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Photograph by Douglas Rider
Fremont's Jesse Enchill looks for someone to pass to in last Friday night's win over Lynbrook. The Firebirds face a big test this week at Milpitas.
Mustangs wrap up division title
Fremont boys face big test at Milpitas
By Dick Sparrer
There are only two weeks remaining in the boys basketball season in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
But it shouldn't take that long before the league championship is decided.
And, barring some unforeseen circumstances, that champion will be Marc Cadet's Homestead Mustangs.
That's no prediction either... it's a cold, hard fact.
Homestead has a three-game lead with three games left to play in the division. And the Mustangs, who have already clinched no worse than a title tie, can clinch the championship with a win in any of the three games.
Homestead snagged a piece of that title with two wins last week, beating Mountain View 50-37 and Santa Clara 49-30.
The Mustangs are now 9-0 in league play, 19-4 for the year, and their nearest rival, Saratoga, sits three games back in the loss column.
The Falcons, 5-3 in the division, will host the Mustangs on Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. A Homestead victory would put a quick end to the league race.
Homestead will finish off the regular season at home against Cupertino on Feb, 7, at 7 p.m., against Milpitas in a non-league game on Feb. 13, at 7 p.m., and against Monta Vista on Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m.
It was the 49-30 win over Santa Clara last Friday night that iced no worse than a title tie for the Mustangs.
Brad Sasaki had a big night for the Mustangs with 18 points. The senior had a pair of three-pointers among his six field goals and he added four points at the free-throw line.
Garren Strong supported with nine points in the win and Gus Gauntlett added seven. They each popped a three.
Tim Strombel fired in six points for the Mustangs, Matt Johnson had five and Armen Ekmekji and Bryan Silverman added two each.
Homestead opened up a 17-2 lead after a period and never looked back on the road to the title-clinching win.
Earlier in the week, Sasaki had 28 points to lead the Mustangs to a 50-37 win over Mountain View.
Homestead trailed 10-2 early in the game and led by just a point at intermission, 20-19, but the Mustangs caught fire in the third quarter to outscore the Spartans 19-8 and take control of the game. Sasaki hit four of his school-record seven three-pointers in the third period to help the Mustangs build a 12-point lead to take into the final quarter.
Strong finished in double digits with 10 points for the Mustangs. Silverman added six points, and Strombel, Johnson and Randy Chang had two each.
A week earlier, the Mustangs had pulled out a tight 60-54 win over Los Altos. Strong finished 22 points to lead Homestead and Sasaki added 15 points, including a three.
Gauntlett had a three among his seven points. Strombel and Silverman finished with five points apiece, Johnson had four and Ekmekji added two.
Firebirds win
Fremont won twice last week to remain in the title chase heading down the stretch in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.
The Firebirds edged Wilcox 48-46 to open play last week, then knocked off Lynbrook to push their record to 7-2 in the division with three games to play.
Fremont faces three big games to close out the regular season, but none are bigger than the Feb. 7 battle with first-place Milpitas. The Trojans, 9-0 in the division, will host the Firebirds in a 7 p.m. game Thursday.
Fremont wraps up the regular season at home on Feb. 13 against Palo Alto (6-2) and on Feb. 15 against Los Gatos (4-4). The Firebirds need to win their last three games, and hope for someone else to upset the Trojans along the way.
Troy Tulowitzki led the Firebirds to the win over Wilcox last week. The senior poured in seven field goals, including three threes, and added 10 free throws to finish with 27 points in the win.
Travis Harris came through with eight points for Fremont in the game and Tyler Duran had a three among his five points. Matt Phelps and Brett Bonetti added four points apiece.
The 'Birds actually trailed by a couple of buckets after a quarter, but came back strong to take a 26-20 lead by intermission. Wilcox chipped away at that lead in the second half, but Fremont hung on for the two-point win.
Lady Birds lose
The Fremont girls basketball team dropped a pair of De Anza Division decisions last week, falling 33-29 in overtime to Los Altos and losing 47-26 to St. Francis.
Fremont bounced back from a 6-1 first-period deficit to outscore Los Altos 11-3 in the second to take a 12-9 lead by intermission. But the Eagles fought back to tie it in the second half, then won it by outscoring the Lady Birds 7-4 in overtime.
Junior center Danyll Gammon led the 'Birds with 10 points. Erin Sturm added six points, Tiana Stoughter and Aneta Pariaszevski hit four apiece, Raquel Ledezma had three and Katrina Ison added two.
Fremont was outscored in every period in the loss to St. Francis. Ison had a three among her seven points and Pariaszevski added five points, including a three. Kelly Bushnell also had five points and Kirby Ann Miguel hit four.
The Lady Birds, 3-6 in the division and 8-11 for the year, will look to get back on the winning track this week when they visit Homestead on Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m.
Homestead dropped a 48-36 nod to first-place Palo Alto last week. Junior Elyse Maru and sophomore Jenelle Kitasoe popped eight points apiece to lead the Mustangs.
Lauren Tidwell and soph Mandy Wald tossed in six points each and Shannon Wong had a three among her five points. Stephanie Malcolm also hit a three.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
