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Cradle Move: Westmont's Tom Miller (feet in the air), rocking an opponent into a cradle, will be one of the local wrestlers advancing to the CCS tournament this weekend.
Warriors win to clinch .500 season
Wrestlers preparing for CCS tournament
By Dick Sparrer
The going was pretty tough for the girls basketball teams in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this winter.
And the Westmont girls proved tough enough to win five games and play .500 basketball for the regular season.
Westmont claimed that fifth league win last week and secured no worse than a 13-13 season record when the Warriors pulled out a hard-earned 44-40 win over Oak Grove on Wednesday night.
The Warriors ended up losing their regular season ender 64-34 to Presentation, but the loss couldn't keep Westmont from hanging on to its .500 mark for the year.
The important win in that effort came earlier in the week when senior guard Jennifer Brown jammed 15 points to lead the Warriors to the four-point win over Oak Grove.
Senior Shannon Stenzel supported with 10 points in the Westmont win. Allyson Carrothers added six points to the effort, Jennifer Chaney and Karly Brownridge had four apiece, Shantale Higginson three and Heather Rasmussen two.
The Warriors opened up a 25-14 lead by the half and held on over the past two periods as Oak Grove chipped away. But the Eagles could get no closer than four points, and Westmont had locked up the win.
Things didn't go as well for the Warriors on Friday night against Presentation. Brown buried 15 points, but she was the only Westmont player in double figures in the loss to the Panthers.
Stenzel, Higginson and Rasmussen supported with four points each for the Warriors. Rachelle Brady added three points and Chaney and Brownridge had two each.
The Warriors found themselves down 14-4 after a period and in a 22-point hole at intermission. It was more than Westmont could make up.
Del Mar girls split
Del Mar split a pair of games last week to finish in second place in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. The Dons beat Prospect 56-50 but lost 60-57 to Gunderson to finish the league season 11-3. Piedmont Hills posted a 13-1 record to win the division crown.
Four Dons scored in twin figures, but only five players could get into the scoring column in the loss to the Grizzlies.
Sophomore guard Ali Mollet tossed in seven buckets to finish with 14 points to lead all scorers for the Dons.
Morgan McGill buried three shots and added seven points at the free-throw line to finish the night with 13 points.
Justine Stagi hit three three-pointers on her way to 11 points, and A.J. Galloway also hit 11. Lisa Nwoye supported with eight points for the Dons.
Earlier in the week, the Dons had rallied from behind to pull out a 56-50 win over the Panthers.
McGill had the hot hand for the Dons in this, pouring in a game-high 24 points. The senior sharpshooter hit only four buckets from the field, but she added an impressive 16 points at the charity line.
Mollet had a three among her 15 points in the win and Stagi had two threes and finished with 10 points. Galloway chipped in with seven points in the win.
Del Mar trailed 12-9 after a period and was down by three at the half. The Dons were still behind by two heading into the final quarter, but outscored the Panthers 18-10 to claim the six-point win.
The Dons will now take their 21-6 season record into the CCS playoffs.
Warriors head to CCS
The Westmont boys basketball team will also open play in the CCS playoffs this week after wrapping up a 7-5 league season and 16-10 regular season record with a 48-37 win over Prospect last Friday night.
Clay Tolbert pitched in 15 points to lead the Warriors to the win over the Panthers. Tolbert had a three among his six field goals and added two points at the charity line.
Dan Betti supported with 14 points, including a pair of threes.
Kyle Bonvechio led all scorers in the game with 17 points for the Panthers. He had three three-pointers among his seven field goals.
Roma Ngaleo supported Bonvechio's effort with nine points for the Panthers.
Earlier in the week, Westmont had fallen 57-51 to Overfelt while Prospect was beating Yerba Buena 56-55 in overtime.
Brandon Sligh had the hot hand for the Warriors, but his 24 points weren't enough to push his club past the Royals. Tolbert added 12 points, including a three.
Prospect, 3-9 in league play but 14-13 for the year, battled back from a seven-point halftime deficit to tie YB 51-51, sending the game into overtime. The Panthers outscored the Warriors 5-4 in the extra period to pull out the win.
Ngaleo led all Prospect scorers with 19 points, and Ryan Najima added 15 points, including a three. Bonvechio joined the two in double digits with 11 points.
The win secured a winning season record for the Panthers and helped them clinch a berth in the CCS playoffs.
Dons lose two
The Del Mar boys ended the regular season with a couple of losses in the Santa Teresa Division. The Dons lost 59-50 to Santa Teresa and 67-52 to Leland to wrap up league play.
Miralem Mujkic tossed in 18 points and D.J. Eddy added 12, but the Dons lost a nine-point decision to the Saints last Wednesday. Eddy canned four three-pointers to account for all 12 of his points.
Scott Langarica finished with nine points, five of them coming at the free-throw line, and Stephen Giles added six on a couple of threes.
Mujkic came back with 12 points and Langarica and Dave Rathburn added 11 apiece, but the Dons lost 67-52 to Leland.
CCS wrestling
The best wrestlers in the area will converge at Independence High School in East San Jose on Feb. 22-23 for the Central Coast Section tournament.
Top local placers from the Blossom Valley Athletic League will represent the area in the tourney.
Garreth Gorman, Tom Miller and Ryan Kennedy of Westmont, Jerry Galant, Mark Basso and David Cotter of Del Mar, and Tony Barba of Prospect all earned berths in the section tourney by placing at the BVAL finals.
Gorman won a title at 173 pounds with Miller third at 191 and Kennedy eighth at 184 for the Warriors.
Galant was a champ at 217 pounds for the Dons with Basso second at 127 and Cotter third at 121.
Barba claimed a second-place finish at 277 pounds for the Panthers.
The CCS championship finals are slated for Saturday at 6 p.m.
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Campbell, California
