The Willow Glen Resident Rams fall to Cats-again Willow Glen and Los Gatos will meet again in Fairfield By Dick Sparrer The Los Gatos and Willow Glen boys' basketball teams are getting to know each other pretty well. The Wildcats and Rams met for the first time this year in the finals of the Westmont Invitational a couple of weeks ago, and met again in the finals of the Los Gatos Lions Club Wildcat Shootout last Saturday night. But it doesn't end there. The two clubs will meet again this week when they tip off in the opening round of the Ed Hopkins Classic at Armijo High School in Fairfield. The game is set for Dec. 17, 6 p.m., with the tournament continuing on Friday and Saturday. So at least one thing's for sure--the Cats and Rams won't play for another tournament championship. They played for the title at Westmont, and Los Gatos won the championship game by 27. They played for the title again at Gatos last Saturday night, and, although the game was much closer, the Cats took the crown with a 55-44 victory. "Willow Glen was much better than they were the first time we played them," said Los Gatos coach Jim Marino after the tough clash with the Rams last weekend. "(Guy) Beahm was tough inside, and (Ben) Fuller played very well." The Rams played so well, in fact, that they jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first period before the Wildcats were able to get untracked. Willow Glen led 13-10 after a period, but Gatos outscored the Rams 16-10 to take a three-point lead by the half, 26-23. The Wildcats dominated the third quarter 15-8 to take control of the game. "We had a good effort throughout the game, except for our bad start," said Marino. Junior forward Matt Gingery poured in a game-high 21 points. He had a three-pointer among his six field goals, and he added eight points at the free-throw line. Jonathan Groff supported with 13 points, and Beau Knight had eight. David Whiteside had a three-pointer to go with four free throws to finish with seven points, and he also led the club with three assists. "We had one stretch in the third quarter where we scored eight unanswered points on transition baskets with David Whiteside running the floor," said Marino. Gingery and Groff were Los Gatos players named to the all-tournament team. They were joined on the squad by Fuller and Beahm of Willow Glen, Geoff Lamotte of Saratoga, John Pelossi of Leland and Jeff Luu of Pioneer. Beahm led all Willow Glen scorers in the championship game with 17 points, including a three-point bucket. Fuller supported with 13 points. Both Beahm and Fuller had their playing time limited because of foul trouble. Sid Mitchell had five points for the Rams with David Macchi hitting four, Manny Myers three and Eric Dean two. Mitchell and Myers each canned three-pointers. Willow Glen opened the tournament with a 48-37 win over Aragon. Fuller had the hot hand for the Rams with 26 points. Myers supported with nine points, Dean hit a pair of threes to finish with six, Beahm added four, Eddy Sanchez had two, and Cory Hare dropped one. The Rams were down 5-3 after a low-scoring first period, but they outpointed the Dons 13-9 in the second to take a tight 16-14 lead at intermission. Willow Glen then took control of the game in the third, topping Aragon 17-11, and held on in the fourth. The Rams earned a place in the tourney finals with a 63-41 win over Armijo a game later. Willow Glen outscored the club from Fairfield in every period, and opened up a 15-point lead by halftime. Myers buried four three-pointers on his way to 16 points in the win. Fuller and Beahm also went for 16 points apiece, and Dean hit four threes to finish with 12 points. Mitchell added three points for the Rams. Willow Glen, now 4-3 for the year, had opened the week by dropping a 58-45 nonleague decision to Mountain View. Myers had a big night for the Rams, tossing in five three-pointers on his way to 23 points. Dean added nine points, all on three three-pointers, Beahm had eight, and Nich Holt had five, including a three. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.