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Homestead's girls soccer team lost a 1-0 decision to Santa Teresa in the Central Coast Section Division semifinals. The Saints went on to beat Carlmont 2-0 in the section championship game.
Photograph by Paul Myers
Great year ends for Homestead boys
Fremont boys still going strong in basketball playoffs
By Dick Sparrer
There were likely a few heads hanging after the Homestead boys basketball team dropped a 51-49 overtime decision to Los Gatos in the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs last week.
After all, the loss brought the Homestead season to an abrupt end, while Los Gatos will go on to play in the CCS semifinals against St. Francis.
Still, while the loss in the year's final game had to sting the Mustangs, they can't be disappointed with their performance in the 2001-02 season. Quite the contrary--the Mustangs have no reason to hang their heads and every reason to take great pride in their accomplishments of the recently completed campaign.
What did Homestead accomplish in '01-02? Plenty.
*The Mustangs won the title in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara, their first league championship since 1992;
*They set a new single season record for victories with 23, crushing the old of 16;
*And they made it to the CCS quarterfinals.
Included among those 23 wins was a 48-43 non-league win over CCS Division I powerhouse Milpitas, the champions of the SCVAL's De Anza Division.
Homestead posted an 11-1 record to win the El Camino Division championship and the Mustangs opened the CCS playoffs with a 53-43 win over Gunn before falling to Los Gatos.
Brad Sasaki poured in 21 points and Garren Strong buried 17 to lead the Mustangs to the win over the Titans in the first round of the playoffs.
Sasaki had five three-pointers among his six field goals and he added four points at the free-throw line in leading the Mustangs to the victory. Strong also popped a pair of threes.
Tim Strombel tossed in nine points in the win, Gus Gauntlett hit a three, Randy Chang had two points and Matt Johnson hit one.
Homestead opened up a 10-3 lead after a quarter and was up by eight at the half before Gunn outscored the Mustangs by seven in the third period to cut the lead to one at 32-31. But Homestead handled Gunn 21-12 in the final-quarter to pull out the 10-point win.
The Mustangs, 23-6 for the year, couldn't pull off the same kind of fourth-quarter magic against Los Gatos on Saturday, though. The clubs finished regulation in a 49-49 tie, and the Cats scored two points in overtime to pull out the tight 51-49 victory.
Sasaki led the Mustangs with 15 points, including three three-pointers, and Strong had 12 points, including two threes. Strombel finished with nine points, Bryan Silverman eight and Gauntlett five. Silverman had two threes and Gauntlett hit one.
One of the most satisfying wins of the year for the Mustangs had to be the 48-43 victory over Milpitas in the last week of the regular season.
Homestead trailed the powerful Trojans 19-2 after a quarter and 29-16 at the half. But the Mustangs came on strong in the second half to pull out the victory.
Silverman's free throw in the fourth quarter put Homestead up 37-36, and the Mustangs went on to complete a 22-point run in the final period.
Silverman led Homestead with 21 points, 19 coming in the second half, and Sasaki hit 14 points. Silverman buried four three-pointers and Sasaki hit a pair.
Strombel had seven points in the game, Strong hit four and Gauntlett had two.
Homestead closed out league play with a 79-57 win over Monta Vista. Strong and Sasaki hit 16 points apiece, Johnson canned 11, Armen Ekmekji jammed 10, Strombel nine, Gauntlett eight, Chang seven and Roozbey Yabri two.
Firebirds in semifinals
While Homestead is finished for the year, the Fremont boys basketball team is still going strong.
The Firebirds opened the CCS Division II playoffs with a 61-48 win over South San Francisco, then came back on Saturday with a thrilling 60-59 win over Alisal to advance to the semi's.
Fremont, now 22-8 for the year, will be on the floor against Palo Alto (24-6) on Feb. 27, 6 p.m., at Bellarmine. The winner advances to the section championship game on March 2, 8 p.m., at Santa Clara University's Leavey Center against the Los Gatos (15-13)-St. Francis (20-8) winner.
Senior sharpshooter Troy Tulowitzki poured in 36 points in the two playoff games to lead the Firebirds to the back-to-back wins.
Tulowitzki tossed in 18 points to lead the 'Birds to the close win over Alisal last weekend. He had four three-pointers among his six field goals and added a couple of free throws.
Junior guard Jesse Enchill pitched in seven buckets to finish with 14 points in the Fremont win. Tyler Duran and Jacob Esau chipped in with eight points apiece and Travis Harris and Matt Phelps added six each.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
