Photograph by George Sakkestad
Homestead's Yvonne Chen, driving in for 2 in an early season game against St. Francis, helped the Mustangs to a pair of wins last week.
By DICK SPARRER
Hilary Parker is a returning all-leaguer for the Homestead girls' basketball team this season.
The Wildcats and Vikings got a first-hand look at Parker's all-league talents last week when she pumped in 40 points in two games to lead the Mustangs to back-to-back wins in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Parker went for 18 points in a 45-39 win over Los Gatos, and she came back with 22 points in a 64-51 win over Lynbrook.
The two wins helped the Mustangs improve to 7-3 in the division and to 17-6 for the year. They also helped Homestead move into sole ownership of second place in the De Anza Division behind unbeaten Monta Vista.
Of course, it didn't hurt that both Monta Vista and Los Gatos knocked off St. Francis last week. The two losses left the Lancers 6-4 in the division, and Gatos slipped to 7-4 with the split.
Parker and the Mustangs got off to a hot start last week with the win over Los Gatos.
Brie Ahern, who joined Parker on the all-league list last winter, joined her teammate in double figures with 11 points. Yvonne Chen finished with seven points, Erin Morikawa added three, and Amy Huyett, Yumi Minn and Aisling Nolan hit two each.
The Mustangs were down by four after a period and by two at the half, but they outscored Gatos 12-9 in the third to take the lead and 14-9 in the fourth to get the win.
Parker came back with 22 points and Chen had 15, including a couple of three-pointers, to drive the Mustangs past Lynbrook 64-51. Ahern came through with eight points, Minn and Morikawa had seven apiece and Nolan hit six. Minn and Morikawa each had three-point buckets.
Homestead had to fight back from a 17-8 first-period deficit to get the win over the Vikings. The Mustangs outscored the Vikes in each of the last three periods to pull out the victory.
Fremont girls win
Colleen Smith fired in 34 points in two games to lead the Fremont girls to a pair of wins in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
Smith's 16 points sparked the Indians to a 65-33 win over Los Altos, and she came back with 18 points in an important 60-45 win over Mountain View.
The two wins punched Fremont's record to 9-3 in the El Camino Division and to 10-12 for the year. The wins also helped the Indians climb into a three-way tie for first place in the division with Santa Clara and Palo Alto.
The Bruins were knocked off by Wilcox last week. And the Vikings lost to Cupertino to leave the two clubs tied with Fremont for first place.
Smith drilled 16 points to lead the Indians past winless Los Altos. Chi Tran chipped in with 15 points and Jenny White added 12.
Haruka Soejima had a three-pointer among her nine points for the Indians. Shawna Harrison finished with six points, Karen Ahrens had four points and Amalia Castelino hit three.
Fremont secured a 17-6 lead in the first period against Los Altos and never looked back. The Indians outscored the Eagles in every period.
The Indians opened the week with a 60-45 win over Mountain View. The Spartans and Indians went into the game with matching 7-3 league records.
Smith led Fremont with 18 points and White was close behind with 13 points. Natalie Woo joined the two in double digits with 10 points.
Harrison finished with eight points for the Indians, Tran had six, Soejima hit three and Sheila Hess added two.
Fremont jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first period and topped Mountain View by seven in the second to take a commanding 35-18 lead in at intermission.
Tough loss for Indians
The Fremont boys dropped a tough 49-46 decision to Mountain View to slip to 5-5 in the El Camino Division and to 12-13 for the year.
Randy Rivera tossed in 27 points, hitting a pair of three-pointers among his eight field goals, but the Indians came up three points short against the Spartans.
Rich Lockmanese chipped in with nine points for Fremont and Jabbar Burton had four. Michael Hardwick, Thai Kim and Michael Harris had two points each in the loss.
The Indians led 17-8 at the first buzzer and were up by six at the half, 28-22. Fremont still led by three after three quarters, 37-34, but the Spartans outscored the Indians 15-9 in the final period to win by three.
Big win for Mustangs
The Homestead boys opened the week dropping a 53-25 decision to Saratoga, but the Mustangs came back strong to upset Cupertino 56-55 in overtime.
Matt Hall buried five three-pointers on his way to a 23-point night to lead the Mustangs to the thrilling win. Scott Belion came through with 18 points, including three threes, and Minho Hyun hit a pair of threes to finish with six points for Homestead.
Jeff Milton pitched in with six points for the winners and Jose Alvarez added three.
The Mustangs were down 10 after a period, 14-4, and could only cut the lead by three in the second quarter. They trailed Cupertino by eight heading into the final period, 33-25, but outscored the Pioneers 23-15 in the fourth to tie it up.
Homestead edged Cupertino 8-7 in the extra period to pull out the thrilling win.
It was Homestead's first El Camino Division win in 10 tries. The Mustangs had lost to Saratoga to open the week, despite an 11-point effort by Hall. The hot-shooting forward hit three three-pointers for the Mustangs.
Hyun finished with seven points, including a three, and Milton added three points. Brian Blasquez chipped in with two points.
Split for King's
The Davidson sisters, Mandy and Beth, combined for 23 points to lead the King's Academy girls' basketball team to a 47-37 win over Liberty Baptist. The Knights jumped to 5-2 in the Christian Private Schools League with the win and they're 12-10 for the year.
B. Davidson led the Knights with 12 points and M. Davidson added 11. Megan Beck was close behind the leaders, Candice Despain and Rebbecca Miller had four apiece, Michelle Steipp hit three and Elizabeth Meng and Michelle Smith added two each.
Earlier in the week, King's lost a 56-44 decision to St. Lawrence Academy despite getting 26 points from the Davidson sisters. M. Davidson led the Knights with 16 points and B. Davidson added 10.
Steipp supported with eight, Beck had six and Miller hit four.
The King's boys, meanwhile, won a pair of games, beating St. Lawrence 87-78 and Liberty Baptist 74-49.
Lance Westcott pumped in 19 points to lead all King's scorers in the win over St. Lawrence, and he came back with 15 against Liberty. On Terada led the Knights with 19 points and Danny Carter had 18 against Liberty.
King's is now 11-1 in league play and 16-8 for the year.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, February 14, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.