Rose Garden Resident

Sports

Seniors put on a show in Senior Showcase

By Dick Sparrer

What do you get when you put the best high school senior basketball players in the league in one place at the same time? A game!

An all-star game to be more exact, and it certainly was a game when the boys of the Blossom Valley Athletic League faced off in the first ever Dons Club Senior Showcase on April 7 at the Del Mar High School gym.

The boys all-star game was a single-digit battle that came down to the final minutes with the West team holding on in the end to win 75-69.

Boys and girls were divided into West and East teams for the main events on a day that started with separate three-point contests that were followed by a display of finesse with a slam dunk competition that had the crowd roaring.

"This was a good event," said Bill Murray, the Del Mar girls head coach and host of the showcase. "I think it was a success. We had about 90 percent of the stands filled, which is a good turnout for the first time."

Boys game

Holding true to his recent selection as the Mt. Hamilton Division co-Most Valuable Player, Michael Weimer of Westmont knocked down basket after basket, leading the West to its victory. Weimer was also named the Outstanding Player of the boys game, scoring 21 points, including four three pointers and a free throw. Weimer missed only one attempt at a three in the contest.

The leading scorers for the East were Matt Everly of Silver Creek and Leland's Patrick Calhoun with 13 each.

Of the 13 players on the West team, 10 were able to score: Weimer had 21 with four threes; Arron Mollet of Del Mar had 11 with a three; Jason Catalano of Branham had nine; Marcus Crawford of Sobrato had eight and four at the line; Kirk Saecho of Yerba Buena had seven; Josh Lewis of Overfelt finished with five; Stevone Jones of Del Mar had four; Zach Stevenson of Prospect had four; Reece Behrens of Leigh had three; and Darrell Casperano of Yerba Buena had two.

Ten of the 12 players for the East were able to put points on the board: Everly had 13 with a pair of threes and three free throws; Calhoun had 13 with a three; Stephen Skavdahl of Willow Glen had nine with two threes; Marshawn Landrine of Oak Grove had seven with five free throws; Kyle Schroeder of Willow Glen had seven; Johnny Sandate of Mt. Pleasant had six with a three; Albert Lutz-Paap of Oak Grove had five with a three; Stephen Vargas of San Jose Academy had four; Matt Montelongo of Pioneer had three free throws; and Gilbert Mendoza of Pioneer had two from the line.

Girls game

The outcome was different in the girls game, with the East winning 47-36. The East was considerably taller than the West, but the West managed to keep itself in the game with its quickness.

Kelsey Grozier of Gunderson led the attack for the East, knocking down 13 and being named the Outstanding Player.

Right behind Grozier for the East was Oly Larkin of Branham, who finished with 10.

For the West it was Megan Schiebli of Westmont who was the main scorer. Schiebli finished with 12, including a three and five from the line. The next highest scorer for the West was Pam Wolfe of Leland, who had six.

From the get-go, the game was pretty even. At the end of the first quarter, the West trailed 8-6 and came back to tie the game 18-18 by halftime with a basket with only three seconds to go in the half by Sherina Summers of Evergreen.

The third quarter remained close, finishing 32-32, but in the fourth quarter the East pulled ahead and was uncatchable.

"It feels good to win a game like this," said Steffi Mattern of Pioneer. "It's a good way to end your senior year. Getting all the girls together like this is a great idea. These are a bunch of great girls, and it makes for good competition."

Of the nine players on the East team, seven were able to put the ball throw the hoop. Along with Grozier and Larkin were: Clarissa Diaz of Gunderson with nine, including a three; Alex Scoffone of Lincoln with seven; Mattern with a three-pointer; Shelly Otaguro of Prospect with three; and Kaylin Mitsumori of Lincoln with two at the line.

For the West, seven girls were able to score including Schiebli and Wolfe. The other scorers were: Kristen Yoshioka of Leland with five,; Kellene Condie of Del Mar with four with a three-pointer; Summers with four; Krista Frausto of Evergreen with three; and Samantha Tsukiji of Willow Glen with two at the line.

3-point contest

The day began with a three-point contest that had girls on one side of the court and boys on the other. Eight boys and eight girls fired off 25 three-point shots with a possible 30 points (the last ball in each rack is worth two points), and three boys and three girls advanced to the second round.

For the boys, Aaron Katayama of Leigh won the first ever BVAL boys three-point competition and Mattern was the winner in the girls event.

"I was so nervous," said Mattern. "I was just trying to breathe and focus on my shot instead of thinking about how many the girl in front of me finished with."

Slam dunk contest

Though the basketball games had strong competition and the three-point contest was close, it was the slam dunk competition that really got the crowd going.

Only five boys took part in the contest: Behrens, Mollet, Lutz-Paap, Jones and Landrine.

Jones played a bit to the crowd when he changed from his Del Mar jersey into a Michael Jordan jersey before dunking from a step in front of the free throw line for 38 points.

But on his second attempt in the final round, Landrine gave himself a high bounce and tore it down for 41 points. He came away with the first ever title in the BVAL slam dunk competition.

"Jones and Landrine really put on a show," said Murray.