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Photograph by Robert Scheer

Fremont's Chris Hoff (right) battles for the soccer ball in a nonleague battle with Piedmont Hills. The Firebirds ended up dropping a lopsided 7-1 decision to the Pirates.

Lady Birds win tourney title

Fremont drops soccer decision

By Dick Sparrer

The 1997-98 basketball season may be only a week old, but the Fremont Firebirds are already champions.

The Lady Birds put together back-to-back wins over King's Academy and Liberty Baptist to win the team title in the Turkey Classic at Yerba Buena before Thanksgiving weekend.

Chi Tran and Natalie Woo each hit in double figures to lead Fremont to a lopsided 63-28 win over Liberty Baptist in the tournament championship game.

Tran led the Firebirds with 12 points, and Woo supported with 10. Tran had a couple of three-point buckets among her four field goals.

Monique Gammon pumped in eight points for Fremont in the title-clinching victory, and Beatriz Corro and Poishade Akanbi added seven points apiece. La-Nolia Ufondu chipped in with six points, Sheila Hess had four, Charlotte Salvacion hit three, and Pia Galindo, Kim Johnson and Sarah Lund had two each.

The Firebirds jumped out to a quick 20-7 lead in the title game and held a convincing 33-16 lead by intermission. As if that weren't enough, Fremont destroyed Liberty 18-10 in the third and 14-2 in the fourth to clinch the championship.

The Firebirds had opened the tournament with an even more one-sided win over King's Academy. The Lady Birds turned back the Knights 70-21 with 12 different Fremont players finishing the night in the scoring column.

Akanbi led the Firebirds with 11 points and Tran, Ufondu and Jessica Ackerman supported with eight points each. Woo was close behind with seven points, and Lund and Gammon chipped in with six points apiece.

Johnson, Hess and Salvacion tossed in four points each for the winners, and Corro and Galindo hit two each.

The Firebirds, just as they would a night later in the finals, opened up a commanding lead in the first period, outscoring the Knights 23-4. They made it 37-11 by the half, then whipped King's 17-5 in the third and 16-5 in the fourth to cruise to the easy win.

The Knights, playing without standout senior Beth Davidson, who was still completing the volleyball season, were led by Sarah Menser's eight points.

Menser came back a night later to pitch in 15 points to lead the Knights to a tight 49-45 win over host Yerba Buena to clinch third place in the tournament.

Mustangs win

The Homestead girls' basketball team also opened the season with a win, pulling out a 40-37 victory over a tough Westmont squad.

Shelly Mellberg buried three three-pointers among her four field goals and added three points at the free-throw line to finish with 14 points for the Mustangs.

Michele Wald joined Mellberg in double digits with 11 points, and Julie Speckels hit eight points, including a three-pointer. Donna Green added five points for the Mustangs, and Vickie Chaing added two.

The Mustangs found themselves down by a bunch at the first buzzer, trailing 16-3 after a period. But they outscored Westmont 19-4 in the second period to take a 22-20 lead by intermission.

Homestead remained on the attack in the third quarter, topping the Warriors 12-4 to take a 34-24 lead into the final period. Westmont outscored Homestead 13-6 in the fourth, but the Mustangs held off the Warriors to win by three.

Firebirds fall

The Fremont boys' soccer team lost a tough 7-1 decision to Piedmont Hills in nonleague play last week. Mauricio Rodriguez scored the lone goal for the Firebirds in the second half.

The loss left the 'Birds 0-1-1 in the young season.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 3, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.