SPORTS

Pioneer’s Fager and Lerma team up
in 59-47 win at Westmont

Duo combines for 29 points in the win

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Led by strong scoring efforts from guard Kyle Fager and forward Andrew Lerma, the Pioneer boys’ basketball team pulled out a 59-47 win at Westmont on Feb. 3.

Pioneer’s Kyle Fager led his team with 16 points in a 59-47 win at Westmont on Feb. 3, including 9 points in the second half. Photos by Jeff Frazee

For Pioneer, the win over second-place West-mont improved the team’s record to 18-6 overall and 4-5 in league play, which currently includes a stretch that has seen the Mustangs win three out of their last four Mt. Hamilton Division match-ups.

“I was happy,” Pioneer Head Coach Joe Berticevich said of the win. “You can’t say enough about going into a hostile environment and coming out with a win, especially against a team that’s very good. So, we’ll take it.”

The Mustangs led for the entire game, taking an early 29-16 lead at halftime in part on Lerma’s 9-point first-half effort, while Fager also chipped in 7 of his team-leading 16 points during that time. Lerma finished the game with 13 points and drew his coach’s praise with a tough low-post effort throughout the contest.

Berticevich said the plan, as usual was to get Lerma involved in the offense early to get him going.

“That’s part of the plan every night, but sometimes it doesn’t work,” Berticevich said with chuckle. “Tonight it worked.”

Berticevich was also pleased with Fager’s effort and noted his resiliency, which saw the senior guard start off strong in the first half before hitting a rough shooting patch in the second half. Still, Fager bounced back with a solid four quarter, dropping in five points from the line.

“He still scored 16 points, which shows me that he’s learned that he can do other things,” Berticevich said of Fager. “He did a great job on free throws and taking the ball to the basket.”

Momentum also played a key role in Pioneer’s win.

Throughout the game, the Mustangs were able to hold off any significant Westmont offensive surges, limiting the Warriors to no more than a small 5-0 stretch toward the end of the third quarter. That allowed Pioneer to maintain at least an eight-point lead throughout the contest.

Berticevich credited his team’s focus in the win, something that has kept the team from going south, even during some rough patches in the season.

Pioneer guard Nolan Maggipinto goes up strong for a shot during a 59-47 win at Westmont on Feb. 3. Maggipinto was particularly effective on defense in the win, picking off five Westmont passes, including three straight in the first quarter.

“Even when we were 1-4, they came into practice focused on what we had to do,” Berticevich said of his squad. “Every game is precious, especially for the seniors. It’s one less game they have on their schedule. They understand that and they bring it all every night.”

Pioneer continued to play efficient basketball in the second half, holding off small Westmont offensive runs to keep a 40-31 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

The Mustangs then put the finishing touches on their win in the fourth quarter, putting together a 9-4 scoring run in just over two minutes to take a 53-39 lead with just two minutes to go in the game. During that stretch, Pioneer scored all of its points from the free-throw line as a result of Westmont’s foul trouble, hitting 9 of 12 shots.

Despite a 21-point game-leading scoring effort from Warriors forward Michael Weimer, which included a 13-second stretch in which the junior hit back-to-back 3-pointers, Berticevich said he was pleased with his team’s overall defensive effort.

Berticevich pointed to guard Nolan Maggipinto’s effort as a catalyst for the rest of his team. Maggipinto had five steals in the game, including a stretch in the first quarter when the senior picked off passes on three consecutive Westmont possessions, leading to four fast-break points from Fager and a trip to the free-throw line for Maggipinto.

“It was infectious,” Berticevich said of Maggipinto’s defensive effort. “We did a good job defensively until the end, when we gave (Michael) Weimer two wide-open 3s. Besides that, defensively we did a great job.”

Sports Briefs

Bret Harte Middle School needs track coaches
Bret Harte Middle School needs coaches for long and triple jump; discus and shot put throwing; and hurdles and high jump. The season begins in the last week of March and runs to mid May. Time commitment for interested coaches is approximately 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. two to three days a week at Bret Harte Middle or Leland High School.

There is a $1,000 stipend for the qualified coach.

The coach will also need to be fingerprinted and have a TB test completed through San Jose Unified School District. The Bret Harte Booster Club will reimburse the coach for the expense. Coaches report to the head coach and are under the direction of the school administration and Bret Harte Booster Club. Those interested may call Addison Jones at (408) 535-6270.

SSJYSL girls U12 hold soccer tryouts
Girls born between 8/1/94-7/31/95 are invited to come and try out for the 2006 spring and fall soccer team. Tryout dates are Feb. 11 and 12, 10 a.m.–noon. Tryouts are at Herman Middle School, 5559 Blossom Ave. at Santa Teresa Blvd. All practices and home games are in Blossom Valley.

For more information, call Nicole at (408) 410-7622 or Bruce at (408) 629-8295.

Almaden Valley Strikers U11 hold soccer tryouts
Almaden Valley Strikers, a boys’ U11 Class 3 soccer team in the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League, is holding tryouts for players born between Aug. 1, 1995 and July 31, 1996. Tryouts will be held Feb. 11 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Almaden Elementary School. Call Lela Huenergardt at 408-997-8903 for more details.

Almaden Valley Storm Class 1, U16 soccer tryouts
Almaden Valley Storm, a boys’ U16 Class 1 soccer team in the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League, is holding tryouts for players born between Aug. 1, 1990 and July 31, 1991. Tryouts will be held after the high school season ends. Call Jay Vyas at (408) 997-0812 or Dave Gold (408) 997-7775 for details

Almaden Valley Storm Class 1 U13 soccer tryouts
Almaden Valley Storm, a boys’ U13 Class 1 soccer team in the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League, is holding tryouts for players born between Aug. 1, 1993 and July 31, 1994. Tryouts will be held at normal practices, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Steinbeck Middle School. Call Mike Reickerd at (408) 268-7576 or Dave Gold 408-997-7775 for details.

Almaden Storm boys U9 Comp soccer tryouts
The Almaden Storm, a boys’ U9 soccer team, is holding tryouts for players born between 8/1/97 and 7/31/98 on Feb. 11 from 1-4 p.m. at Almaden School. For more information, contact Mike at (408) 997-8543 or John at (408) 323-1405.

Almaden X-treme soccer players needed
Almaden X-treme soccer team, a girls U15 Class 1 team, is looking for players. The team took second place in league last year and is looking for players in all positions. Birth dates need to be Aug. 1, 1991 through July 31, 1992. If interested, contact Bob Spaletta 371-8687 or taxhound@aol.com.

San Jose Strikkers softball seeks pitchers, infielders
The San Jose Strikkers, an 18U girls fast-pitch softball traveling team, is looking for pitchers and infielders to add to the team. Tryouts are by appointment only. For more information, call Frank King at (408) 406-8191 or Richard Fangonilo at (408) 274-9301. Frank King can also be reached via e-mail at fgking25@aol.com, while Richard Fangonilo can be reached at rfangonilo@sjm.com.

For more information on the Strikkers, go to http://www.eteamz.com/sanjosestrikkers18u.

Almaden Valley Red Devils hold soccer tryouts
The Almaden Valley Red Devils, a new boys’ U13 Class 3 soccer team in the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League, is holding tryouts for players born between Aug. 1, 1993 and July 31, 1994. Tryouts will be held Saturday, Feb 11 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.  For more information, call David Silva at (408) 316-8760.

U16 girls’ holds soccer tryouts
A U16 girls’ Almaden Valley League Comp/Class 3 team that plays in both spring and fall is holding tryouts for interested players Saturday, Feb. 11 from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 18 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Steinbeck Middle School.

For more information, call Scott Hoyt at (408) 323-7803.

Almaden Celtic BU-9 Comp (Class 3) holds soccer tryouts
The Almaden Celtic BU9 Comp Class 3 soccer team will hold tryouts for boys born on or between 8/1/97 and 7/31/98 at Almaden Elementary School on Feb. 12 from 1-4 p.m. Please arrive 15 minutes early to check in.  For more information, contact Mike Hackett at jmh94@pacbell.net or (408) 997-2004.

Almaden Falcons boys U-13 soccer tryouts
The Falcons, a boys’ U13 (for fall 2006, born after 7/31/1993) Class 3 team in the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League, will be holding tryouts on Feb.12, 2-4 p.m., and Feb. 18, noon-2 p.m., at Steinbeck Middle School. For more information, contact Jeff Earl at jsearl@pacbell.net or (408) 268-5125.

High School Scoreboard

Jan. 31
Leland boys’ basketball 79-49 win at Andrew Hill

Feb. 1
Leland boys’ soccer 2-0 win vs. Overfelt

Pioneer boys’ basketball 47-44 win vs. Santa Teresa
Pioneer girls’ basketball 58-47 win vs. Santa Teresa

Feb. 2
Pioneer girls’ soccer 2-2 tie vs. Leigh

Feb. 3
Leland boys’ soccer 1-0 win at Yerba Buena
Leland boys’ basketball 69-41 loss vs. Prospect

Pioneer girls’ basketball 53-51 loss vs. Westmont
Pioneer boys’ soccer 2-1 win at Oak Grove

High School Sports Schedule

Leland High School
Friday – Varsity boys’ basketball vs. Overfelt, 7:30 p.m.
Friday – Frosh/soph boys’ basketball at Overfelt, 6 p.m.
Friday – Varsity girls’ basketball vs. Leigh, 7 p.m.
Friday – JV girls’ basketball vs. Leigh, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday – Varsity wrestling league finals at Mt. Pleasant, time TBA

Tuesday – Varsity boys’ basketball vs. Gunderson, 7 p.m.
Tuesday – Frosh/soph boys’ basketball vs. Gunderson, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday – Varsity boys’ soccer CCS Playoffs first round, time and opponent TBA
Tuesday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS Playoffs first round, time and opponent TBA

Wednesday – Varsity girls’ basketball at Piedmont Hills, 7 p.m.
Wednesday – JV girls’ basketball at Piedmont Hills, 5:30 p.m.

Pioneer High School
Friday – Varsity girls’ basketball vs. Piedmont Hills, 7 p.m.
Friday – JV girls’ basketball vs. Piedmont Hills, 5:30 p.m.
Friday – Varsity boys’ basketball at Piedmont Hills, 7:30 p.m.
Friday – Frosh/soph boys’ basketball at Piedmont Hills, 6 p.m.

Saturday – Varsity wrestling league finals at Mt. Pleasant, time TBA

Tuesday – Varsity boys’ soccer CCS Playoffs first round, time and opponent TBA
Tuesday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS Playoffs first round, time and opponent TBA


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

For more complete and up to date schedules on CCS playoffs, go to:
www.cifccs.org

Four in a row

The Leland girls’ basketball team is officially on a winning streak after taking two straight wins last week over Oak Grove and Santa Teresa, giving the Chargers a four-game winning stretch.

The Chargers, 15-7 overall and 7-1 in Mt. Hamilton Division play, began the week by taking a lopsided 62-30 win at home over Oak Grove on Feb. 1. The Chargers put together 19-5 efforts in the first two quarters of the game for a 38-10 halftime lead before pulling away with the 32-point win in the second half.

Leading the way on offense for Leland in the game was freshman guard Ana Castillo (pictured), who scored a game-high 16 points, while senior guard Mika Yanai chipped in 10 points in the win.
Two days later, the Chargers

picked up their second win of the week and their fourth straight with a solid 64-57 win at Santa Teresa on Feb. 3. With the win, the Chargers found themselves just ½ game behind undefeated Leigh for first place in the Mt. Hamilton Division.

—Photo by Jeff Frazee

Almaden Valley Storm boys’ soccer squad
heads to CYSA State Cup

For the second year in a row, the Almaden Valley Storm (Boys U12) Class-1 soccer team made it to the CYSA State Cup tournament’s round of sweet 16.

The Almaden Valley Storm boys’ U12 Class-1 soccer team has made it to the CYSA State Cup tournament’s round of sweet 16.

The Storm, trained and coached by Dave Gold, made this accomplishment by going undefeated in the first round of this year’s State Cup tournament after playing three tough opponents. 

They started with 0-0 tie against a very tough team of Placerville Prestige Gold ‘94. 

“The boys played with a lot of heart in that game,” said Gold. 

Gold’s mantra to the boys has always been, “great offense wins games, but great defense wins championships.” 

Well, defense was certainly on display this weekend, considering the Storm didn’t give up any goals, with goalie Masatoshi Nishizaki contributing three shutouts and with the Storm’s Garrett Heinen, Kyle Reickerd and Conner Jauch pitching in with a solid job of defending in the back. 

“The Placer Prestige Gold ‘94 were very aggressive team and made some big hits on our boys ...  I liked how our boys responded to that level of physical play and didn’t back down. That showed a lot of character, and even though we tied the game, we had plenty of chances to win,” said Gold.

“Another key to winning any soccer game is to have a great mid-field,” added Coach Mo Bani-Taba. “Our boys outplayed some of the bigger and more physical teams this weekend. Our outside mid-fielders were especially hot and became the two winning games’ heroes. Besar Madzar scored the winning goal against the Foothill MVLA Raptors ‘93 helping us win 1-0 in that game, while Brandon Ruiz scored the winning goal against another tough team, the San Juan Lightning ‘94 Blue, in the final few minutes of the game. The other mid-fielders, Henry Cullen, David Rosas, Besnik Madzar and Aurash Bani-Taba, gave it everything and some even played hurt most of the weekend.”

“Everyone played great and gave maximum effort and that’s why we made it to the next round of sweet 16, while a lot of other teams that finished higher in our division didn’t,” said coach Mike Reickerd. “The boys should be very proud of their accomplishment, and I know all the coaches are very proud of how they raised their level of game to make it to the next round. We repeated the same exact point as last year with two wins and one tie (7 points) to make it to the next round.  However, we should be able to do better than last year’s State Cup with the talent that we have this year.”

The Almaden Valley Storm is scheduled to play the Walnut Creek Storm this Saturday, Feb. 11 at 10:15 a.m. at the Morgan Hill Sports Complex (Field #10). Please come and support your only Almaden Valley Team in this age bracket in the CYSA State Cup tournament this weekend.

Mustangs pin down title shot

Leland no match for Pioneer moves, falls
54-27 in West Valley wrestling

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Pioneer spotted Leland 18 forfeit points before beating the youthful Chargers 54-27 Feb. 5 in West Valley Division wrestling action.

The victory thrust the Mustangs into position to vie for the C-League title Saturday, Feb. 11 at host Mount Pleasant High School, where Pioneer (5-1) must amass more points than persistent Prospect High (5-1) to tote home the golden stand.

“I don’t want to count my chickens before they’re hatched,” said Pioneer Coach Mike Medlock of the looming showdown versus Prospect, whom Medlock’s wrestlers twisted into submission at a dual meet earlier this season.

However, Pioneer’s lone defeat came versus Del Mar, a team the Panthers handled, forcing a tiebreaker. According to Blossom Valley Athletic League bylaws, the schools’ point totals accumulated at league finals shall determine the outright champion.

“But I do feel pretty confident that we’ll place higher than Prospect at the league finals,” said Medlock. “We have a really great bunch of guys. The young guys have got the fundamentals and basics down and with two new schools coming in, we have the motivation. We hope to have the option of whether we want to go up into the B League or stay down in the West Valley Division.”

Next season, Sobrato and Live Oak High Schools will join the BVAL ranks.

“We feel confident, but anything can happen,” said Medlock, referring to the early upset Del Mar earned over his troops. “Del Mar was the first one out of the box and you could tell we were young. But we’ve progressed with the season.”

“I’m very impressed with how the team rose to the occasion against Leland,” he said.

Pioneer defeated Leland in six of eight varsity weight divisions contested without forfeit.

At 105 pounds, freshman Michael Nordby established precedent pinning Leland freshman Steven Flores with 3:10 remaining in the second period. A reportedly even brawl occupied first round action; however, Nordby took control early in the second period, slipping a half-nelson behind Flores, and eventually luring him onto his back for the pin.

Leland’s Brandon Hong put up perhaps the most impressive effort of the night facing Pioneer’s Twan Nguyen, a senior and the 12th-ranked 137-pound wrestler in CCS.

“Brandon was wrestling a little light,” said Leland Coach Dan Lloyd. “He definitely looked undersized next to their kid, but we were scoring some points and hanging in there.”

Nguyen finally exposed Hong in the second round, reversing his junior adversary and pinning him with 2:39 remaining in the period.

Fourth-year letterman Brandon Timpe, who wrestled at 132 pounds, and Brandon Sommer, a 173-pound sophomore, shone as Leland’s lone victors.

Leland’s Bradon Hong (shown in blue against Del Mar) put up a solid effort against Pioneer counterpart Twan Nguyen, a senior and the twelfth-ranked 137-pound wrestler in CCS before getting pinned in the second round. Photo by Kevin Jones at www.johub.com

Veteran Timpe overmatched Pioneer sophomore Michael Hamm 11-7 during what Medlock described as the evening’s finest encounter.

“He didn’t give up the 6-point pin,” said Medlock.

With time expiring in the third and final period, Timpe escaped Hamm’s clasps, gaining three points, rather than yielding them.

“It was a back-and-forth kind of match,” said Medlock. “Timpe’s experience showed, but we were really impressed that Hamm was able to wrestle as hard as he did. He’s coming along really well, and we will see two more years of him.”

Look for Pioneer seniors Brian Watts at 125 pounds, Nick Kelsi, a 145-pounder and 137-pound Nguyen throughout CCS meets. The triad is currently ranked, eleventh, twelfth and twelfth respectively, according to Medlock.

While Pioneer expects to gain varsity accolades this season, Leland is already looking to next year. The Chargers’ junior varsity squad soundly defeated Pioneer 42-6 Tuesday, inciting serious praise from veteran coach Lloyd.

“This was a tough year, but not nearly as tough as last year,” said Lloyd. “Things will continue to get better next year. We’ll be contenders on the varsity level next year.”

Neighborhood rivals battle to 2-2 tie

Pioneer waits another day to clinch league title following tie;
Leland remains in second place despite two Sara Cherehsa goals

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

A 2-2 tie between Leland and Pioneer girls’ soccer teams on Jan.31 did anything but clear up the Mt. Hamilton Division rankings as the season winds to a close.

Pioneer’s Lauren West celebrates her first-half goal with a friendly hug for a teammate during a 2-2 tie on Jan. 31. West, a senior, recently signed a letter of intent to play for Fresno State University.

For Leland (6-1-4), who entered the game with only one loss on the season, a win over the undefeated Mustangs would’ve meant a possible two-way tie for first place with only one game left in the regular season.

“It’s disappointing. We needed a win,” said Leland Head Coach Dave Pitzen. “I liked how hard our girls played in the second half and Pioneer’s a great team, but we were going for the league championship. So, it’s disappointing with a tie.”

With only one game left on the schedule, a Feb. 7 match-up at Leigh, Pitzen said he’s looking for his team to put itself in the best position possible in seeding for the upcoming CCS playoffs.

“I think we’re pretty safe with CCS,” Pitzen said of his team’s playoff hopes “ … The higher we finish, the better placement we’ll get in the CCS (playoffs).”

For Pioneer (7-0-3), beating Leland would’ve clinched the division. Like Pitzen, Mustang head coach Randy Worthington said the tie was a bit unsettling for him.

“It’s a great effort game, but we just couldn’t finish,” Worthington said. “Leland’s an excellent team. We had a ton of opportunities, but we just could not finish putting it in the net. That’s what happens in soccer sometimes. The girls are a little upset about that. They know they played a real effort game, and they felt they should’ve put more balls in the net.”

Both squads played a stellar first half, which saw the Chargers take an early 1-0 lead in the 13th minute of the game on a Sara Cherehsa goal. Cherehsa, who went on to score a second goal to tie the game up in the second half with a low dribbler past diving Mustang goalkeeper Kalia DeMarquez in the game’s 71st minute, drew rave reviews not only from her own coach, but from the opposition as well.

“(Cherehsa) is a remarkable player,” Worthington said. “We had to man-mark her today just to shut her down. Syra (McCarthy) did an excellent job on her. We made a couple of errors and they capitalized on it, like good teams do.”

“She’s an incredibly skillful and creative player,” Pitzen added of Cherehsa. “She’s very fun to coach and very fun to watch. She uses her size to her advantage. She’s quicker than anybody out on the field and she has better ball skills …You can’t mark her with one player. You have to put multiple players on her.”

The Mustangs struck back quickly, getting a goal from junior Stephanie Righetti less than four minutes later to even things up at 1-1. Pioneer then took a temporary 2-1 lead in the game’s 20th minute, getting an unassisted goal from senior Lauren West.

For Leland, the first half also saw junior midfielder Jessica Kolte go down with a knee injury toward the end of the period.

“The trainer didn’t feel like it was anything too bad, and that’s what we’re hoping for, that it’s not a significant injury and that she’ll be able to play again,” Pitzen said.

Despite the bad news on the injury front, Pitzen said he was pleased with his team’s second half effort, noting his team’s physical play and overall aggressiveness to the ball.

“What I told the kids in the second half is that we have to be first to the ball and that we have to want it more than they do,” Pitzen said. “I think that my kids responded and they came out and played that way … Pioneer’s a great team. They are very, very tough. I like how we play them and it’s a lot of fun to compete against them. It was an exciting game.”

Local kids lace ‘em up at Superstars Basketball

Eight-week instructional camp taught by Leland assistant hoops
Coach Dan Walker stresses fundamentals, fondness of basketball

For the past 12 years, Dan Walker has turned eager elementary school kids into basketball players with his annual instructional league camp, Superstars Basketball.

Leland boys’ basketball Assistant Coach Dan Walker (white hat) teaches an elementary school-age camper the finer points of shooting during basketball drills at Superstars Basketball.

This year proves to be no different as Walker, an assistant coach for the Leland boys’ varsity basketball team, has once again taken 250 Almaden and Santa Teresa area boys and girls from first through sixth grade under his tutelage.

The instructional camp, an eight-week session held Saturdays at the Santa Teresa High School gym, affords the young players a chance to learn some basic basketball skills, such as dribbling and shooting, as they prepare for junior high and high school playing careers in the sport.

“It’s basically a big community event with people from Almaden and Santa Teresa,” said Walker, who is currently in the fifth week of running this year’s camp. “The feedback is always very good because we fill up every year. It’s definitely a different age group than I usually get to work with.”

Walker also brings a plethora of basketball knowledge to the table.

Walker spent four years (1968-72) as a guard for the San Jose State University mens’ basketball team before spending one year as a graduate assistant coach for the Spartans.

From there, Walker spent 11 years (1974-84) as the boys’ varsity basketball coach at James Lick High School.

When his twin sons, Brennan and Kyle, became interested in the sport, Walker took on the responsibility of being the volunteer head coach for Bret Harte’s boys’ basketball program for three years, coaching his sons from sixth through eighth grade. More recently, Walker spent two years coaching his sons at the frosh/soph level at Leland High School, before his current position as Leland varsity assistant coach for the past two years.

“I like being busy,” said Walker of his coaching stints. “Having my kids around makes it special too. And of course, I like basketball.”

For the second straight year, his twins sons have also helped out coaching the youngsters at Superstars Basketball, along with a group of Santa Teresa High School boys’ and girls’ basketball players, including E.J. Youngblood, Austin McQuay, Desiree Collins, Tanisha Bisbee, Sheila Menjivar and Rosa Tirado.

While the weekly Saturday sessions allow campers to learn the finer points of the game, Walker said it also allows his high school player/coaches to learn some of the skills needed in coaching and managing different age groups.

“It gives them a keen appreciation for coaching, as well as working and helping others,” said Walker, who added that many of the high school/player coaches use the experience as a reference for college applications.

Walker, who said he started the camp 12 years ago as a way to spend more time with his sons, instructs the kids at the start of the camp before campers break off into teams to play scrimmage games against each other. At the end of the camp, each camper gets an individual player photo, a team photo as well as a trophy during an awards ceremony.

Walker said many of the campers in the past have moved on to successful high school playing careers, including former Pioneer standout forward Mike Kaufmann, a 2005 Pioneer graduate.

Each camper also gets free passes to attend Santa Teresa and Leland basketball games, to “promote how the game’s supposed to be played,” said Walker.

For Walker, the reason for still holding the camp after more than a decade bears no great secret. “It’s just a matter of simply doing something that I like doing,” he said.

Teachers crush competition in the San Jose Christian Basketball showdown

Teachers and administrators had a definite height advantage over the student athletes when the San Jose Christian School faculty took on the Boys and Girls A team basketball players for a Basketball Showdown on Jan. 24 at Campbell Community Center. With seventh grade teacher Kent Ezell barking out the play-by-plays, the final score was 38-18 with the oldsters taking the crown much to the chagrin of their energetic (and much shorter) charges. Principal Carol Vander Baan and eighth grade teacher Becky Breiland, both residents of Almaden Valley, laughed as the kids grudgingly gave them high fives after the massacre.

Photo by Julie Davis Berry

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Do you have a sports story to share? Contact the sports department at 494-7000 x 217 or by e-mail at diego@timesmediainc.com or fax to Almaden Times Sports at 494-7078.