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Published on 02/15/1999 All articles from this issue

St. Francis no longer undefeated in league

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By Pete Borello

Bob Keys/Special to the Town Crier

Prep Girls Hoop Scoop

Playoff update

The St. Francis High girls basketball team relinquished sole possession of first place in the SCVAL De Anza Division Feb. 9 by falling 48-46 to visiting Monta Vista.

The loss put the Lancers in a first-place tie with Homestead, which routed host Los Gatos 55-30 that same day.

St. Francis and Homestead then each won last Thursday to remain tied atop the division with identical 9-1 records.

The Lancers (20-4 overall) cruised to a 62-32 win at Santa Clara, though they struggled early on.

"We got off to a very slow start and were behind after the first quarter," St. Francis coach Mike DeCarlo said. "But we turned up the pressure in the second half and pulled away."

Whitney Barker led the Lancers with 16 points, which included a pair of three-pointers.

Meanwhile, Homestead (22-3 overall) took care of visiting Fremont 54-34. Guard Michelle Wald paced the Mustangs with 16 points.

Homestead played at St. Francis last night in a game that could likely decide the division championship.

Both teams close out division play with 7:30 p.m. games this Friday. St. Francis travels to Los Gatos, while Homestead hosts Palo Alto.

Pinewood took another step toward defending its Private Schools Athletic League title Feb. 9 by destroying Notre Dame-San Jose 67-28 in Los Altos Hills.

The win pushed the Panthers' record to a perfect 9-0 in league, 22-1 overall.

Pinewood needed a win at second-place Redwood Christian (8-1, 20-1) last Friday night to clinch the PSAL championship.

The game was played after the Town Crier went to press, but the Panthers were expected to come out on top. Ranked No. 1 in the state among Division V schools, Pinewood breezed to a 75-54 victory over Redwood when the teams squared off on Jan. 7.

In last week's whipping of Notre Dame, the Panthers received 20 points from point guard Lauren Smith-Hams and 19 from forward Sebnum Kimyacioglu.

Kimyacioglu, a sophomore, also grabbed 10 rebounds and made three steals.

"Sebnum did a nice job," coach Doc Scheppler said. "She had a solid overall game."

Pinewood only led 9-8 after the first quarter, as the team missed 10 of its 13 field goal attempts. But the Panthers got their offense going in the second quarter with a 21-4 run that included four three-pointers.

For the game, Pinewood hit 12 of its 31 shots from three-point land.

Although Gunn routed host Los Altos 63-32 Feb. 9, Eagles coach John Mackey wasn't entirely disappointed with his team's effort.

"We lost by 31, but we played a lot harder than that," the first-year coach said. "We played fairly well considering we were missing two of our post players."

Center Marisa Whitlock, Los Altos' top scorer and rebounder, missed the game because of an injury to her left knee. Forward Shauna Slack was sidelined with the flu.

The Eagles struggled offensively throughout the contest, failing to score more than nine points in any quarter.

"We executed well and got good looks (at the basket)," Mackey said, "but the shots didn't fall for us."

Kelsey Yamaoka led Los Altos with 10 points, while fellow sophomore Alex Brown scored eight.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 2-9 in the SCVAL El Camino Division and 3-18 overall.

Los Altos hosted Wilcox last Friday, a game played after the Town Crier went to press.

The Eagles play at Lynbrook today (7 p.m.) and close out the year at Saratoga tomorrow (7:30 p.m.).

For more on Gunn, see the story on coach Josh Waldorph at left.

The season probably can't end soon enough for Mountain View, which last week dropped to 1-11 in the SCVAL El Camino Division.

The Spartans suffered a 59-44 setback at Wilcox Feb. 9 and then fell to visiting Lynbrook 44-34 last Thursday.

Nicole Robledo topped Mountain View with 12 points against Wilcox and Ashlie Cresci scored 13 on Lynbrook.

The Spartans (5-14 overall) play at Saratoga today. (7 p.m.) and end their season Friday (7:30 p.m.) at Milpitas.

The Central Coast Section basketball playoffs will start next Tuesday for both the boys and girls.

To qualify, teams must have at least a .500 record in league or overall. Seedings will be determined this weekend. Look for further details in next week's Town Crier.