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Lucky Thirteen: Willow Glen's Joe Gutierrez works the ball up the floor against Pioneer in the Wildcat Shootout. Gutierrez tossed in 13 points in the 59-53 win over the Mustangs.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Rams fourth at Cat Shootout
Morales, Drescher pin seconds at LO
By Dick Sparrer
It only takes one victory at the right time to get fourth place in an eight-team basketball tournament. And the Willow Glen boys basketball team got the win it needed to nail fourth in the Wildcat Shootout in Los Gatos last week.
The Rams opened the tournament with a 59-53 win over Pioneer and, despite losses to Los Gatos and Leland in the next two games, then went on to finish fourth overall in the eight-team tourney.
Six-foot-4 senior center Jon Williams poured in 14 points, including six at the free-throw line, to lead the Rams to the six-point win over the Mustangs.
Joe Gutierrez, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, and Pete Watts, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, pumped in 13 points apiece for the winners.
Mihn Phan (5-foot-11 senior guard) had a three-pointer among his seven points, Kaelan Yoppini (6-foot-2 junior forward) had six points, Adam Saucedo (6-foot-3 senior forward) hit five and Chris Lyons (6-foot senior forward) added one.
The Rams opened up an 18-16 lead in the first period, led by six at the half (32-26) and by 11 after three quarters (41-30). The Mustangs outscored Willow Glen 23-18 in the fourth, but came up six points short despite six three-pointers and 22 points by Pioneer's Brian Gilbert.
Gutierrez came back with 14 points and Watts hit a pair of threes on his way to 10 points, but the Rams lost 65-48 to the host Wildcats. Williams added seven points, Saucedo and Phan had six apiece, Mike Puthoff (6-foot-4 senior center) had three and Yoppini hit two.
Los Gatos outscored Willow Glen in every period but the fourth on the road to the victory.
Gatos went on to lose 64-39 to Armijo of Fairfield in the tourney title game, and Willow Glen lost 57-25 to Leland in the fight for third place.
Watts and Phan each finished with seven points and each popped a three-pointer in the loss to the Chargers. Gutierrez added four points, Williams three and Yoppini and Saucedo two apiece.
The Rams were outscored in every period in this game, including a 12-1 Leland run in the second quarter. Willow Glen tailed 28-8 at the half.
Willow Glen had opened the year with a 48-43 loss to Cuperino. Phan was the leader for the Rams with 23 points, including four three-pointers. Williams chipped in with seven points, Gutierrez and Saucedo four apiece, Yoppini three and Puthoff two.
The Rams lost two straight in the Westmont Tournament a couple of weeks back, falling 47-39 to Westmont and 39-27 to Prospect.
Gutierrez led the Rams with 17 points in the loss to the host Warriors. Phan supported with 13 points, including three threes. Yoppini had four points, Saucedo three and Williams two.
Williams led the Rams with seven points in the loss to the Panthers. Phan hit two threes to finish with six points, Gutierrez and Watts each had a three and finished with five points apiece, and Lyons added four points.
Rams pin seconds
Sophomores Adrian Morales and Joel Drescher each finished second for Willow Glen at the Live Oak junior varsity wrestling tournament.
Morales lost just once on the day at 160 pounds, falling 4-3 to a Live Oak opponent in the last 15 seconds of his championship match.
"That was the most exciting match of the tournament," said WG coach Phil Luna. "He showed a lot of heart."
Drescher pinned his first three opponents to get into the 189-pound finals.
Sophomore Steve Lopez was third at 140, junior Joe Parisi fifth at 145, soph Joe Sparacino fifth at 152 and soph Daniel Cousino fifth at 125.
Willow Glen finished sixth in the 37-team tournament.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
