SPORTS

Mustangs headed for CCS playoffs after 2-0 season-ending win over Leland

Pioneer seniors honored before game; freshmen do the scoring in win

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

RIVALRY. Pioneer’s Angelique Roman battles Leland senior Valerie Huffman for the ball during a 2-0 win for the Mustangs on Feb. 9. After the game, the Mustangs celebrated their first-place finish in the Mt. Hamilton Division and are seeded first in the CCS Division II playoffs. Photo courtesy www.mikejanes.com

In their final home game of the regular season, the Pioneer girls’ basketball team had a couple of reasons to celebrate.

Not only did the team hold a pre-game ceremony honoring its seniors on Feb. 9, the Mustangs also defeated Leland 2-0 before celebrating a first-place finish in the Mt. Hamilton Division with a 9-0-3 record.

“I honestly am so excited right now,” said Pioneer co-captain Amy Cusick of advancing to the Central Coast Section playoffs. “I don’t think any of us expected to go this far … we had one goal in mind, and we shared it, which was to win this league.”

Prior to the contest, Pioneer honored seniors Cusick, Angelique Roman, Kendra Worthington, Tania Trejo, Alicia Ramirez and Perla Torres. The seniors posed with their parents for pictures and were given flowers for their efforts on the soccer field.

As for the game itself, the Mustangs received two goals, one in each half, from the two freshmen on the squad, Sammie Vega and Bianca Springer. With both team in a scoreless battle for the first 36 minutes of play, Vega managed to put a ball into the net, knocking in a shot past Leland goalie Denelle Spencer into the lower left corner for a 1-0 Mustang lead at 3:20.

The Mustangs kept their 1-0 lead throughout the remainder of the first half and for much of the second half, spoiling five Leland scoring opportunities in a 20-minute span. Charger captain Valerie Huffman nearly put Leland on the board, taking a shot at 20:30 that sailed just over the cross bars. With seven minutes left, Leland had another scoring chance go for naught when junior Katelyn Tyson kicked a high, arching shot that struck the crossbar of Pioneer’s goal and deflected back into play.

“Our defense stepped up really tough,” Trejo said. “They played as strong as they usually do and they made sure that (Leland) scored no goals on us. They really worked hard. Without them we wouldn’t be here.”

Just before the end of the contest, the Mustangs got some insurance on offense when Springer kicked a 20-yard line-drive goal into the right corner of the net with 3:30 left in the game, giving the Mustangs a 2-0 edge.

“She reads the ball really well,” Cusick said of Springer. “She kind of anticipates where it’s going to come out … she knew that she had to cut into the middle and take that shot. We always emphasize shooting it when you’re in close range, like 20 yards out. It was a good reading of the game for her to be able to step it up and take that shot from back there.”

For Leland, the game didn’t have any bearing on the team’s playoff hopes, as the Chargers were seeded eighth in CCS Division I playoffs. However, the Chargers finished in fourth place in Mt. Hamilton Division, putting together a 4-3-5 record.

“We played well,” Leland Head Coach John Vasquez said of the game. “We moved the ball well. We just couldn’t get it in the net, we couldn’t finish.”

The game also saw its share of injuries for Leland, as junior forward Brittany Ivanco had to be helped off the field in the first half with a severe ankle injury.

Just before Ivanco’s injury, Spencer was blindsided with a ball to her face as she attempted to defend her goal.

The sophomore goalie spent several minutes on the field as trainers and Vasquez attended to her injury. Unlike Ivanco, Spencer remained in the game.

Although the Chargers finished fourth this season, Vasquez felt the season was a success nonetheless.

“We performed pretty well (this season),” Vasquez said of his team. “We play a lot of possession … we just can’t seem to find the net this year.”

For the Mustangs, the season isn’t over either. The Mt. Hamilton Division champions will head to the CCS playoffs and have a bye in the first round. The Mustangs will begin their CCS Championship quest with a game in the quarterfinal round of CCS play on Feb. 19.

High School Sports Schedule Feb. 18 - Feb. 24

Leland High School
Friday – Frosh/soph boys’ basketball at Gunderson, 5:45 p.m.
Friday – Varsity boys’ basketball at Gunderson, 7:30 p.m.
Friday – JV girls’ basketball at Westmont, 5:15 p.m.
Friday – Varsity girls’ basketball at Westmont, 7 p.m.

Saturday – Varsity boys’ soccer CCS quarterfinals, time and place TBA
Saturday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS quarterfinals, time and place TBA

Tuesday – Varsity boys’ basketball first round CCS, time and place TBA
Tuesday – Varsity boys’ soccer CCS semifinals at Piedmont Hills, time TBA
Tuesday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS semifinals at Milpitas, time TBA

Wednesday – Varsity boys’ soccer CCS semifinals at Piedmont Hills, time TBA
Wednesday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS semifinals at Milpitas, time TBA
Wednesday – Varsity boys’ basketball first round CCS, time and place TBA

Thursday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS semifinals at Milpitas, time TBA
Thursday – Varsity boys’ basketball first round CCS, time and place TBA

Pioneer High School
Friday – JV girls’ basketball vs. Piedmont Hills, 5:15 p.m.
Friday – Varsity girls’ basketball vs. Piedmont Hills, 7 p.m.
Friday – Frosh/soph boys’ basketball at Piedmont Hills, 5:45 p.m.
Friday – Varsity boys’ basketball at Piedmont Hills, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS quarterfinals, time and place TBA

Tuesday – Varsity boys’ basketball first round CCS, time and place TBA
Tuesday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS semifinals at Milpitas, time TBA

Wednesday – Varsity boys’ basketball first round CCS, time and place TBA
Wednesday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS semifinals at Milpitas, time TBA

Thursday – Varsity boys’ basketball first round CCS, time and place TBA
Thursday – Varsity girls’ soccer CCS semifinals at Milpitas, time TBA

First loss puts Leland in tie for first with Leigh

Longhorns take 46-41 overtime win from Chargers

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Leland girls’ basketball team has company at the top of the Mt. Hamilton Division after Leigh gave the Chargers their first loss of the year in a 46-41 overtime contest on Feb. 11.

Coming into the game, the Chargers held a perfect 9-0 record, one game ahead of the Longhorns, who sat in second place at 8-1.

“It was really intense,” said Leigh Head Coach Paulette Naleasone. “The girls are all excited for it. They wanted the win. They came out kind of shaky, not following the game plan … but they pulled it together. I have a team of 13 and they all worked really hard.”

After battling for a tie at the end of four quarters, both the Chargers and Longhorns came out cold on offense, watching shot after shot bounce off the rim for just over two minutes. The Longhorns got on the board when Leland forward Amber Barbieri fouled Leigh forward Stephanie Ruiz with 1:53 left. Ruiz sank two shots from the line for a 43-41 Longhorn lead that remained into the closing seconds of the contest.

With 23 seconds left, Longhorn guard Jaime Van De Sande found her way to the free-throw stripe and sank two shots for a 4-point lead. In an attempt to keep time on the clock, the Chargers went to fouling Longhorn players. With 3.6 left on the clock, the Chargers sent Leigh guard Natalie Nurnberg to the line, promptly sinking one of two shots to ice the game for the Longhorns.

“Jaime really stepped defensively and offensively,” Ruiz said of Van De Sande. “I couldn’t have asked for more than this for Jaime, especially since she’s a senior. She went all out and I was so happy she played so well.”

The Chargers appeared to have firm control of the game through the first three quarters, holding a 35-26 lead. The Longhorns began to make a push on offense at the start of the fourth quarter, putting together an 11-2 run to tie the game 37-37. During the run, the Longhorns got 5 points from Ruiz, who sank three of four free throws and nailed a jumper in three minutes of play. Leigh also got 4 points from Van De Sande on back-to-back jumpers that ended the run.

“She had an excellent game,” Naleasone said of Ruiz. “She’s been struggling the past couple of games, but in this game, she did have those free throws and she pulled out key rebounds that we needed. She played her heart out tonight.”

Later in the fourth quarter, with the Chargers holding a 39-38 lead on two Jackie George free throws, a technical foul was called on Nurnberg with 1:30 left to play. Leland guard Mika Yanai promptly hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 2-point lead before George went to the free-throw line 15 seconds later, also hitting 1 of 2 shots for a 41-38 lead.

But with both teams into the bonus for fouls, Nurnberg found her way to the free-throw stripe with 1:08 left. The junior guard sank both shots to bring the Longhorns back at 41-40. Finally, with 22 seconds left on the clock, junior post player Ericka Metz was fouled by George in the low post and sank one of two shots from the line, tying the game at 41-41, sending the game into overtime.

“I don’t think the better team won this game obviously,” said Leland Head Coach Wade Nakamura. “We were winning the whole game and we outplayed them the whole game. It’s a game of possessions. We missed some free throws at the end, fourth quarter and overtime. I think we missed 9 points in free throws and that came back to haunt us.”

Things were a lot rosier for the Chargers earlier in the week after winning a 51-24 contest at home over the Del Mar Dons on Feb. 9. The Chargers dominated the Dons throughout the game, establishing a 24-9 lead in the second quarter before the Dons put together a small run to end the half with a 27-17 Charger lead.

The Chargers put the game out of reach early, holding the Dons to 4 points in the third quarter while putting up 15 points on offense, including 13 points in a row. During the quarter, George chipped in 3 points while Yanai and Kristen Yoshioka each contributed five points.

The Chargers ended the game by outscoring the Dons 9-3 in the fourth quarter, including a 7-0 scoring stretch to start the last period of play.

Sports Briefs

Almaden Valley Girls Softball League Hit-a-Thon April 10
The Almaden Valley Girls Softball League will hold its second annual Hit-a-Thon on April 10 at Bret Harte Middle School. Individual and team prizes for fund raising will be awarded by the AVGSL. The AVGSL also seeks sponsors that would like to make a cash donation in exchange having their name and company logo on Hit-a-Thon T-shirts.

The AVGSL respectfully requests that all prizes and sponsorship offers are made by March 11. Prizes can be picked up by the AVGSL, but those fitting in a standard business size envelope can be sent to P.O. Box 20642, San Jose, CA 95160.

For more information visit www.avgsl.org or call 408-808-1405.

USYVL youth volleyball signups for spring 2005
The United States Youth Volleyball League is accepting registrations for the spring 2005 season, slated to begin in early April, for programs in Los Gatos, San Jose and Morgan Hill. Boys and girls ages 8 to 14 are welcome to sign up and learn the basic techniques of volleyball. The program meets two days a week with one day for practices and one day for games.

For more information on registering, visit www.usyvl.org or call 1-888-988-7985.

Almaden Ladybugs Class 1, U17 tryouts
Almaden Ladybugs Class 1, U17 Girls, tryouts for State Cup and Spring/Fall season, every Tuesday and Thursday.  Date of Birth must be after 7/31/88. Contact Roger Haupt (408) 779-7697 or Linda Urzi (408) 723-0928.

Mustangs clinch playoff spot with 62-61 overtime win at Westmont

Pioneer’s Montelongo nails three to send game into OT, Nelson tip-in seals win

By Ken Lotich
Special to the Times

The Pioneer boys’ basketball team qualified for the Central Coast Section basketball playoffs with a 62-61 overtime victory against Westmont High School on Feb. 11.

It couldn’t have been a more appropriate event to have Senior Night at Westmont. Senior players from both teams stepped up big, sinking clutch shots in the close game.

The Mustangs (12-12, 6-4) were down 55-52 with 9.3 seconds left in regulation when senior guard Joe Montelongo hit a 3-pointer with a hand in his face to take the game into overtime. Mustangs head coach Joe Berticevich said the original play called for senior guard Mark Bundlie to get the ball, with Montelongo as the second option.

“It was great to see the guy who only took three or four shots in the game come up and hit the tying shot at the buzzer,” Berticevich said.

In overtime, both teams would play down to the wire, until the Mustangs took charge with 24 seconds left.

With Westmont (15-11, 6-5) up 61-58, Bundlie stole the ball and dished it off to senior forward Mike Kaufmann, who was fouled while successfully hitting a layup. Down by one point, Kaufmann was unable to complete the 3-point play, but —as luck would have it for the Mustangs—senior guard Robbie Nelson grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back to bring Pioneer ahead 62-61.

“I knew if (Kaufmann) missed the free throw, we had to get that rebound,” Nelson said. “When it fell, I just went after it.”

With 2.3 seconds left, Westmont coaches told junior guard Ryan Kanzaki to call timeout before he inbounded the ball. The only problem was the Warriors didn’t have any timeouts left. After some deliberation, the referees did not assess a technical foul against the Warriors, and the game ended when Nelson broke up the inbound pass.

Despite the controversial call, Berticevich said the referees did a quality job and called the game evenly.

“Obviously we want more calls to come our way, but it doesn’t always work like that,” Berticevich said.

For Pioneer, Kaufmann led the team with 18 points, and senior forward Brent Osborn contributed with 12 points.

Osborn erupted in the first quarter, scoring 10 of his 12 points, including two 3-pointers from the top of the arch.

“Osborn hit some big shots and did a great job defensively,” Berticevich said. “He stepped up and did a great job containing (senior Westmont center Matt) Hosack.”

The Mustangs never lost their lead in the first half, and when the second quarter ended, they were up 32-26. The two teams played an aggressive first half, with 13 fouls combined.

In the third quarter, Westmont would outscore Pioneer 16-6, and would take a 42-38 lead going into the final quarter.

“We had some problems in the third quarter,” Berticevich said. “We kind of lost some character. … By the end of the fourth quarter we regrouped, and hit the shots we needed to.”

Warriors head coach Bill Gerth said his team’s third quarter outburst didn’t surprise him.

“These guys seem to play best with their backs against the wall,” Gerth said. “They’ve played like that all year. When they get down, they play harder.”

Warriors’ senior guard Casey Modiri agreed with what his coach had to say.

“During the first half, we came out totally flat,” Modiri said. “In the second half we came out and we started hitting our shots.”

Modiri led his squad with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Hosack said the Warriors typically struggle in the first half.

“We never really come out good in the first quarter,” said Hosack, who had 11 points on the night. “In the second half we put some pressure on the ball.”

Gerth said Pioneer had the ball bounce their way a few more times.

“I told my team there’s a thousand plays in a game of basketball,” Gerth said. “Somewhere along the way, they made one more play than us.”

Gerth said the game was almost identical to what happened the last time the two teams met, which saw the Warriors get a 58-56 overtime road victory.

“It came down to whoever got lucky. We got lucky when we played them over at their place, and they got lucky over here,” Gerth said.

Montelongo, who sent the game into overtime, said the Mustangs were hungry for a victory against their rival.

“We played with tons of heart tonight,” Montelongo said. “It would have been easy to give up when we were down, but we already lost to Westmont once this year, so we were to determined to beat them. We don’t like losing to teams twice.”

High School Scoreboard

Feb. 8
Leland boys' basketball 53-41 loss at Evergreen Valley

Feb. 11
Leland boys' basketball 43-39 win at Prospect

Pioneer girls' basketball 60-46 loss vs. Westmont

Feb.12
Leland wrestling 17th place at BVAL Wrestling Championships

Pioneer wrestling 12th place at BVAL Wrestling Championships

Dramatic victory moves Leland to second round

Chargers find groove following tumultuous MHAL campaign

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Leland boys soccer (14-5-6) will likely face Watsonville (17-3-1), the top-ranked team in the country, on Saturday, Feb. 19, in the second round of CCS Division I playoffs, at a site to be announced.

The match-up is pending Watsonville results in a game played late Wednesday.

Leland beat Gilroy High School (14-3-3) 1-0 on Feb. 15, upholding its end of the bargain and assuring the opportunity to foil Wildcat illusions of a CCS championship and possible national title.

To the delight of gritty Charger faithful, who gathered under falling skies, Leland unveiled perhaps its most inspired brand of soccer to date versus the Mustangs.

“They were kicking our butts the first 15 minutes,” conceded Leland Coach Dave Gold. “We had to adjust. They were trying to come right up the middle. We just tried to spread them apart.”

Gilroy midfielders wreaked havoc in the first half. They controlled the center of the field on offense, creating opportunities to either side of goal. Several unsuccessful shots on Leland goalkeeper Damon Ronnsville relegated Leland to the ropes early.

Gold called on senior Grant Robson to defend the midfield in response, freeing No. 23 Roheet Sen to roam wide right, a mismatch for Gilroy defenders.

“Grant Robson was our MVP today,” said Gold. “He took on their whole team, dribbling past them and slipping shots into the box.”

The game’s sole goal came with just two minutes remaining in regulation. Following a Watsonville penalty committed defending Sen, junior Peter Rodriguez was called on to take a free kick.

“Usually it’s me or Roheet, who shoots in these situations,” said Rodriguez. “Coach lets either of us take the kick, but Roheet gave it to me because he thought I was ready.”

“Gold said, ‘this is it,” continued Rodriguez. “Hit it or the game’s over.”

Rodriguez blasted the ball, grazing Sen’s thigh on the way past Gilroy defenders. The stands erupted.

“We raised our level of play,” said Sen. “We probably played our best half of the season and came through with the victory.”

“I can’t even explain how good that felt,” said Rodriguez. “I was overwhelmed, but still had to get focused and go out and finish the game.”

Goalkeeper Ronnsville made three—of his total nine—saves in the final two minutes to secure the victory.

The monster stirs
The victory was no sure shot following a loss to rival Pioneer High School (8-10-2, 5-7-2) Feb. 8.
Last week the ailing Chargers fell to Pioneer 2-3 in the MHAL season finale.

“It’s been a strange season,” said Gold, whose Chargers’ game flickered in the same week.

Injuries to Leland stars Ryan Villalpando—who recently signed a letter of intent to pay soccer at UC Berkeley next fall—and Steven Beitashour are no subtle clues to the Chargers’ bipolar tendencies. Villalpando has suffered with a back injury, while Beitashour missed seven games leading up to playoffs on account of a high ankle sprain.

“It’s been bad luck at times,” said Gold. “With the players getting hurt and such, sometimes the ball just hasn’t gone our way. But we can compete with anybody. We played with a lot of heart today.”

“I say Leland takes Watsonville 1-0,” predicted Pioneer coach Pedro Fuentez. “Gold is a good coach. He runs a very militant sort of program, with the stretching and team unity, but to me it looks professional. Plus, they have a lot of experience in the playoffs.”

Pioneer
Fuentez’ Mustangs narrowly missed the playoffs, overlooked for an at-large bid despite beating Leland.

According to Gold, the victory saved Pioneer a hapless fall to the Blossom Valley’s B-League, Santa Teresa Division.

“They don’t want to put Pioneer in the B-league,” said the Mustangs’ Coach Pedro Fuentez. “We are the only team that has started and stayed in the A-league since they developed it. But we still didn’t qualify for CCS, and there’s really nothing more to say.”

The Mustangs graduate five seniors this June, including First Team All-League performer Josh Lichtenstein.
They return leading scorer Flavio Huato, freshman sensation Marcus Gomez, talented left-footer Brian Valez and Serafin Arregguin, who sparked the Mustang victory versus the Chargers.

Sophomore Arreguin knocked in a goal within five minutes of entering the game last Tuesday.

“He’s my motivator,” said Fuentez of Arreguin. “He’s the guy that wanted to be on varsity as an underclassman no matter how tough it got.”

When Fuentez was preparing cuts last fall, Arreguin pleaded for a slot on varsity, whether he’d play or not.

“That’s what I’m looking for,” said Fuentez.

Valley Christian wins mayor’s 8th grade boys basketball tournament

Bret Harte student named to all-tournament team

Excitement was in the air as the San Jose Mayor’s 12th annual eighth grade boys basketball tournament came to a close on Feb. 6, with the Valley Christian Warriors as tournament champions.

This year’s tournament included more 200 student-athletes representing 16 Bay area public and private middle schools, including the Aptos Sea Dragons, August Boeger Bobcats, Bret Harte Broncos, Brownell Bruins, Burlingame Trojans, Campbell Bulldogs, Chaboya Colts, Davis Raiders, Harker Eagles, Holy Family Bears, Hoover Hawks, Ley Va Bulldogs, Queen of Apostles Eagles, Steinbeck Stallions, and St. Patrick Shamrocks.

More than 30 championship and consolation round games were hosted by the city of San Jose Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Department at the Camden Community Center Feb. 1-6, with the Bret Harte Broncos placing sixth.

The Broncos, coached by Ryan Edwards, Nick Langone, and Erin Edwards, were represented at the tournament by Ettore Bassignani, Andreas Bravo, Matthias Froehlich, Alex Greer, Gregg Hipwell, Taylor Jung, Adam Mackey, Jason Reynolds, Justin Souza, and Matt Vera.

For Valley Christian, Jordan Taylor was named to the all-tournament team, while Tim Harris received tournament MVP honors.

“I think more than anything, it was definitely just an honor to have the (Warriors) team represent our school through the sportsmanship they displayed throughout every game,” said Valley Christian Jr. High Athletic Director Adam Gill.

Following in the 2004 footsteps of Bret Harte’s Nate Jones, Bronco Matthias Froehlich was named to this year’s all-tournament team, joining 10 other student-athletes representing eight of the participating middle schools.

Matthias has been playing National Junior Basketball (NJB) since the third grade, has been a Bret Harte Bronco’s basketball team starter since sixth grade, and was a member of the NJB national championship Evergreen Boy’s All-Net team in seventh grade.

IVY LEAGUE MAN
When the Pioneer Mustangs begin football training camp in August, Colin McCarthy will not be there. Instead, the senior linebacker will take the field as a part of the Princeton football squad in New Jersey.

The soon-to-be Pioneer graduate will line up as an inside linebacker for the Princeton University Tigers on the field, while studying electrical engineering in the classroom.

“Needless to say, we’re very proud of Colin,” said Pioneer Head Coach Mark Krail. “He had a great career here and heading to the Ivy League is exciting for anybody. We certainly wish him well and we’ll be keeping tabs on him. We’re going to miss him.”

In his final season as a Pioneer Mustang, McCarthy was a key member of the defensive unit, recording a total of 126 tackles, including 90 solo tackles, with one sack and one interception. McCarthy’s finest game of the season, arguably, was during a 26-7 win over Silver Creek on Oct. 2, when the 6-foot, 200-pound linebacker recorded 18 tackles, including seven solo tackles, with an interception.

McCarthy helped lead the Mustangs to a 6-4-1 overall record with a 4-2-1 record in the Mt. Hamilton Division, good for second place. That record earned the Mustangs a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs, where they dropped a close 33-26 loss to Soquel on Nov. 20 in the opening round of the Small Division Playoffs. Photos by Ron Reed

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