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It's been a slow start for the boys varsity basketball team at Los Gatos this winter. First there were the football players—Matt Martini, Michael Brienzo, Vince Belloti and Chris Cuthbert—who got a late start because of the Central Coast Section playoffs. Then there was the youth movement on the Gatos court with 6-foot-5 sophomore Jordan Vandenberg and two juniors are in the starting line-up.
So it's taken head coach Jim Marino a while to get things going on the Los Gatos floor. But last week, the Wildcats got going.
The Cats handled Wilcox 55-47 to close out the first round of the season in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, then they beat Homestead 53-35 to open the second round. The wins helped Gatos improve to 3-4 in the division (their only other win coming the first time around against Homestead) and 9-12 for the year.
"We're playing a lot better than we were just two or three weeks ago," said Marino. "We're playing much more physical now, and this is a very physical league."
Los Gatos will try to make it three straight this week when the Cats, after a midweek bye, host Gunn on Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats lost 55-47 to the Titans in the first round of the league season and "we didn't play very well," admitted Marino.
But the Cats played well last week—twice.
Los Gatos opened the week with the 55-47 win over the winless Chargers.
"It was pretty tight [for three quarters]," said Marino. "But in the fourth quarter we started to play. We were getting the ball inside, running the floor and hitting some shots."
Senior Mike Robards got Gatos going in the fourth, hitting three straight buckets to open the period. The 6-foot-3 senior forward finished with 14 points and three assists.
"He's been our leader all year," said Marino of Robards. "He's got some good post moves for a guy 6-foot-3."
Vandenberg led the Cats with 17 points and eight rebounds. Belloti supported with nine points and three assists and Cuthbert had nine points and Ted Hull five. Martini led the club with four assists and he hit a free throw.
Three nights later, Vandenberg had 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists to lead the Cats to the 53-35 win over Homestead.
"The game was a little closer for the first three quarters than the score indicates," said Marino. "Still, I felt we controlled the game. We ran the floor well."
"We're playing good defense, whether man or zone," he added. "If we could just fine a way to put the ball in the net, we could make some noise in this second half."
Robards tossed in 13 points for the Cats in the win, Cuthbert hit seven, Belloti and Hull six apiece and Martini and Brienzo two each.
Robards and Belloti shared game-high honors with Vandenberg in rebounds, all three grabbing seven. Martini and Belloti also had three assists each.
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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer