The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Mustangs third in tourney King's looks like title contender By Dick Sparrer Homestead and Monta Vista are on a collision course. The two girls basketball powers will meet at least twice during the regular season. And those two games could go a long way in determining who wins the title in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this winter. But when the two clubs participated in the Monta Vista Invitational last week, a De Anza Division preview just wasn't meant to be. The clubs started on opposite sides of the tourney bracket and remained that way as they played through the three-day event at Monta Vista. The Matadors won two straight before losing in the finals to Leland to settle for second in the tournament they hosted. And the Mustangs sandwiched a tough loss to Leland between a couple of victories to finish third overall in the tourney that featured some of the area's finest girls basketball talent. Both teams ended up going 2-1 in the tourney, and both teams placed a player on the all-tournament team--Monta Vista's Kim Stocklmeir and Homestead's Vickie Chiang. And both teams continue to play well in the preseason as they look ahead to their Jan. 8 clash with one another. Mustangs third Shelly Mellberg picked a fine time for her biggest game of the Monta Vista Invitational, pouring in 14 points to lead Homestead to a 67-34 win over Santa Clara in the third-place game. Diana Lee supported with 12 points for the Mustangs and Julie Speckels popped 11 points to finish in double figures. Michelle Wald supported with nine points for Homestead. Julia Randall added six, Nadja Fabian and Marie Levey four apiece, Tanya Green three and Rachel Fredrickson and Stephanie Malcomb two apiece. Homestead, now 8-2 for the year, jumped out to a 13-7 lead in the first period and held that six-point cushion at intermission. But the Mustangs destroyed the Bruins 24-7 in the third and 20-10 in the fourth to cruise to the easy win. Things weren't quite as easy a game earlier. The Mustangs lost a 41-40 heartbreaker to eventual tourney champ Leland. Homestead trailed by three after a period, by one at the half and by three again after the third quarter. The Mustangs outscored the Chargers 9-7 in the fourth, but came up a point short. Chiang buried 15 points to lead all Homestead scorers and Wald tossed in 13. Speckels and Green hit four each and Mellberg and Randall added two apiece. Homestead had opened the tourney with a lopsided 69-33 win over Milpitas. Chiang went for 18 points and Speckels drained a pair of threes on her way to 11. Randall had eight points, Wald seven and Levey, Mellberg, Lee and Malcolm four each. Green supported with three points and Fredrickson, Fabian and Chris Strombel had two each. Homestead boys win The Homestead boys, meanwhile, claimed their first win of the young season with a 38-35 nonleague victory over Lynbrook in a low-scoring affair. Seniors Matt Hovik and Joe Whiteman tossed in seven points apiece to lead the Mustangs to the tight win over the Vikings. Both Hovik and Whiteman canned three-pointers. Max McKay supported with six points in the win and Tony Kiel added five. Dat Lai and Matt Root added four apiece, Trenton Hill and Steve Lambert had two each and Keith Morikawa hit one. The win was the first in five games this season for the Mustangs. But Homestead coach Matt Zehner is hoping for better results once the league season begins. "After playing mostly juniors last year, we return eight seniors," said Zehner. "We hope to dramatically improve on last season." The Mustangs finished 5-7 in league play last year and 7-17 overall. But Zehner expects his club to finish in the top three in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL this season, battling Gunn and Mountain View for the top spot. "Anything less than a trip to the CCS playoffs would be a disappointment," said Zehner of the 1998-99 prospects for the Mustangs. Lai, a 5-foot-7 senior point guard, is an all-league returner for the Mustangs this season. Root, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward, is a top prospect for Homestead. Firebirds fall Fremont had the misfortune of opening the Independence Tournament against ultimate champ Piedmont Hills last week, and the Firebirds lost a 63-42 nod to the Pirates. The Fremont boys fell back 14-7 in the first period and trailed by 15 at the half in the lopsided game. Cameron McNeil pumped in 18 points, including a three-pointer, to lead all Fremont scorers in the game against the Pirates. Tam Kim added seven points, including a three, and Glenn Marasigan canned a pair of threes to finish with six. Fremont opened the year with a win, but lost three straight at the Westmont Tournament before heading to Independence last week. Reynold Carlos poured in 13 points, but the Firebirds lost a 56-46 decision to Willow Glen in their tourney opener at Westmont. Kim supported with nine points and McNeil had seven. Carlos tossed in 14 points in a 52-43 loss to Del Mar a game later. Marasigan added nine points in the game. King's to contend The boys basketball team at the King's Academy in Sunnyvale is off to a 2-3 start in the current season, but first-year head coach Vince Leong isn't letting the slow start get him down--he still expects the Knights to contend for the championship in the Christian Private Schools League this season. "Based upon the strength and experience of all five returning starters from the second half of the season and our last play-off game, King's will be in contention for league and CCS championships," predicts Leong as he looks ahead to the coming league campaign. Senior all-league returners James Terada and Nate Morrow head up King's hopes for a solid season in 1998-99. Junior Ryan Hazley, an honorable mention all-league pick last year, is another top returner for the Knights. Tony Castillo, Dan Friske, Dan Leong and Ben Jones are other senior letterman on the King's squad. Morrow poured in 21 points, including a couple of threes, but King's lost 58-52 to Contra Costa Christian in the Valley Christian Tournament in Dublin last weekend. Morrow had scored 19 in a 69-66 loss to Sacred Heart Prep a game earlier. Castillo added 14 points and Jones hit 13. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.