The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Fremont off to good start Homestead girls are league, CCS title contenders By Dick Sparrer The girls basketball teams at Fremont and Homestead have a couple of things in common this winter. Both the Firebirds and the Mustangs are playing in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and both are coming off of solid 1997-98 seasons. What's more, both teams are looking for big things in the coming year. But that's where the similarities end and the differences begin. Because Homestead is a veteran club looking to contend for the De Anza Division title, and Fremont is young and a new entry in the division, hoping to make its mark after experiencing success in the El Camino Division. 'Birds have potential "We are a very young team with loads of potential," said Fremont head coach Jason Crutchfield as he returns for his third year leading the attack for the Firebirds. "Our biggest adjustment in moving to the upper league will be size and execution." "As the young players gain experience, we could become a very good team," he added. Junior forward Monique Gammon (5-foot-8) tops a list of five returners from last year's Fremont squad. Gammon won all-league honorable mention plaudits in the El Camino Division. Junior Shadé Akanbi, a 5-foot-6 point guard, and senior Kristi Larkin, a 5-foot-6 shooting guard, are other top returners for the Firebirds. "They will be a tremendous back court," said Crutchfield. "We also have three quality juniors moving up from the junior varsity," added the coach. Center Kristin Kam (5-foot-9), forward Josie Wells (5-foot-10) and guard Lelani Castro (5-foot-6) join the varsity as top prospects this season. Sophomore center Daynelle Parker (5-foot-11) is another key addition to the Fremont club. Seniors Sammy Hess (5-foot-7 forward) and Valerie Lund (5-foot-6 guard) are also varsity returners for the Firebirds, and they join sophomores Jasmine Arriloa (5-foot-4 guard), Robin Glass (5-foot-10 guard) and Sarah Harvey (5-foot-7 forward) to round out the squad. Second at Gilroy Fremont is off to a strong start in the young season. The Firebirds opened the year with a win over Overfelt, then won two of three games to finish third in the Gilroy Tournament last week. Larkin poured in a team-high 15 points and Hess tossed in 10 points to lead the Firebirds to a hard-earned 51-45 win over Cupertino in the tourney semifinals to push Fremont into the championship game. But Fremont lost 50-40 to Independence to wind up second at Gilroy. Parker had a big night in the title game, jamming 14 points to lead all Fremont scorers. Gammon joined her in double digits with 12 points. Akanbi supported with six points, Hess had four and Kam and Wells dropped two apiece. Fremont led by a point after a period, and trailed by just a bucket at the half. But the 76ers topped the Firebirds 15-8 in the third quarter to start to pull away. A big second period led the Firebirds to the win over Cupertino a game earlier. The clubs had battled to an 11-11 tie in the first quarter, but Fremont topped the Pioneers 21-11 in the second to take control of the game. Larkin had a three-pointer among her 15 points to lead the Firebirds to the victory. Hess hit 10, Akanbi nine, Gammon seven, Wells six and Parker four. Fremont, now 3-1 in the young season, heads to Carlmont on Dec. 8 and Saratoga on Dec. 9 for a couple of 7 p.m. nonleague games before returning home on Dec. 14 to host Yerba Buena at 7 p.m. Crutchfield led the 'Birds to a 13-12 finish in his first season as the Fremont coach, and he led his club to a solid 17-9 mark last year. He's hoping that the Firebirds can climb to the "middle of the pack" in their first season in the De Anza Division. He adds that Monta Vista, St. Francis and Homestead appear to be the league's title favorites. Mustangs contenders First-year coach Wade Nakamura agrees with Crutchfield's assessment of the league race, but he takes it one step further. Not only does Nakamura figure Monta Vista, St. Francis and Homestead to be title favorites, he sees the Mustangs winning it all. Nakamura, who shares the coaching chores with Bob Hayamizu this season, thinks his club will win the division crown and be among the contenders for a Central Coast Section title. "We're looking forward to a great season," said Nakamura. "We have all five starters returning." The comeback starters include all-league returners Michelle Wald (5-foot-9 senior guard), Julie Speckels (5-foot-8 senior guard) and Vickie Chiang (5-foot-8 junior guard). Wald and Speckels won all-league honors for a Homestead club that posted a 19-7 record and made it to the second round of the CCS play-offs. Chiang was an all-league honorable-mention pick. Senior guards Shelly Mellberg (5-foot-8) and Diana Lee (5-foot-3), junior forward Marie Levey (5-foot-9) and sophomore forward-center Tanya Green (5-foot-10) are other top returners for the Mustangs this season. "We have a nucleus of two all-leaguers and some promising underclassmen," said Nakamura. "So we have a good mix of veterans and underclassmen." Sophomore center-forward Julia Randall (6-foot-0) and freshman guard-forward Stephanie Malcolm (5-foot-9) are top young prospects. "We have a solid group of perimeter players [Wald, Speckels and Mellberg]," said Nakamura. "[Green, Levey and Randall] form the post play that may have been lacking last year. [Lee] provides senior leadership and a back-up point guard off the bench." Senior guard Nadja Fabian (5-foot-8), sophomore guard-forward Chris Strombel (5-foot-10) and junior guard Rachel Fredrickson (5-foot-6) provide more bench strength for the Mustangs. Three wins Homestead opened the year with three straight wins, beating Westmont, Prospect and Oakland Tech. The Mustangs opened the season with a lopsided 41-24 win over defending CCS champion Westmont. Chiang starred in the win for Homestead with 12 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists. Speckels added eight points and two assists. The Mustangs pounded Prospect 51-28 a game later, and in the next game rolled over Oakland Tech 49-34. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.