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Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Senior guard Darren Lang of Fremont dives to the floor to take the basketball away from two Homestead players. Fremont went on to win the tight game 37-35.

Firebirds hang on for win

Fremont basketballers take Homestead

By Dick Sparrer

Fremont held a comfortable lead.

The Firebirds were up 10 points; they had outscored Homestead in each of the first three periods. They just had to hold that lead to claim their second win of the young season in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

And that's just what they did. The Firebirds held their lead to pull out the win. But it was anything but comfortable.

Homestead made Fremont uncomfortable by outscoring the Firebirds 15-7 in the final period, but the 'Birds were able to hold on for a thrilling 37-35 victory over the rival Mustangs.

Darren Lang pumped in 13 points and Melvin Rabena buried a pair of three-pointers on his way to seven points to lead Fremont to the exciting win.

Michael Harris supported with five points, Reynold Carlos and Thai Kim hit four points apiece, and Mark Harvey and Michael Hardwick had two each.

Fremont jumped in front 10-6 in the first period and led by five at the half, 19-14. The Firebirds outscored the Mustangs by five in the third to lead by 10 heading into the fourth. Then they held on for the victory.

Brian Holm finished with 11 points to lead all Homestead scorers in the low-scoring game. Keith Merikawa drilled a pair of threes to finish with six points, and Greg Fobbs added six.

Joe Whiteman chipped in with five points, Matt Hoffman three, and Pat Cabell and Jim Kiel two each. Whiteman and Hoffman each hit a three.

Fremont slipped to 2-2 in the division and to 8-11 for the year later in the week after a 37-28 loss to Cupertino.

Rabena drilled 13 points, including a couple of threes. Lang added six, Harris and Carlos four each and Manuel Mendoza one.

Homestead battled back from the loss to Fremont to beat Monta Vista 50-38. The Mustangs are now 2-1 in the division and 4-11 for the year.

Holm and Steve Lambert shared game-high honors for the Mustangs with 11 points apiece. Dat Lai had nine points, Fobbs seven, Max McCary five, Hoffman three and Cabell and Matt Hovik two each.

King's wins...big

The King's Academy had another big-scoring night on the road to a lopsided 91-47 win over North Valley Baptist.

Tayo Akinsete buried 15 points to top a group of four Knights in double digits in the victory. Nate Morrow added 14 points, James Terada had 13 and Tony Castillo popped 12. Dan Leong supported with nine points.

The Knights are now 3-0 in the Christian Private Schools League and 9-6 for the year.

The King's Academy girls, meanwhile, ran their league record to 2-0 with a 46-16 win over Mid Peninsula.

Mustangs top Mats

Michelle Wald tossed in 18 points and Julie Speckels drilled 15 to lead the Homestead girls' basketball team to an impressive 39-38 win over Monta Vista last week.

The Mustangs trailed the Matadors 34-24 heading into the final period, but outscored the visitors 15-4 to pull out the thrilling one-point victory.

Wald buried five field goals and added an important eight points at the free-throw line to lead all Homestead scorers in the win. Speckels had a three-pointer among her five field goals, and she hit four charity throws.

Vickie Chiang added three points in the win, Shelly Mellberg had two and Taryn Green added one.

The Mustangs, now 3-0 in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL and 11-5 for the year, had opened the week with an easy 56-34 win over Santa Clara.

Speckels and Mellberg jammed 14 points apiece to share game-high honors. Speckels drained three threes and Mellberg buried two.

Green, the 6-foot freshman center, supported with seven points, Wald had six, and Chiang and Marie Levey four apiece.

Lady Birds win

The Fremont girls also pushed their league record to 3-0 with a 49-38 victory over Los Altos in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

La Nolia Ufondu tossed in 11 points to lead the Firebirds to the win. Beatriz Corro added nine points, Monique Gammon eight and Natalie Woo seven.

Chi Tran had a three-pointer among her five points for the winners. Shade Akanbi hit four points, Sarah List and Charlotte Salvacion two each and Kim Johnson one.

Fremont outscored Los Altos in every period but the fourth on the way to the victcory. The Lady Birds now have a 10-4 season mark to go with their 3-0 league record.

Firebirds fall to Cats

Pins by Danny Garcia and Mark Sabran weren't enough to keep the Fremont wrestling team from dropping a 46-25 decision to Los Gatos in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last week.

Fremont actually won six of the first eight matches wrestled, but Los Gatos dominated in the upper weights to pull out the victory.

Garcia pinned in the third round at 103 pounds to get the Firebirds off to a good start. Jason Piamonte nailed a 10-6 win at 112 pounds, and Daniel Baza won 7-3 at 119.

Los Gatos tied the team score 12-12 with a pair of pins at 125 and 130, but Fremont ran off three more wins to go up 25-12 in the match.

Jamie Kashitani cruised to a major decision win at 135, winning 17-3, and Steven Klass posted a tight 6-3 win at 140. Sabran made it three straight when he pinned in 55 seconds at 145 pounds.

But Los Gatos answered back with three pins in a row and coasted from there to the team win.

Fremont slipped to 0-2 in the division with the loss.

Tough start for Mustangs

The Homestead boys' soccer team is off to a tough start in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL, despite playing three very close games.

The Mustangs are 0-2-1 in league play, fighting Palo Alto to a scoreless tie while losing 2-1 decisions to Los Gatos and Monta Vista.

Sophomore Kenny Suwa knocked in a penalty kick for Homestead's lone goal in the loss to Los Gatos to open league play. The goal tied the game 1-1, but Gatos scored with seven minutes to play to win it.

An-Yen Hu, Nathan Vargas, Omar Gusmao and Rami Husseini were outstanding players in the game for the Mustangs.

Fremont ties again

The Fremont boys' soccer team battled through back-to-back ties in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL. The Firebirds fought Mountain View to a 1-1 draw, then battled Lynbrook to a scoreless tie last week.

The Firebirds are 1-1-2 in the division and 3-2-2 for the year.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 21, 1998.
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