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Photograph by Robert Scheer

Cupertino's Stephanie French goes up for a shot against Fremont's Natalie Woo in a game last season. The two were both in action again last weekend in the Cupertino Classic.

Fremont in Cupertino finals

King's Academy rolls to two straight wins

By Dick Sparrer

Chi Tran, La Nolia Ufondu and Jenny Yang were teammates at the Cupertino Classic last weekend.

OK, not exactly.

The three played for two different schools in the eight-team tournament hosted by Cupertino Dec. 18-20. But by the tourney's end they were teammates--on the all-tournament team.

Tran and Ufondu earned all-tourney honors after leading Fremont into the tournament championship game, and Yang won a spot on the all-tourney list after helping host Cupertino get into the tournament's consolation championship game.

Fremont knocked off Prospect 44-38 and edged Wilcox 38-34 to move into the tourney finals against Del Mar. The Firebirds lost a tough 29-25 nod to the Dons to settle for second in the event.

Host Cupertino, meanwhile, suffered a 50-33 loss to Milpitas to open the tournament, but the Pioneers fought back to beat Mountain View 38-30 to move into the consolation title game against Prospect. But the Pioneers lost 38-18 to the Panthers in the battle for fifth place in the tourney.

Still, Yang played well enough for the Pioneers to win all-tourney honors. The senior forward pumped in 40 points in three games for Cupertino.

Tran and Ufondu combined for 55 points in the three games to nail all-tourney spots and lead the Firebirds into the championship game.

Tran and Natalie Woo popped 10 points apiece to drive Fremont to the 44-38 win over Prospect in the tourney opener. Ufondu and Monique Gammon supported with eight points each, Beatriz Corro had four, Mary Larkin hit three and Sheila Hess added two.

Ufondu tossed in 11 points to pace Fremont to the 38-34 win over Wilcox in the semi-finals. Woo supported with eight points, Tran and Gammon had six apiece, Larkin hit three and Hess and Corro added two each.

Tran came back with 14 points, but the Firebirds lost 29-25 to Del Mar in the title game. Ufondu added six points, Woo and Charlotte Salvacion had two each and Kim Johnson hit one.

Fremont is now 6-4 for the year.

Cupertino opened its own tournament with a loss to Milpitas, but Yang pumped in 20 points to lead the Pioneers to a clutch 38-30 win over Mountain View in the second round.

Trishaun Roberts tossed in six points for 'Tino, and Margaret Donohue and Stephanie French added four each. Kellie Utsumi had two points, and Anna Grelich and Marian Galam had one apiece.

Yang was held to seven points and Roberts had five in the 38-18 loss to Prospect. Donoghue, Galam and Shannon Rudd had two points each for the Pioneers.

Yang opened the tourney with a 13-point showing in the 50-33 loss to Milpitas. Yang buried three three-point buckets for the Pioneers. Donoghue and Utsumi had four points each, and Rudd, French, Maria Gonzales, Roberts, Salina Esparza and Tiffany Campbell had two points each.

Mustangs fall

The Homestead boys dropped a tough 44-43 heartbreaker to Burlingame in nonleague play last week, just days after losing 50-37 to Piedmont Hills.

Brian Holm tossed in 10 points and Matt Hoffman, Matt Hovik and Greg Fobbs added six each, but it wasn't enough for the Mustangs against Burlingame. Hoffman drilled a pair of threes for Homestead.

Dat Lai added five points in the loss, Max McKay had four and Trenton Hill and Steve Lambert hit three apiece.

The Mustangs were up by eight heading into the final period, but were outscored 16-7 by the Panthers.

Homestead, now 2-6 for the year, had opened the week with a 50-37 loss to Piedmont Hills. The Mustangs were down by just four points heading into the final quarter, but were topped 18-9 in that last period.

Hovik led the Mustangs with nine points and Lai added eight. Holm and Jim Kiel pitched in six points apiece, Hoffman had three, Fobbs and Keith Morikawa hit two each and McKay had one. Hovik and Hoffman each buried threes.

King's wins two

James Terada and Tayo Akinsete combined for 42 points to lead the King's Academy boys to a 72-65 win over Fremont last week. Terada led the Knights with 23 points and Akinsete tossed in 19. Both popped three-point buckets.

Nate Morrow joined the two in double digits with 13 points in the win, and Dan Leong had six points, Tony Castillo popped four and Hank Spates drilled a three-pointer.

Ben Skinner led all Fremont scorers with 20 points, and Melvin Rabena buried five three-pointers to finish with 15 points. Reynold Carlos added nine points for the Firebirds, and Michael Hardwick, Darren Lang and David Frederickson hit six points each.

The loss left the Firebirds 2-5 for the year.

The Knights came back later in the week to pound the California School for the Deaf 95-34. Dan Meng had four threes among his seven field goals to lead King's with 18 points in the win.

Castillo poured in 12 points for the Knights and Dan Friske hit 11. Leong and Akinsete popped 10 points apiece, Morrow eight, and Spates seven.

King's is now 4-2 in the young season.

Mats finish fifth

Brad Munro came through with a 20-point night to help the Monta Vista boys' basketball team clinch the consolation title in the Saratoga Shootout last weekend.

Monta Viosta lost 63-58 to open the tourney, but battled back to edge Lincoln 27-25 to earn a place in the consolation championship game against Prospect. The Matadors edged the Panthers 58-52 to win the consolation title.

Munro, who earned a place on the all-tournament team with his performance, had a couple of three-pointers among his six field goals and added six points at the charity stripe to finish with a team high 20 points.

Mark Chalfant tossed in 13 points in the win and Kevin Coolidge added 11. Roger Nagdev joined the others in double digits with 10 points and Ryan North rounded out the scoring with four.

The Matadors had earned their place in the game with a tight 27-25 win over Lincoln in the second round. Coolidge led the Matadors with 12 points in the low-scoring affair. North had seven points, Nick Jackson four and Mas Astar and Nagdev two each.

Munro poured in 14 points and North buried 11, but the Matadors lost their opener 63-58 to Menlo. Coolidge finished with nine points and Nagdev and Chalfant chipped in with eight apiece.

Monta Vista had lost 50-41 to Prospect in a nonleague game to open the week. North had the hot hand for the Matadors with 18 points and Coolidge finished with 10.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 24, 1997.
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