The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Playoff atmosphere when Mats top Mustangs

By Mike Barnhart

Since Monta Vista's boys basketball team does not have any post-season experience in recent years, the newly crowned champs in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League will have to label last Friday's hard-fought, come-from-behind Senior Night victory over Homestead as its playoff preparation.

The SCVAL season finale felt like a playoff game, with a raucous crowd in a packed gym and intense play by two teams in the postseason. The Matadors overcame a poor shooting night with four quarters of relentless full-court pressure defense, and they eventually pulled away in the final period for a 57-46 triumph.

It was the 10th straight win for Monta Vista, since its only division loss, 55-44 to Mountain View on Jan. 5. The Matadors' 11-1 division record was four games better than runner-up Homestead's 7-5 mark. Los Altos and Mountain View both finished 6-6, while Lynbrook and Wilcox shared fifth place at 5-7 and Santa Clara followed at 2-10.

Monta Vista (18-9 overall) will now move on to the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs, opening at home on Feb. 21, 7 p.m., against Alvarez (13-11).

De Anza Division teams Cupertino and Fremont also qualified for the playoffs. Cupertino takes a 21-6 record into the Division III tourney, after going 8-4 and sharing second place with Gunn behind De Anza champion Palo Alto (10-2). Fremont had a tough time in division play, going 3-9, but landed a berth in the Division II bracket because of its 16-12 overall mark.

Cupertino, the No. 5 seed, will host Jefferson (17-9) on Feb. 21, 7 p.m. Fremont's first game is set for Feb. 21, 7 p.m., at St. Francis (11-14).

Homestead committed many turnovers (31 for the game) and 6-foot-9 senior center Ryan Dedrick sat out nearly all of the second quarter with three fouls, but the Mustangs persevered against Monta Vista. They twice built leads of eight points in the first half and led 29-25 at intermission. Monta Vista started the second half with two quick buckets to tie the game, but the Mustangs scored seven straight while blanking the Matadors for nearly five minutes.

After making only five of 29 shots (17 percent) in the first half, Monta Vista was just 2 for 7 in the third quarter and scoreless from three-point range until sophomore Kevin Lang's trey ended the dry spell with 2:40 left in the period. Junior Sean Brar then popped a pair of threes, pulling the Matadors even, 38-38, heading into the fourth quarter.

Monta Vista outscored Homestead, 19-8, in the final period.

Dedrick paced Homestead with 12 points, the same amount he had in the Mustangs' 47-42 victory over Lynbrook on Feb. 13. Tim Vanderet, a 6-foot-5 senior who recently signed a letter of intent to play football next fall at Ivy League school Dartmouth, scored nine and grabbed nine rebounds.

Senior Shamir Ross collected eight points, six rebounds and four assists, while junior Patrick Myers tallied seven, grabbed 10 rebounds and had a solid floor game for the Mustangs. Senior Mickey Lai added six points and junior Jeff Whitford four.

Mustangs, Vikes share title

After a 42-39 victory over Lynbrook on Valentine's Day, the Homestead girls basketball team was looking to capture the El Camino Division championship outright at Monta Vista. But the Mustangs lost 52-42 to a very hot team and had to settle for a co-championship with Lynbrook instead.

Lynbrook, meanwhile, took care of business by beating Cupertino, 42-24. Homestead and Lynbrook finished with 9-3 records, one game better than third-place Saratoga (8-4) and two ahead of Los Altos (7-5). Monta Vista placed fifth at 6-6.

The CCS playoffs begin this week with Homestead (14-11 overall) and Monta Vista (12-12) will competing in Division I, while Lynbrook (21-6 overall) of the De Anza Division plays in Division II. First-round games are Feb. 21 with Homestead at Gilroy (17-6) at 5:30 p.m., Monta Vista at Evergreen Valley (17-9) at 7 p.m., Lynbrook at Gunn (16-10) at 5:30 p.m.

The hottest of the Matadors, 5-foot-4 senior sharpshooter Sophia Tam, scored 25 points against Homestead.

Seniors Elan Kim (11) and Kate Mower (10) paced Homestead scoring. Desiree Prevo tallied six points, Nicole Chan and Emily Blazensky added five apiece, Kylie Loutit had three and Melissa Cheng two.

In the key win two nights before against Lynbrook, Blazensky posted a game high 19 points and Mower chimed in with 14. Senior Mira Stauffacher (14) and Stephanie Cai (10) were tops for Lynbrook.

Mustangs, Knights fall

In the CCS Division I girls soccer playoffs at Piedmont Hills in San Jose, No. 7 seed Homestead and Santa Teresa played through two overtime sessions deadlocked 1-1 before the No. 2 Saints advanced into the semifinals on penalty kicks, 4-2.

Homestead, which finished the season 9-5-6, had opened the 12-team tournament with a 3-0 triumph at Gilroy. Diana Charrier scored two goals, both on assists by Melanie Jones. Jones also knocked in a goal, after taking a pass from Kristina Roome.

In the Division III tourney, top seed Santa Cruz had its hands full with The King's Academy at Watsonville, before moving into the semifinal round with a 1-0 victory.

The Knights, 7-7-6 for the year, reached the quarterfinal round by whipping Robert Louis Stevenson of Carmel, 4-2.