Marino's Wildcats and the Los Gatos Lions Club were co-hosts for the annual Lions Club Wildcat Shootout last week, and after three days of outstanding basketball, there were no lights left in the Los Gatos gym.

OK, maybe it was a power thing and not the nine three-pointers and 54 points by Los Gatos senior Chris Clock in the early rounds, but whatever the reason, the finals had to be shifted from Los Gatos to Pioneer for the championship and third-place games on Saturday night.

"We had no power," said Marino, whose club's consolation championship game against Armijo had to be cancelled. But Live Oak certainly did. The Acorns, who opened with wins over Armijo (40-38) and Leigh (55-40), stormed past Saratoga 58-46 on Saturday night to win the tournament championship.

Joel Wright sparked the Acorns to the tourney championship and was named the tournament's most valuable player for his efforts. Teammate Miles Curley joined him on the all-tourney team along with Matt Ashburn and Aron Mitsunaga of Saratoga, Marcus Morgan and Dan Wendt of Leigh, Ceylon Elgin-Taylor of Pioneer and Clock.

Clock played just two games in the tournament because of Saturday's power failure, but he pitched in 28 points and five three-pointers against Saratoga and 26 points and four threes against Willow Glen.

The Wildcats were stung 57-52 by the Falcons in the tourney opener.

"They took advantage of their quickness, and we got in foul trouble," said Marino. Nik Kay and Rory Bauer both fouled out of the game, and Aaron Goldfarb was in foul trouble most of the night.

"It was a poorly played game on our part," added the coach.

But Clock played well, said the coach. "He shot it well. We just couldn't get much momentum offensively."

Despite fouling out, Kay, a 6-foot-6 senior, ripped down a game-high 17 rebounds and pitched in 12 points. Mike Robards had four points, Bauer popped a three and Goldfarb had three points.

It was the Wildcats rebounding a night later, battling back for a 59-45 win over Willow Glen.

"We played much better," said Marino. "We were able to practice on Thursday, and we came together a little against Willow Glen."

Practice has been a problem for the Wildcats. Senior letterman Jamal Modir has been sidelined with a kidney ailment, and junior Mike Robards has been out with a severe case of poison oak. Football players Matt Martini and Chris Danser are also getting a late start.

But Gatos got a day of practice with everyone on the floor on Thursday, and the improvement was apparent on Friday night against the Rams.

"We got the ball to Kay, the big guy inside, and that helped open up the outside a little," said Marino.

Clock pumped in 26 points to lead all Gatos scorers, and Kay supported with 14. Kay also snagged 12 rebounds.

Ivann Venter came off the bench to toss in eight points and pull three boards.

"He gave us a little spark offensively," said Marino.

Goldfarb added five points in the win, and Martini had two points and a team-high six assists. Kyle Gisler added four assists in the win.

Los Gatos, 5-2 for the year, had opened the week with a 66-54 non-league win over Leland. Clock had a pair of threes among his 10 field goals to finish with 22 points. Goldfarb added 13 points, and Kay had 11 and Robards 10.

Martini hit five points, and Gisler had three. Both canned three-pointers.

The Wildcats will be on the road this week to take part in the Ed Hopkins Classic tournament in Fairfield. The Cats open on Dec. 19, 7 p.m., against Vacaville.