The Willow Glen Resident Rams fall in Westmont final Willow Glen loses to Los Gatos in tourney title game By Dick Sparrer Yogi Berra would have called it "déjà vu all over again." Just as they did a year ago, Los Gatos and Willow Glen met up in the championship game of the Westmont Invitational Basketball Tournament. But the results were much different this time around. Willow Glen edged Los Gatos in overtime to win the title in the Westmont tourney last year. This time around, though, it was all Los Gatos. The Wildcats turned an 11-point halftime lead into a lopsided 27-point victory over the Rams in the 32nd annual Westmont Invitational. Los Gatos beat Prospect 55-51 and Pioneer 59-45 to move into the title game against the Rams. Willow Glen opened the tourney with wins over Fremont 56-46 and Piedmont Hills 47-44. The clash with the Firebirds on Wednesday was the season opener for the Rams, and they opened the year in impressive fashion with a 10-point victory over Fremont. Senior center Ben Fuller jammed 18 points and senior guard Manny Myers pitched in 17, including a three-pointer, to lead the Rams to the win over Fremont. Guy Beahm joined the two in double digits with 14 points in the win. Eric Dean canned a three-pointer and Eddie Sanchez and Sid Mitchell had two points apiece. Willow Glen jumped on Fremont for a 21-10 lead in the first period. The Firebirds trimmed the lead by five in the second quarter and by two more in the third to trail just 38-34 heading into the fourth. But the Rams outpointed Fremont 18-12 in the final period to clinch the 10-point victory. Willow Glen came back a night later with an impressive 47-44 win over Piedmont Hills. Beahm had a big night for the Rams, pumping in 18 points to lead all scorers. Dean, whose three-pointer sent the Rams into overtime against Los Gatos in last year's title game, buried three threes and finished with 11 points to help Willow Glen into this year's championship game against the Wildcats. Fuller chipped in with eight points in the win, Myers had six and Mitchell hit four. Beahm and Fuller were each named to the all-tournament team. The Rams were down 14-11 at the first buzzer against the Pirates, but they jumped out to a 24-22 lead by the half. Willow Glen fell behind the Bucs 34-32 in the third, but topped Piedmont 15-10 in the fourth to win and advance to the title game. Things were much different in that championship game, though, than they were a year ago. The 'Cats opened up an 11-point first-half lead, but crushed the Rams 26-8 in the final period to clinch the win. Fuller led Willow Glen with nine points and Myers added six, Mitchell five and Beahm and Dean three apiece. Myers, Mitchell and Dean each hit three-pointers. The Rams are hoping for another shot at Los Gatos this week when they compete in the eight-team Wildcat Shootout at Los Gatos. Willow Glen opens play on Dec. 10, 7 p.m., against Aragon. Pioneer meets Live Oak on Dec. 9, 5:30 p.m., in the tourney opener with host Los Gatos meeting Leland at 7 p.m. Prior to the Willow Glen-Aragon game a night later, Saratoga faces Armijo of Fairfield at 5:30 p.m. Second-round games are set for 3:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday. The finals are to be played on Saturday with the consolation championship game at 4 p.m., the third-place game at 5:30 p.m. and the championship game at 7 p.m. All games are played at Los Gatos High. Pioneer heads to Los Gatos after finishing fourth in the Westmont Invitational. The Mustangs opened with a 44-43 win over host Westmont behind Kevin Mack's 14-point effort. Mack buried three three-pointers in the win. Jeff Luu had seven points, including a three, and Mike Nakamura popped a pair of threes to end up with six. Bryce Hall also had six points for the Mustangs. Hall canned 12 points and Mack jammed 10 in Pioneer's 59-45 semifinal loss to Los Gatos, and Kevin Gray hit eight points to lead all Pioneer scorers in a 62-25 loss to Piedmont Hills in the third-place game. WG girls open season The Willow Glen girls, meanwhile, opened the 1998-99 season with a split, falling 48-31 to Cupertino before beating Mountain View Academy 59-22. Junior returner Kelly McCloskey poured in 14 points and junior Shannon Donovan supported with 10 points to lead the Rams to the rousing win over Mountain View. Freshman Courtney Livak fired in eight points for the winners and Mary Bennett and Christine Ha canned seven apiece. Ha hit a three-pointer for Willow Glen. Freshman Andrea Rojas chipped in with five points for Willow Glen. Angel Ocampo added three, Sandra Corpus and Melissa Allen two apiece and LaTesha Trumbo one. Junior Marcella Prada led the Rams with seven points and Bennett added six in the loss to the Pioneers. Ocampo, Rojas and Livak pitched in four points each for the Rams and Ha, Corpus and McCloskey added two each. The Rams will visit Fremont Christian on Dec. 8, 5:30 p.m., before hosting Lynbrook on Dec. 11, 5 p.m., in a couple of nonleague games. Willow Glen heads to Los Gatos for a game on Monday at 7 p.m. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.