Los Gatos Weekly-Times Photograph by Skye Dunlap Los Gatos senior guard Jonathan Groff, pushing the ball up the floor in an early season nonleague game against Prospect, tossed in 15 points and added five assists to help the Wildcats to a 64-63 triple-overtime win over Los Altos. Cats win in triple overtime Gingery catches fire in the fourth By Dick Sparrer It was a game the Los Gatos basketball team needed to win. But heading into the fourth quarter against Los Altos last Wednesday night, the Wildcats' chances didn't look very good. The Cats were down by 17 points after three periods, 42-25. And to make matters even worse, the Eagles scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter to go up by 19 with just about six and a half minutes left in the game. But just when things appeared to be at their worst, something happened to the Wildcats. "We just caught fire," said Los Gatos coach Jim Marino. "We hit a three, then got a steal and hit another three." And before the final buzzer sounded, the Cats had delighted the partisan Los Gatos crowd with a resounded comeback to tie things up by the end of regulation to force the game into overtime. As if that wasn't enough excitement for one night, the Cats and Eagles battled through three overtime periods before Los Gatos finally pulled out a thrilling 64-63 victory. "They played awfully well for three quarters against us," said Marino of Los Altos. "I don't know if it was just that we caught fire, or if they got a little tired. But it was a nice win." No one was hotter than 6-foot-5 junior forward Matt Gingery down the final stretch. Gingery tossed in 14 of his game-high 21 points from the fourth quarter on. "He really came on in the fourth quarter," said Marino of Gingery. "And he boarded well the entire night." Gingery was outstanding on the boards, hauling down a team-high 17 rebounds to go with his 21 points. Jonathan Groff pitched in 15 points and dished off five assists for the Wildcats, David Whiteside had 12 points and a team-high eight assists, and Beau Knight chipped in with 10 points and six boards. Gingery, Whiteside and Knight each hit three-pointers for the Cats. Devan Denton, Stephen Pulley and Alex Holcomb added just two points each for Los Gatos, but each one contributed to the victory, said Marino. "Pulley came off the bench and did a great job, especially in the fourth quarter," said the coach. "And Holcomb hit a great turn-around jumper in the second overtime." The coach added that Denton "started and got some good boards for us." But the 6-foot-2 senior center cut his knee and had to leave the game in overtime. Ben Winkelman came on to finish the game and helped the Cats clinch the win. The Wildcats were down just a point after a period, but fell back by 12 at halftime and by 17 at the end of the third. Gatos fought back to tie the game in the fourth, though, and actually had a chance to take the lead but couldn't get a shot off in the final seconds. Los Altos went to the line with a chance to win in the final seconds of the second overtime, but missed both charity throws to send the game into a third overtime. Whiteside's bucket with 12 seconds left in the third OT gave Gatos its margin of victory. "He hit about a 6- to 8-foot shot," said Marino. "He was driving to the basket, and pulled up and rolled one in." The Eagles hustled down the floor to get a shot off, but it missed its mark and Gingery snagged the rebound and tossed a pass to Whiteside. The senior guard was fouled, but missed his free throws. Los Altos managed one final desperation shot, but came up empty. The Wildcats, now 3-2 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and 14-6 for the year, will host Wilcox on Jan. 27, 7 p.m., before visiting first-place Palo Alto on Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m. Photograph by Skye Dunlap Junior forward Sara Clark of Los Gatos soars high in the air in an effort to block a shot by Marie Levey of Homestead. But the Wildcats weren't able to stop the Mustangs often enough in the league game last week and ended up losing 59-22. In girls basketball action last week, Los Gatos lost a lopsided decision to division-leading Homestead. The unbeaten Mustangs turned back the Wildcats 59-22. Katrina Sortino finished with five points to lead all Gatos scorers in the game. Julia Pugliese ended up with four points and Shannon Hart, Nancy Shishido and Sara Clark had three points each. Sortino and Hart each popped three-pointers. Royya Modir added two points and Trina Mills and Kristin Ozawa had one apiece. The Cats fell behind early. Homestead opened up a 20-3 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Mustangs ended up outscoring Los Gatos in each of the four periods. Gatos, now 0-4 in the De Anza Division and 7-10 for the year, will try to get back on the winning track this week when they host Fremont on Jan. 26 and visit Palo Alto on Jan. 28 in a couple of 7 p.m. games. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 27, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.