Photograph by Aaron Suozzi
Fremont's Reynold Carlos mixes it up under the hoop in an early season clash with Homestead. The Firebirds split a pair of one-point decisions in league play last week.
By DICK SPARRER
Ernie Dossa has a lot of confidence in Brie Ahern.
He should--she's been a varsity basketball player at Homestead for four years and has won all-league and all-Central Coast Section recognition.
So when the basketball wound up in her hands in the final seconds against Monta Vista last week, Dossa had to be pleased. And he was certainly pleased with what she did with that basketball.
Ahern snagged a long offensive rebound in the final seconds against the Matadors, and she threw it right back up to the hoop. Monta Vista was clinging to a 48-47 lead as Ahern's shot hit the iron and bounced high above the rim. When it came down through the hole, the Mustangs had pulled off something of an upset.
Monta Vista fired up a full court desperation shot, but it missed its mark by plenty, and the Mustangs had handed the Matadors their first loss of the season--not just the league season, but the season!
The Mats slipped to 6-1 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League with the loss and dropped to 17-1 for the year. Homestead is now 5-2 in the division and 17-3 for the season.
Ahern finished the night with 21 points, including five three-pointers, to drive the Mustangs to the win. Hilary Parker supported with 15 points, and the two Homestead stars helped bring the Mustangs from a five-point deficit at the start the final period to the one-point win.
Yvonne Chen and Michele Wald added five points apiece for the Mustangs in the win and Yumi Minn hit a three-pointer.
Kristin Franklin and Kim Seid tossed in 14 points apiece to lead all Monta Vista scorers.
The Mustangs had opened the week with a lopsided 70-31 win over Gunn. Homestead jumped out to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Ahern had three three-pointers among her six field goals to finish with a team-high 15 points.
Erin Morikawa ended up with nine points and Parker and Chen had eight points apiece. Morikawa and Chen each canned three-point buckets.
Wald and Kelly Hadden added six points each for the Mustangs and Minn and Julie Speckels had five points apiece, Shelly Mellberg four and Marie Levey and Michiko Nakayama two each.
Homestead will be home to face Palo Alto on Feb. 4, 7 p.m., in its only game this week.
Lady Birds win
The Fremont girls' basketball team battled from behind to pull out a 40-37 win over Wilcox in El Camino Division action last week.
The Lady Birds jumped out to a 12-4 first-period lead, but were outscored 15-6 in the second and 12-6 in the third to trail by seven points heading into the fourth quarter.
But the 'Birds topped the Chargers 16-6 in that final stanza to pull out the three-point win.
Senior guard Natalie Woo led all Fremont scorers with 10 points and Chi Tran and La-Nolia Ufondu had nine points apiece. Charlotte Salvacion and Kim Johnson finished with four points each and Sarah List and Beatriz Corro had two each.
The Lady Birds, now 3-5 in the division and 6-11 for the year, will visit Saratoga on Feb. 4 and host Milpitas on Feb. 6 in a pair of 7 p.m. games.
Fremont in one-pointers
The Fremont boys were involved in a pair of one-point decisions in El Camino play last week, and it was a good news, bad news finish for the Firebirds.
Fremont opened the week with a thrilling 40-39 win over Mountain View. But the Firebirds lost a 49-48 heartbreaker to Saratoga to close out the week.
The 'Birds, now 5-2 in the division and 14-7 for the year, will be back on the floor this week to host Cupertino on Feb. 5, 7 p.m., and visit Monta Vista on Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Rich Lockmanese pumped in 12 points and Darren Lang tossed in 10 to lead the Firebirds to the tight win over the Spartans. Jabbar Burton added seven points and Melvin Rabena had five. Both Burton and Rabena hit three-pointers.
Michael Hardwick supported with four points and Ben Skinner had two.
The Firebirds led 13-12 at the first buzzer, but trailed by three at the half, 20-17. The clubs matched 12 points in the third period before Fremont outscored Mountain View 11-7 in the fourth to pull out the one-point victory.
It was close again two nights later. How close? Well, the clubs were locked in a 42-42 tie at the end of regulation and had to decide the game in overtime.
The Falcons were up 18-14 after a period, but Fremont cut the lead to one by the half and tied it by the end of the third quarter. The clubs each popped 10 points in the fourth to leave them tied at the end of regulation.
Saratoga took the edge 7-6 in the extra period, and claimed the one-point win.
Lang led the Firebirds with 15 points and Rabena finished with 11, including a couple of threes.
Lockmanese supported with seven points, Skinner and Burton had five apiece, Hardwick and Reynold Carlos had two each and Warren Rick hit one. Burton dropped in a three-pointer.
Mustangs lose two
The Homestead boys' basketball team lost a pair of El Camino Division decisions last week, falling 48-45 to Saratoga and 61-56 to Monta Vista.
The Mustangs and Falcons were locked in a 34-34 tie after three quarters in the week's opener, but Homestead was outscored 14-11 in the final period to lose by three.
Jamie Belion pitched in a pair of three-pointers and finished with 13 points to lead all Homestead scorers in the game. Steve Papoulies tossed in 10 points to join Belion in double digits.
Kayzell Milton added nine points, Brian Blasquez and Pat Cabbell four apiece, Jimmy Olevson hit a three-pointer and Jose Alvarez had two points.
Papoulies came back with 18 points, but it wasn't enough to lead Homestead to a win over Monta Vista.
Milton finished with 15 points, including a three, and Dat Lai buried three three-pointers on his way to a 12-point night. Blasquez added seven points..
The Mustangs, 1-6 in the division and 3-14 for the year, will host Wilcox on Feb. 5, 7 p.m., in their only game this week.
King's a winner
The King's Academy rolled to an 86-41 win over Mid-Peninsula last week to improve to 5-1 in the Christian Private Schools League and to 10-6 for the year.
Tayo Akinsete poured in 21 points and Dan Carter added 17 to lead the Knights to the lopsided victory.
Tony Castillo joined the two in twin figures with 10 points and James Terada added nine. Dan Friske and Nate Morrow had seven points each, Hank Spates hit six, Joel Vanderet popped five and Dan Leong and Brian Cordial added two apiece. Vanderet canned a three-pointer.
The Knights outscored Mid-Peninsula in every period but the fourth, including a 22-4 run in the second quarter.
The King's girls, meanwhile, split a pair of league games and lost in nonleague play.
The Knights dropped a 47-36 nonleague decision to Mercy of San Francisco to open the week. King's beat Mid-Peninsula 50-15 in league action before falling to Liberty Baptist 67-52.
The King's girls are 3-4 in league play and 8-12 for the year.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 5, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.