a 49-17 win over Lynbrook in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

Speckels hit a pair of threes among her five field goals in the win.

Vickie Chiang chipped in with nine points for the Mustangs, freshman Tanyn Green added eight points and Marie Levey added four points.

The Mustangs opened up a quick 11-2 lead in the first period and never looked back. They topped the Vikes 15-6 in the second quarter to lead 26-8 at intermission, and they ended up outscoring Lynbrook in each of the four periods.

Homestead, now 1-0 in the division, is 9-5 for the year.

Fremont boys split

The Fremont boys opened the league season with a split, beating Mountain View 38-32 before losing a 50-48 heartbreaker to Gunn in El Camino Division action.

Melvin Rabena canned three three-pointers on his way to a 17-point night in the win over the Spartans. Darren Lang supported with eight points, Thai Kim hit five and Reynold Carlos and Michael Harris had four apiece.

The Firebirds were down 12-9 at the first buzzer, but blitzed the Spartans 10-3 in the second period to lead by four at the half, 19-15. Fremont added to its lead by one in the third and one more in the fourth to win by six.

Things didn't go quite as well for the Firebirds later in the week. They were outscored 17-10 in the final period by the Titans and ended up losing a tough 50-48 decision to Gunn.

Lang led Fremont with 16 points, including eight points at the free-throw line, and Carlos chipped in with 15 points, including a three-pointer.

Harris buried a three and finished with nine points. Rabena added four points and Michael Hardwick and Mark Harvey hit two each.

Fremont led 14-10 after a period, but trailed by one at the half, 28-27. The Firebirds took the lead again in the third, topping the Titans 11-5 to take a 38-33 advantage in the final quarter. But Gunn outscored Fremont by seven to pull out the win.

Fremont slipped to 1-1 in the division and to 7-10 for the year.

Tough loss for Mustangs

The Homestead boys, meanwhile, opened El Camino Division play with a tough 52-50 overtime loss to Cupertino.

Brian Holm popped 17 points to lead all Homestead scorers in the game. Greg Fobbs joined Holm in double digits with 10 points.

Matt Hovik tossed in a pair of threes to finish with six points and Pat Cabell added six. Max McCay and Steve Lambert hit four points apiece, Matt Hoffman drained a three and Dat Lai hit two points.

Homestead led most of the way. The Mustangs were up 12-10 after a period and held onto a one-point lead at intermission, 21-20. Homestead still led 31-28 heading into the fourth.

But Cupertino topped the Mustangs 15-12 in the final quarter to tie it, then outscored Homestead 9-7 in the overtime period to pull out the win.

Homestead slipped to 0-1 in league and 3-10 for the year with the loss.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 14, 1998.
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