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Photograph by George Sakkestad
Homestead's Vickie Chiang goes up for two points to help her club to a win over Paradise in the first round of the Northern California basketball playoffs. The Mustangs won twice before losing to Amador Valley in the NorCal finals.
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Mustangs reach NorCal finals
But 30-win season ends with a loss
By DICK SPARRER
In the long, illustrious tradition of girls basketball at Homestead High School, the Mustangs had never played for three such prestigious championships.
Never, that is, until 1999.
Julie Speckels, Michelle Wald, Shelly Mellberg and the rest of the Homestead seniors can make a claim no Mustangs before them can make--their team played for the league, Central Coast Section and Northern California basketball championships.
What's more, they won two of the three.
The Mustangs knocked off powerful St. Francis to clinch the championship in the tough De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Then they beat Leland to win the CCS Division II crown.
And finally they won a couple of games to advance to the finals of the Northern California Division II tournament before losing 63-41 to Amador Valley in the finals last Saturday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento.
The Mustangs opened NorCals with a 49-33 win over Paradise and backed that up with a tight 30-28 victory over Ukiah in the semifinals.
The two wins not only pushed Homestead into the NorCal finals, but also helped the Mustangs secure a very impressive 30-win season.
Homestead finished the year 30-4, despite the loss to Amador Valley.
Speckels, Wald and Mellberg joined with juniors Vickie Chiang and Marie Levey as top scorers for the Mustangs in the three games of the NorCal tournament.
Wald and Chiang pitched in 13 points apiece to lead all Homestead scorers in the finals against Amador Valley. The 5-foot-9 Wald, who popped five of her 13 points at the free-throw line, also led the Mustangs on the boards with nine rebounds.
Speckels supported with seven points, including a pair of three-pointers, and Mellberg hit four points, including a three. Julia Randall hit two points and Tanya Green and Nadja Fabian added one each.
The Mustangs were able to jump out to an early lead against Amador Valley, but the Dons bounced back to take a 28-20 by intermission, and they rolled from there to the victory.
Homestead earned the spot in the finals with an exciting 2-point win over Ukiah.
Wald pumped in a team-high 14 points to lead the Mustangs to the 30-28 win. The senior guard was outstanding at the line in this one, too, tossing in eight free throws for the winners.
Speckels fired in eight points in the win, and Mellberg added five. Each one hit a three-pointer for the Mustangs.
Chiang had two points and Levey one to round out the scoring for Homestead.
The Mustangs trailed 6-4 after a low-scoring first period, but took the lead by a bucket at the half, 10-8. Ukiah cut the lead by one in the third quarter, edging Homestead 13-12, but the Mustangs hung on to nip Ukiah 8-7 in the fourth to claim the two-point victory.
Chiang had the hot hand for Homestead in the tournament opener against Paradise. The junior guard had four field goals to go with seven charity throws to finish with a team-high 15 points for the Mustangs.
Speckels had three three-pointers among her four field goals and added two points at the line to support with 13 points, and Levey, a 5-foot-9 forward, canned six buckets to finish with 12 points.
Randall added five points for the Mustangs, and Wald and Green added two apiece.
Homestead outscored Paradise in every quarter, but held just a slim 9-8 cushion at the first buzzer. The Mustangs added to their lead by five points in the second, three more in the third and seven in the fourth to claim the easy win.
The 2-1 effort at the NorCal tournament capped an outstanding season for the team coached by Wade Nakamura and Bob Hayamizu. The two led the Mustangs to a 30-win season, to league and CCS championships and to the NorCal finals.
Sensational seniors Mellberg, Wald and Speckels were key players for the Mustangs all season long along, with juniors Chiang and Levey and sophomore Randall.
Seniors Fabian and Diana Lee were other key players for Homestead along with junior Rachel Fredrickson, sophomores Green and Chris Strombel and freshman Stephanie Malcolm.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
