January 24, 2008

SPORTS

Leland in it until the fourth

By Joe Proudman
Staff Writer

The Leland Chargers have been doing what they’ve been doing all season in league, keeping it close till the end but failing to seal the deal. On Tuesday night, it was the same story just a different team.

Leland's Drew Marino (21) tries to move the ball against Westmont's Brian Scottt (32) and Max Schneider (22).. Photos by Joe Proudman

Leland (8-9, 1-4) lost it down the stretch to Mount Hamilton League foe Westmont (14-5, 4-1), 54-49. The Chargers kept it close nearly the entire game, even leading at the break, but couldn’t capture the victory.

“That’s about three games we had a chance to win,” said Leland head coach Steve Seandel. “We’re good enough to play teams close but not good enough to beat them.”

“We don’t have depth.”

Leland led most of the first half, out-rebounding Westmont and converting a lot of those into points. They went in at half time up 25-24, thanks to the efforts of Cody Tyson who had eight points in the first half and Gregg Hipwell who had seven.

“They killed us on the boards,” said Westmont head coach Bill Gerth. “They killed us inside.”

Coming out in the second half, neither team looked sharp. The first points of the night came by a Tyson free throw nearly three minutes into the half. But Westmont would end up owning the third quarter outscoring Leland 13-8 and playing solid defense. Going into the fourth, Westmont was on top 37-33 and never gave up the lead.

Westmont's Greg Talley (44) blocks the shot of Leland's Matt Vera (10).

Leland was only able to pull within four points in the final quarter, not making pivotal shots and being forced to foul going the other way. On the night Leland was 11 for 20 at the line, versus Westmont who was 16 for 21.

“It was a character check down the stretch. A will to win the game,” said Gerth. “ They worked their rear ends off on defense.”

For Leland, Tyson ended up with 12 points on the night and Hipwell had 11. Drew Marino had seven; Bentli Bejan and Ryan Hall had eight. Adam MacKey contributed four points.

Westmont’s two sophomores had big contributions on the night, with Ben Neves scoring a team high 15 points and Brian Scott with 13. Max Schneider had 14, James Weimer tallied eight and Greg Talley had four.

Westmont is off to a surprise start, with only one loss in league to a dominating Oak Grove team and a 14-5 record overall.

“I don’t want to say that we’re overachieving, but I didn’t expect this start from this team,” said Gerth of his young team. “How in the heck can you be 4-1 in the Mount Hamilton division with two sophomores starting?”

High School Soccer Roundup

Leland ties Mt. Pleasant

Leland tied Mt. Pleasant 0-0 in an exciting soccer game last Friday despite the injuries that have kept the team from scoring in the win column this season.

“Our team is struggling,” said head coach Rich Kubec, whose team record is 1-4-4. He expects the team to spend the second half of the season winning more games since some of the team is coming off injuries.

“This is a young team that’s just getting used to playing together. I think we can finish the season strong,” he said. The boys are working hard he said, and things are beginning to gel.

The game itself was exciting with excellent goal work from both keepers. The Charger’s goalkeeper, R.J. Aitken made a fantastic save one on one.

“It was a solid team effort and the boys played exceptionally well,” said Kubec, “against the second place team in the league made up of mostly seniors. It was a team effort.”

Pioneer loses to Piedmont Hill in second half

The Pioneer Mustangs were playing strong and looked as if they were going to stay strong until the middle of the second half of their game against the league’s first place Piedmont Hills on Friday, Jan. 18. But the team fell apart halfway through the second half and left the field with a 5-1 loss.

“We were only down 1-0 at halftime,” said head coach Nick Hoffman. “We scored early in the second half when senior midfielder Ryan Nelson pushed the ball in and the score was 2-1. But then two key players received their second yellow cards and the team just devolved.”

Hoffman noted that the team plays well when everyone is there, but the “program is not at a point where we can lose key players.”

Hoffman formerly coached at Los Gatos, but is new to Pioneer and the team is young, he said. “This is my first year and last year the team didn’t win a game all season. This year we’ve been playing fairly evenly, but the program is not at the point where we can lose key players and stay in the game.” Last week (Jan. 11) they won a game against Yerba Buena 2-1 1 by scoring a goal with only five minutes left to play.

Basically, Hoffman expects the team to grow within the next couple of years. He notes it already has “improved a ton, they are heads and tails better than they were at the beginning of the season.”

The 23-member team has eight seniors and a good number of players will be returning next year. In addition, the frosh/soph team has only lost one game all season. “They are playing together and everyone is on the same page,” he said. “We’re only going to get better.”

VCA boys’ hoopsters down Community Christian

The Veritas Christian Academy Lions won their first league game of the season on Friday, Jan. 18 with a 69-54 victory over Community Christian of Pittsburg. The game stayed close throughout much of the first half but Veritas never trailed in the contest.

“Our guys have shown great improvement over the last few weeks and it was evident tonight as they got the win,” said coach Greg Hardie. “We are playing with much more confidence and understanding of what we are trying to do on the court. I’m looking forward to see how this team comes together down the stretch.”

Senior Chris Wallace led the Lions with 27 points and Garrison Hardie added 15. Josh Kimball led all scorers for the Crusaders poring in 32 points including five three-pointers. Other contributors in the scoring column for VCA included Gabriel Flores (12), Alex Mankarios (eight), Adam Flores (four) and Aaron Flores (two). The Lions record is 1–3.

VCA’s next game is Friday, Jan. 25 at the Campbell Community Center’s, main gym when the face Calvary Christian. Game time is 5 p.m.

VCA Lady Lions get first win in school history

The Veritas Christian Academy Lady Lions made it into the win column on Friday, Jan. 18 for the first time in the school’s history.

VCA is in its second year of basketball and the ladies won a close contest against the Christian Center Crusaders 29–26. The VCA Lions led most of the game but Angela Lima hit back-to-back jump shots with 3:20 left in the third quarter that gave the Crusaders the lead 20–19. VCA responded quickly with a basket by Gabie Marquez and another hoop by Michelle Suy-Sam to put the Lions up for good. Marquez and Suy-Sam scored 11 points each to lead the Lions and Angela Lima led all scorers with 12 points.

“Our girls’ took a giant step forward tonight. The girls’ showed composure and a competitive spirit tonight, we are moving in the right direction,” said coach Greg Hardie.

Other Lion contributors to the scoring column included Lauren Wallace with four, Rebecca Wintermute with two, and Selena Marquez with one. The Lions record is 1–2 on the season.

The VCA ladies next take on the Calvary Christians on Friday at the Campbell Community Center’s main gym at 3:30 p.m.

Holy Spirit sixth graders capture St. Lucy basketball tourney

The Holy Spirit School sixth grade boys basketball team beat three tough rival teams to win the St. Lucy’s Basketball Tournament Jan. 19.

The team consists of, bottom row from the left, Cris VanEijk, Kyle Sandvick, Zach Cobb, Christian Kennedy, Austin Karr, Christopher Blach, Tyler Lazar and David Ticzon. From the left in the top row are Brandon Wong, Matt Savignano, Brian Guevara, Alessandro Lenarduzzi and Alex Blay. Drew Deaton is not pictured. Coaches Steve Savignano and Mike Karr are standing.

Coached by Mike Karr and Steve Savignano, the 14-member basketball team is undefeated thus far in league play and went undefeated in tournament play beating St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart and the host team, St. Lucy’s, in a tough championship match-up.

“All three teams are very good,” said Karr, “they all had some really talented players and each provided a different match-up problem for the Holy Spirit boys. The key for our team was defense and discipline. We used multiple defenses to confuse the other team and we were patient on offense.”

Each game a different individual stepped up and made big plays when they were needed, the coach added. In the first game against St. Mary’s, Austin Karr hit two big shots toward the end of the game to seal the victory. In game two against Sacred Heart, Christian Kennedy was the leading scorer and had to fill in as point guard when Austin Karr got into foul trouble early in the third quarter.

In the championship game against St. Lucy’s it was a very balanced offensive attack led by Alessandro Lenarduzzi and Zach Cobb with stand out defense being played by Brandon Wong and Tyler Lazar, shutting down St. Lucy’s star player to so that he was scoreless in the second half.

All 14 kids played a major role in contributing to this championship and represented Holy Spirit School well.

High School Sports Schedule Jan. 25 – Jan. 31

Leland

Friday—Boys soccer vs. Overfelt—JV at 3:15 only at Overfelt
Friday—Boys soccer vs. Overfelt—varsity only at 3:15 p.m. at Leland

Saturday—Boys basketball vs. Santa Teresa—JV at 5:30 p.m. and varsity at 7 at Santa Teresa
Saturday—Girls basketball vs. Santa Teresa—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 at Leland

Tuesday—Boys basketball vs. Oak Grove—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 p.m. at Leland
Tuesday—Girls basketball vs. Prospect—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 p.m. at Prospect
Tuesday—Girls soccer vs. Leigh—JV at 3:15 with varsity after at Leland

Wednesday—Boys soccer vs. Oak Grove—JV at 3:15 followed by varsity at Leland
Wednesday—Wrestling vs. Gunderson/Del Mar at 6:30 at Del Mar

Thursday—Boys basketball vs. Leigh—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 p.m. at Leigh
Thursday—Girls basketball vs. Leigh—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 p.m. at Leland
Thursday—Girls soccer vs. Evergreen—JV at 3:15 followed by varsity at Evergreen

Pioneer

Friday—Boys soccer vs. Andrew Hill—JV at 3:15 followed by varsity at Andrew Hill

Saturday—Boys basketball vs. Sobrato—JV at 5:30 followed by varsity at 7 at Pioneer Saturday—Girls basketball vs. Mt. Pleasant—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 at Mt. Pleasant

Tuesday—Boys basketball vs. Santa Teresa—F/S at 5:30 and varsity at 7 p.m. at Santa Teresa
Tuesday—Girls basketball vs. Lincoln-- FJV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 at Pioneer
Tuesday—Girls soccer vs. Evergreen—JV at 3:15 with varsity to follow at Evergreen

Wednesday—Boys soccer vs. Willow Glen—JV at 3:15 followed by varsity at Pioneer
Wednesday—Wrestling vs. san Jose/Willow Glen at 6:30 at Pioneer

Thursday—Boys basketball vs. Oak Grove—F/S at 5:30 and varsity at 7 at Oak Grove
Thursday—Girls basketball vs. Oak Grove—JV at 5:30 and varsity at 7 at Pioneer
Thursday—Girls soccer vs. Santa Teresa—JV at 3:15 with varsity to follow at Pioneer

For more information about Leland and Pioneer sporting events, go to:

Pioneer Athletics: www.phsathletics.com
Leland Athletics: www.lelandathletics.com
Blossom Valley Athletic League: www.bval.org

Sports Briefs

Almaden Blast U14 Class 3 team seeks players, goalie
Almaden Blast, a U-14 boys Class 3 team, is looking for Goalie and field players. All participants must have birthdays that fall between Aug. 1, 1994 and July 31, 1995. For more tryout information, contact Jesse Saenz at 997-3422 

Girls U12 Comp (Class 3) and Select (Class 1) open tryouts
Tryouts will be held as follows:

Saturday, 1/26 from 9 - 11:30 a.m. at De Anza Park (across from Mervyns)

Sunday, 1/27 from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Steinbeck Middle School

All girls born after July 31, 1996 who would like to play competitive soccer are welcome. For more information, contact Kathy Wesolowski at 323-9236.

Almaden Stealth Boys U12, Class 3 soccer Tryouts
The Almaden Stealth Boys U-12 soccer team in Almaden Valley will be holding tryouts for the upcoming season for boys born after 8/1/96.

Jan. 26 (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) at Steinbeck Middle School

Feb. 2 (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.) at Steinbeck Middle School

In order to obtain more information, please contact Robert Cerone (408)268-9547 (ncerone@sbcglobal.net) or Tom Geraghty at (408) 204-7475.

Boys U12 Class 1 Select tryouts
The Almaden Venom - Boys U12 Class 1 Select - are looking for highly competitive soccer players with birthdates between Aug. 1, 1996 and July 31, 1997. The Venom are part of Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League and CYSA North -Abronzino District II .

We are a Select team that plays and practices in Almaden Valley and attend numerous tournaments, District Cup and State Cup. We are holding tryouts at the following time and date:

Saturday, Jan. 26, from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Gunderson High School.

Please send an e-mail to sabra.underwood@sbcglobal.net for more information and get on the list. See you then!

The De Anza Force Soccer Club tryouts for the 92 Girls age group
De Anza Force announces tryouts for the 92 Girls group. The dates are:

Saturday, March 1 and 8 from 10 a.m. - noon at Garden Gate Elementary in Cupertino.

Both teams will be Division 1 Abronzino in the fall. All positions will be looked at - for State Cup and beyond. Both teams will play Y-League and attend top tournaments, including Las Vegas Showcase March 14-16, and the Texas Shootout, May 30 - June 1st.

Force Black is coached by Owen Flannery, head Women's coach at Foothill College, and by Colin Corstorphine. Force Blue is coached by former MLS Player Shawn Medved. For more information, contact either Shawn at shawnmedved@hotmail.com, Owen at owenflannery@hotmail.com, or Colin at colin.corstorphine@gmail.com.

Almaden Wildcats Girls U-13 soccer tryouts
The Almaden Wildcats girls under-13 soccer team will hold tryouts for girls born after July 31, 1995 at the following dates, times, and locations;

Jan. 20 (3 to 5 p.m.) at Bret Harte Middle School,

Jan. 23 (4 to 5:30 p.m.) at Bret Harte MS

Jan. 26 (Noon to 2 p.m.) at DeAnza Park. 

The Wildcats will be moving up to Class 1 (Select level) play in 2008.  In order to obtain more information and pre-register, contact Ron Richardson at 997-6168 or rkrichardson@sbcglobal.net.


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