Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Westmont shooters hit the three, win two
By Kevin Sparrer
A new era of basketball is emerging with the Westmont boys team setting the standard.
The three-point shot is the new style of basketball in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. The Warriors have forgone traditional methods and are literally focusing on the long shots, but it seems to be working.
"We spend 30 to 45 minutes each practice just shooting threes," said Westmont head coach Bill Gerth. "When they go in, we win."
That fact was proven when Westmont handily defeated Leland 52-26 on Feb. 8 with the Warriors hitting 11 threes.
The win cannot be attributed to only one player for Westmont since five different Warriors scored from outside the three-point arc. Patrick Barton led all Westmont scorers with 14 points, 12 of them coming from three-point land. James Weimer added 11 points, with nine from beyond the arc, and Max Schneider scored 10. Ryan Takaki added six points, all from beyond the arc; Brian Scott had six with a three and the only free throw of the game for Westmont; and Greg Tally had five with one three.
The Warriors established their dominance early in the game, holding the Chargers to only four points in the first quarter and scoring 14 of their own.
Westmont continued to pour it on in the second quarter, allowing only four more points from Leland's offense and scoring 12 more to extend the lead to 26-8.
The Chargers did mount a bit of a comeback in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 12-9 for the first time in the entire game, but it was all Westmont in the fourth. Westmont's offense got hot, hitting six of its threes in the final period to put up 17 points while holding Leland to only six.
Westmont's defense stood so strong against the Chargers that Leland's high scorer only had five points. Adam Mackey led the bit of offense the Chargers had with five points, including a free throw. Behind him was Trevor Marino with a three and a free throw, Ryan Hall with four and Greg Hipwell with four, including a pair at the line. Drew Marino also added a three and Nolan Capuz, Cody Tyson and Bentli Bejan all had two points.
The win for Westmont brought the Warriors to 6-6 in the Mt. Hamilton Division and 16-10 overall with only a pair of games left before the playoffs. Westmont was to visit Pioneer on Feb. 13 and will host Piedmont Hills on Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
"Pioneer and Westmont were both in the West Valley Division 10 years ago," said Gerth. "We've been playing against each other for those 10 years so we always play each other hard, and Piedmont knows we are in third place so they won't look past us. They should be two tough games."
The Warriors downed Leigh 64-55 on Feb. 6, with Scott leading the attack with 18 points, including six at the line and a pair of threes. Weimer was close behind with 15, but only one free throw and six points from outside the arc. Barton also had 15 with three at the line and two threes, Schneider added 12 with four free throws and a pair of threes, and Talley had four.
For Leigh it was Tyler Ni who did the majority of the scoring with 25, including four at the line and nine points from outside the arc. Alex Ellinwood put up 10 with two free throws, Nick Taylor had eight with two free throws, Rob Pappas had four with a pair at the line, Tyler Campbell had a three, Andre Dorsey added three with a free throw and Nick Kwan had two.
On Feb. 8, Leigh toppled Sobrato 56-52 with Ni again leading the offense, but this time with 16. Five of Ni's points came from the line, while three came from outside the arc. Matt Davies had 11 with a free throw, Taylor had nine with three at the line, Ellinwood had six with a pair of free throws, Pappas added five with one free throw, John Dietz helped with three free throws and Kwan, Campbell and Dorsey each had two.
The split for the week put Leigh at 5-7 in league and 8-14 overall. Leigh was to travel to Santa Teresa on Feb. 13 before hosting Oak Grove at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 15 for the final league game this year.
In West Valley Division play, Branham had a strong week, defeating James Lick 63-55 on Feb. 8 and Lincoln 58-51 on Feb. 5.
The high scorer for the Bruins in the win over the Comets was Matt Weber with 19, including seven at the line. Brandon O'Campo was right behind Weber, putting up 18 with two free throws, while Ryan Anderson added eight. Gino Valletta had seven with a free throw and a pair of threes, Nick Rossetta added five with a free throw and both Keoni Heidger and Matt Gorham had two.
On Tuesday it was Rossetta who led the scoring for the Bruins with 20, including six at the line. Robbie Anderson added 13 with three threes, O'Campo sunk seven with a trio at the line, both Valletta and Ry. Anderson had six with a pair of free throws, Gorham had four with a pair at the line and Markel Tate had two.
The wins bring Branham to 7-5 in the division and 10-13 overall. Branham went to Yerba Buena on Feb. 12 and will finish its league season on Feb. 15 at Gunderson with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
For Lincoln, it was Rich Azure who led the attack against Branham with 25 points, including only two free throws and 15 points from beyond the arc. Tazutan had 14, Bryan Mitsumori and Sal Jimenez had five with a free throw and Frank Santiago added two.
The loss dropped the Lions to 3-8 in league and 5-15 overall.
The Lions were to face San Jose on Feb. 12 before heading to Independence for the last game of the season at 7:30 p.m.
In Santa Teresa Division action, Del Mar defeated Willow Glen 57-43 on Feb. 6. Leading the Rams against the Dons was Jimmy Renneke with 19, including a free throw and a pair of threes, Ricky Huynh added 13 with five at the line and two threes, Tyler Heinkel had three with one free throw, Kay Groft and Matt Ward each hit a three and Jake Goetz had two points.
Willow Glen defeated Live Oak 51-33 on Feb. 8 with Renneke again leading the effort with 23, including two free throws and nine points from beyond the arc.
Splitting for the week took Willow Glen to 4-8 in league and 7-17 overall.
The Rams went to Evergreen Valley on Feb. 12 and will host Prospect on Feb. 15.
