The Campbell Reporter

Sports

Warriors start fast in win over Longhorns

ByGreg Lydon

Westmont coach Bill Gerth said he remembers a 12-10 boys high school basketball game early in the 1970s. Well, his 2008 Westmont Warriors play at a little different speed.

"The style we play is the new school type of basketball," Gerth said with a smile. "We play four guys on the perimeter and one guy inside and we try to set the tempo every night."

The Warriors snatched up victories against Mountain View and Cupertino in preseason play en route to their impressive 13-5 record overall.

"Cupertino is 17-3 right now, so to have a win against that caliber of a team really speaks to the level that our team is playing at right now," Gerth said. "If someone asked me before the season where I thought we would be right now, I'd have said a 7-7 mark. I'm very happy looking at 13-5 instead."

If you made it to the gym a couple minutes late Friday night at Leigh, you missed a quite a show. The only problem for the Leigh fans was that it was Westmont putting on the display. The Warriors connected on six of their first seven shots, jumping out to a 19-2 lead in the opening minutes. Westmont carried the momentum from that quick start to an impressive 68-52 victory over Leigh improving to 3-1 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

"We like to drive and kick; when it works it's pretty fun to watch," Gerth said. "We've been down 20 in a couple games and had to come back this year and we've jumped on teams early like we did tonight."

Senior forward Patrick Barton led all scorers with 20 points. Barton was one of four Warriors in double figures during the big road victory. Sophomore forward Brian Scott scored 16 points, savvy point guard Max Schneider put in 17 and junior forward James Weimer dropped in 11.

Schneider was brilliant running the show, directing the up-tempo attack for Westmont. Schneider hit Scott on a back door pass to open the game's scoring, and the Warriors were off and running. Greg Talley hit a jumper in the key, followed by back-to-back three-pointers for Westmont forcing a Leigh timeout call. Right after the timeout another Scott three-pointer was dropped home, then Schneider drilled his second three-pointer to continue the sizzling start for the Warriors.

Leigh started to claw back after the 19-2 deficit early, stringing together a little run before the end of the first quarter to trail 24-8 after one quarter of play.

The Longhorns got nice contributions from 6-foot-6 center Matt Davies, who scored five points off the bench in the second and nine points in the game. Senior guard Alex Ellinwood also slashed his way to five points off the bench in the quarter, giving the Longhorns a fighting chance in the second period.

Westmont took a 36-18 lead into the half after a gritty 12-10 quarter, with Westmont outscoring Leigh by only two points.

Barton got things back on track for Westmont to open the second half, swishing home a deep trey, then stealing the ball at midcourt and finding Scott for the double pump finish at the rim pushing the Warriors lead to 39-21.

Westmont doesn't have a ton of size, but lanky center Talley held his own, blocking six shots on the night to keep things difficult for the Leigh front court.

Tyler Ni checked into the game in the third quarter, as the Longhorns found some more bench magic to pull themselves back into the game. Ni scored nine points in the second half, including six points in the third quarter, making the score 46-33 Westmont going into the fourth quarter.

Westmont closed out Leigh in the fourth quarter, getting the run of big shots they needed to extend their lead back over 15 points, earning the victory.

"We live and die by the three-point shot," Gerth said. "Right now we're living pretty good because we shoot over 40 percent from three this season."

The Warriors had fallen victim to unbeaten Oak Grove earlier in the week, losing a 63-30 decision. Scott had 16 points to lead the Warriors. Weimer and Talley added six points apiece and Barton and Shan Aggarwal had two each.

The Warriors, who were to visit Leland on Tuesday, will host Pioneer on Jan. 24, 7 p.m., before heading to Piedmont Hills on Jan. 26, 7 p.m.

Dons top Panthers

In Santa Teresa Division play, Del Mar won a pair of games last week--beating Willow Glen 55-37 and Prospect 57-54--to improve to 3-1 in league and 7-9 overall.

An 18-point night by 5-foot-11 junior forward Semir Rocevic sparked the Dons to the win over the Panthers. Rocevic canned 10 of his 18 points at the free-throw line.

Dallin Blank had a three among his nine points for the Dons. Jake Steeves went for eight points, Connor McGill six, Jordan Richardson and Travis Masterbone five apiece, Samir Sabic four and Doug Bacolini two.

Prospect's Natnael Taye was the night's big scorer with 29 points. The 6-foot-1 senior forward had a couple of threes among his 11 buckets from the floor and added five free throws.

Shane Miller added nine points, Damein Jackson eight (including two threes), Nova Hardy six (including a three) and Isaac Thomas two.

The Dons came back on Friday to drop the Rams 55-37 behind a 13-point night by Blank, who canned three threes and four free throws. Taylor Nakatani and Richardson tossed in 10 points apiece, each one of them popping a three, and Steeves had six points. Masterbone had a three among his five points, McGill hit four points, Sabic and Rocevic three each and Bacolini one.

Del Mar was to visit Silver Creek on Tuesday and will host Overfelt on Jan. 24, 7 p.m., before heading to Hill on Jan. 26, 8 p.m.

Prospect wins

Prospect picked up its first league win on Friday night, topping Live Oak 65-45. Taye led the Panthers with 17 points with a three among his six buckets and four charity throws, and Hardy and Tucker canned 13 points apiece. Tucker hit two threes.

Shane Miller had eight points, Jackson six, Frankie May four, Alan Lynn two and Chris Gustavson and Fiaavae Fiaavae one each.

The Panthers, 1-3 in the division and 5-10 overall, were to visit Evergreen Valley on Tuesday and will travel to Hill on Jan. 24, 7 p.m., then host Willow Glen on Jan. 26, 7 p.m.