Special to the Town Crier
Prep Boys Hoop Scoop
For most of the local high school boys basketball teams, this month has been a time of experimentation. After all, the preseason is the perfect time to find the right chemistry among returning players and new personnel.
All of the area teams seem to be making significant strides in December with hopes of successful league seasons and berths in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Surging St. Francis High (6-1) is the top-ranked program in the CCS and figures to get even better once injured post players Patrick Denehy and David Chiyotti return from injuries.
The other local teams have even bigger things to overcome.
Los Altos High lost its most dominating player from a year ago - center Geoff Patterson. Mountain View lost its entire starting lineup. Gunn has a new coach and plenty of new faces. And Homestead is extremely young and inexperienced.
However, all four programs fared fairly well last week in either non-league or tournament competition and have picked up a bit of momentum heading toward league play, which begins next week.
Los Altos evened its record at 4-4 after edging host King's Academy 51-48 in a non-league contest last week.
The Eagles trailed 29-25 at the half and 34-32 at the end of three quarters, only to finish the game on a 19-14 run in the fourth quarter to seal the game and reach the .500 plateau.
The Eagles received balanced scoring and were paced by Sai Pela and Joe Luckey, who tossed in 18 and 12 points, respectively.
If there's a coach who can work miracles with inexperience, its Mountain View's Jim Forthoffer.
With no returning starters, Mountain View (1-9) has played better than expected despite its tough start and recently placed 12th in the Fremont-Sunnyvale Holiday Tournament.
The Spartans lost to athletic Menlo-Atherton 45-35 in the 11th place game last week, but gave the Bears a run for their money after trailing 39-21 at the end of three quarters.
Pat Schumacher produced over half of Mountain View's total points with 18.
Gunn (6-7), under first-year coach Jeff Klenow, finished ninth in the Fremont tourney with a record of 2-2.
The Titans whipped Jefferson 59-51 in the ninth-place game as Steve Baker and Anthony Rea led Gunn with 24 and 17 points, respectively.
Last Thursday, Gunn led talented Woodside 24-18 at halftime only to go cold from the field in the second half and drop a 57-44 non-league decision.
Woodside (8-3), one of the top Division II programs in the CCS, shot miserably in the first half, then displayed its athleticism at the start of the third quarter by getting its transition game in gear to outscore the frigid Titans by a 22-6 margin in the quarter.
Rea led Gunn with 10 points.
Homestead is off to a 1-9 start, but must build from almost nothing from a season ago.
The Mustangs lost to visiting Lincoln 54-45 last Thursday, despite holding a two-point lead into the fourth quarter. Homestead was out-gunned, 13-2 in the final frame.
Brad Sasaky paced the Mustangs with 16 points and three three-pointers.