The Wildcats, who had won six of their first eight games, lost seven in a row.

"He's been tough to replace," said Los Gatos coach Jim Marino

But, after opening the league season with a lopsided 67-32 loss to title-favorite Palo Alto, the Wildcats finally got back into the win column.

Gatos beat Gunn 69-55 in overtime last Friday night to even its record at 1-1 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and push its season mark to 7-9.

It was an impressive comeback that lifted the Cats to the win over the Titans. Gatos trailed Gunn by 10 points in the third quarter and by eight heading into the fourth period, but the Wildcats outscored the Titans 13-5 in the final quarter and 15-1 in the overtime stanza to pull out the 14-point win.

"All of a sudden we got energized," said Marino.

When senior Vince Bellotti was called for his fourth foul, senior guard Max Hollander came off the bench to give the Wildcats the spark they needed.

"We started to press, and Max energized us off the press," said the coach.

Minutes later Bellotti returned to the floor, and he came up with all of his team-high five steals in the finals minutes of regulation and the overtime.

"He anticipated real well," said Marino of Bellotti. "Due to the steals by Bellotti, the added energy Max provided off the bench and our press, we were able to cause some turnovers."

In addition, the Wildcats stopped Gunn's top scorer, Peter Jordan. He finished the night with a team-high 25 points, he had just one point in the fourth quarter and was held scoreless in overtime.

"We did a good job of denying [Jordan] the ball," said the coach.

Senior forward Ted Hull led all scorers in the game with 26, including hitting 13 of 18 at the free-throw line.

"He did a good job of putting the ball on the floor, taking it to the basket and getting fouled," said Marino. Hull had a three-point bucket among his six field goals.

Bret Hampton supported with 14 points, including a three, and Bellotti finished with 11 points. Bellotti also led the club with five rebounds.

Danny Sullivan tossed in seven points and snagged five boards, and Hollander added seven points off the bench. Chris Cuthbert chipped in with three points and Mike Brienzo added one.

Earlier in the week, Gatos had its hands full against Paly. No one finished in double digits for the Cats, who were outscored in every period by the Vikings.

"We struggled a little bit," said Marino. "Palo Alto is very good. We had trouble scoring, that's the bottom line. That's the best defensive team we're played. We turned the ball over too many times."

Los Gatos finished with 12 turnovers, and "you can't do that against a good shooting team like that."

Bellotti had a three among his eight points, and that was tops in the game for Gatos. Hull and Tommy Morrissey each had seven points and each popped a three. Hampton added four points and Sullivan, Hollander and Cuthbert hit two each.

The Wildcats will have their hands full with two games on the road this week. The Cats visit Homestead on Jan. 12, 7 p.m., before heading to Milpitas on Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m.

The Los Gatos girls, meanwhile, opened the league season with back-to-back wins, topping Palo Alto 48-39 and beating Gunn 51-33.

Transfer Bryte Nielsen was the top scorer in each of the Los Gatos victories. The 6-foot senior tossed in 11 points against the Vikings and came back with 13 against the Titans.

Nielsen had three three-pointers among her four field goals to finish with 11 in the win over Paly. Julian Anderson was close behind with 10 points.

Sophomore Madeline Rose had a three among her nine points and Alexa Anderson pitched in with eight points. Jenna Anderson and Bailey Richardson tossed in four points apiece and Chelsea Ryan had two.

Nielsen poured in 13 points, including a pair of threes, in the win over Gunn. A. Anderson also had 13 points for the Cats.