Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Rams suffer tough loss to Silver Creek
By Dick Sparrer
It was a stumble at a time the Willow Glen boys basketball team could least afford it.
The Rams went into last Friday night's clash with Silver Creek sharing first place in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with Sobrato of Morgan Hill. The clubs had matching 8-1 records after splitting their head-to-head match-ups in the regular season.
Silver Creek was certainly no slouch. The Raiders were hot on the heels of the leaders with a 6-3 record in league play.
It was a game each team needed, and it would be the Raiders pulling out the come-from-behind victory by outscoring the Rams 17-9 in the fourth quarter.
The loss left Willow Glen 8-2 in division play and 16-6 for the year. Sobrato, with a tight 48-47 win over Leland the same night, improved to 9-1 (16-6).
Kyle Schroeder tossed in 15 points and Billy Hahn and Steven Skavdahl added 11 apiece, but it wasn't enough for the Rams against the Raiders.
Schroeder had a three among his five field goals and added four points at the free-throw line. He pulled down four rebounds, had two steals and added an assist.
Hahn had a three among two field goals and picked up six points at the line. He added three boards, a couple of steals and an assist. Skavdahl had a pair of threes among four field goals and had three charity throws. He also had three rebounds and added two assists.
Brian Chunn popped four points and snagged a team-high eight rebounds, and Daniel O'Shaughnessy and Jimmy Renneke hit two points apiece.
Earlier in the week the Rams rolled over Live Oak 58-26, outscoring the Acorns in every period.
Skavdahl led the club with 15 points, including three threes. He finished with five assists and added three rebounds and two steals.
Schroeder supported with 12 points and also had five assists and O'Shaughnessy had eight points.
Anthony Rodriguez had a solid game for the Rams. He had a three among his seven points, he led the club with four rebounds and he added two steals and two assists.
Hahn and Renneke had six points apiece and Chunn and Evan Bishop added two each. Chunn and Hahn each had three assists, and Hahn and Renneke each snagged three boards.
The Rams will host Andrew Hill on Feb. 9, 7:30 p.m., before heading to Branham on Feb. 13, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball
Junior guard Hayley Tharp has been pitching in her share of three-pointers for the Willow Glen girls basketball team this season, and it was no different last week.
Tharp threw in five buckets from behind the three-point arc against Silver Creek, and she had two more against Live Oak.
Tharp finished with a team-high 19 points against the Raiders, but the Rams ended up dropping a 65-40 decision. The loss left Willow Glen 4-6 in the Santa Teresa Division and 6-14 overall this season.
Tharp was the scoring leader for the Rams with her 19 points, and Samantha Tsukiji supported with 13. Brittany O'Brien added six points and Odette Overton had two.
There was better news for Willow Glen earlier in the week when the Rams outlasted Live Oak 54-45.
Tsukiji was the big scorer for the locals in the win. The senior guard had four three-pointers among her seven field goals, and she added four points at the free-throw line to lead the Rams with 22 points.
Tharp had a pair of threes among her 11 points, Stephanie Serna popped seven points, B. O'Brien had five, Meghan Wilson four, Nadia Conroy and Alyssa O'Brien two apiece and Overton one. B. O'Brien also popped a three.
Willow Glen will head to Independence on Feb. 8, before returning home to face Branham on Feb. 13. All games begin at 7 p.m.
Girls soccer
A tough 1-0 loss to Del Mar last week proved costly for the Willow Glen girls soccer team in their quest for a Santa Teresa Division championship.
The Rams went into the game needing a win to stay close to the Dons in the title race, but a second-half goal by Del Mar broke up a scoreless tie and lifted the Dons to the important victory.
Del Mar came out of the game with a league-leading 11-1-1 (34 points) record, 14-1-2 overall. The Rams slipped to third place in the division (7-3-3, 24 points, 9-6-3 overall), dropping behind second-place Prospect (8-2-3, 27 points).
Earlier in the week, the Rams blanked Overfelt 3-0 to remain hot in the title race. Senior Kathryn Cremer drilled an unassisted goal in the first half and assists sophomore Burree Cowherd on another goal in the second half. Junior forward Myra Diaz scored the only other Willow Glen goal off an Aracely Esquerra assist.
Rams blank Saints
A first-half goal by Saul Espinoza and a second-half score by Martin Balderas sparked the Willow Glen boys soccer team to a 2-0 shutout win over Santa Teresa last week.
The win helped the Rams improve to 11-5-4 for the year and to 6-3-4 in the Santa Teresa Division. The Rams also beat James Lick last week.
WG wrestlers roll
Freddy Betancourt nailed a quick 11-second pin and Hugo Hernandez won on a first-round fall to lead the Willow Glen wrestling team to a lopsided 40-27 dual match win over Live Oak last week.
Betancourt pinned in a matter of seconds at 145 pounds, just moments after Hernandez had pinned at 1:40 of the first round at 140.
Along with the two falls, the Rams needed just one other win on the mat to claim the win over the Acorns. Uriel Basilio won a major decision at 189 pounds for the Rams.
The Rams will close out the West Valley Division dual match season when they host Gunderson on Feb. 8, 6:30 p.m. On Saturday they head to Oak Grove to compete in the BVAL tournament.
