Whether it was the front court pressure on defense or the sharp-shooting from long range, the Piedmont Hills Pirates were too much for the Warriors to handle. As a result, the Pirates were able to run away with a 63-30 win to claim the 2005 tourney title. It was the third time in four years that the Pirates carried home the championship trophy.

Leland took on a young Fremont team in a round one game that was nip and tuck for three quarters. Leland had a 49-48 edge as the final stanza began. The deadly long-range attack of the Firebirds proved to be too much as Fremont edged ahead to pull out a 66-59 win.

Some hot hands from three-point land provided the boost needed for the Firebirds as they nailed six buckets from long distance. All-tournament selection Leo Janisse wasn't putting up any shots from outside, but he did plenty of damage down low with 20 points. Forward Shelton Swopes swished in 22 points including a three-ball. Guard Jeremy Allen popped one of his own in route to a 12-point total. Both Sam Keston and Michael Burskyy bagged a pair of three-balls.

When you live by the three-pointer sometimes you die by the three-pointer, which is what happened to the Firebirds in a semifinal confrontation with Piedmont Hills. The shooting eyes were not as sharp and Piedmont Hills ran away with a 58-27 win to send the Firebirds to the third-place contest with Los Gatos.

Allen dropped in six points as the top scorer in the loss. Benny Evien and Kesten contributed five each. Janisse was held to four points and Swopes netted four also.

One of the most exciting games was the battle for third place between Los Gatos and Fremont. In a game that saw several momentum swings, Fremont was finally able to pull out a 55-51 win to claim third place in the tourney. The Firebirds were deadly from three-point land, finding the bottom of the net with 12 buckets from beyond the line.

The Firebirds hit four of those in the first quarter while Los Gatos couldn't buy a bucket and was sloppy with turnovers. The result was an 18-2 bulge for the Firebirds at the end of one quarter. Suddenly the momentum swung the other way as Los Gatos began to play its game and work the ball inside while Fremont went cold and got sloppy as the Wildcats snagged numerous steals with intensified defense. Los Gatos cashed in on the mistakes to rack up 19 points while shutting out the Firebirds in the quarter and go to halftime with a 21-18 lead.

After dropping behind by 10 points in the third quarter, Fremont hit five three-pointers in the final three minutes if the quarter to pull within one at 36-35. It was back and fourth in the final stanza and with 13 seconds left in the game it was 51-51. Fremont's Sam Kesten dropped in a bucket with three seconds left and Los Gatos could not answer.

Fremont was led by Allen and with Janisse 11 each. Swopes popped in 10 points.

Knights, Firebirds fourth

Six days after running in her fourth state cross country meet, senior Jessica Butelo was making plays for The King's Academy girls basketball team during the Knights' Christmas Invitational, Dec. 1-3.

Butelo, whose second-place individual finish in last month's CCS Division V race paced TKA's second straight CCS team title, is one of five returning seniors on the Knights' basketball roster. The others are Lisa Walker, Taylor Scott, Nicole Morris and Sheila Casey. Juniors Hannah Henderson and Kristen Butelo, Jessica's sister, also are back from last year's squad that lost in the CCS Division V quarterfinals.

Walker, a first-team all-Private Schools Athletic League selection last season, was the Knights' top scorer in three of their four tourney games last weekend. She totaled 44 points, including 15 in a 52-45 win over International Studies Academy of San Francisco. Walker (11 points) and Scott (10) led the way in the third-place game against Carlmont of Belmont, but the Knights lost 61-48. Scott, who had a team-high 13 in a semifinal loss to Burlingame, finished with 31 points.

Burlingame captured the first-place trophy by winning four straight games, including 65-43 over Mountain View in the tourney finale.

Meanwhile, Fremont took fourth out of eight teams in its Lady Firebird Tournament. Led by juniors Carol Hoang and Alison Bushnell, the Firebirds rolled over Silver Creek 60-33 in the first round, before losing 46-33 to Mercy of San Francisco in the semifinal round and 56-27 to Wilcox in the third-place game.

Hoang had 19 points and six assists against Silver Creek. Bushnell popped in 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Senior Marylin Avila added eight rebounds, six points and four steals, and senior Marissa Cabana chipped in with eight points.

Hoang put in 16 more points the next night against Mercy, but she was the only Firebird to reach double figures in a 46-33 defeat.