Saratoga News
Sports
Falcons fall in CCS basketball openers
By Dick Sparrer
There was a rather dubious prize at stake when the Saratoga and Pioneer girls basketball teams collided in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs--the winner would have to face the tournament's No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals ... 22-2 St. Ignatius.
It was Pioneer winning the honor with a 38-28 victory over the Falcons. A game later, the Mustangs were dominated 64-17 by the Wildcats, who are now just a win away from the section finals.
The loss last Wednesday night brought an end to a successful campaign for Saratoga. The Falcons finished the year with a solid 19-8 season record.
The Saratoga boys had their season come to an end the same night when the Falcons lost a tough 61-55 decision to San Lorenzo Valley. The boys finished the year with a 16-11 record overall.
The Pioneer and Saratoga girls had locked up in a back-and-forth low-scoring affair to open the playoffs. The Mustangs led 11-3 at the first buzzer, but the Falcons tied it 14-14 by intermission. Saratoga topped Pioneer 10-5 in the third quarter to take a five-point lead into the fourth, but the Mustangs dominated the final period 19-4 to win by 10.
Alex Sclavos had only eight points, but she was the scoring leader for the Falcons in the game. Melissa Lin tossed in seven points and Erica Baba had five with a three-point bucket. Jessica Bramlett added four points and Vanessa Guzman and Lisa Ruddy had two apiece.
The Falcons had opened the year with an 11-3 run in the preseason and were 7-1 in league play before a three-game losing streak cost them a shot at the championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. Saratoga ended up 8-5 in the division.
Ruddy, Sclavos and Lin were the scoring leaders for the Falcons must of the season, and Ruddy, Sclavos and Bramlett were top shooters from behind the three-point arc.
Sclavos, Guzman and Lin topped the club on the boards, and Lin and Sclavos were team leaders in blocked shots. Sclavos, Baba and Lin were leaders in steals and Baba, Bramlett and Ruddy were tops in assists. Baba finished among the CCS leaders in assists.
Seniors Ruddy, Jessica Lu, Sam King and Tamara Schroeder each played their final season for the Falcons, but head coach Darrin Garcia expects a solid core of players to return next season. Juniors Baba, Bramlett, Guzman and Shannon Ngyuen and sophomores Lin, Sclavos, Ashley Cole and Sheeva Hamidieh all should return for the 2007-08 season.
The Saratoga boys, meanwhile, gave San Lorenzo Valley a run for its money in the CCS opener before losing by six.
The clubs were tied 7-7 after a period, and SLV held just a slim one-point lead at the half, 28-27. The Falcons fell back by another point in the third, then were outscored 19-15 in the fourth.
Keon Ghafouri, Kourash Agahdel and Bo Nielsen were the scoring leaders for the Falcons, all three scoring in double digits. Ghafouri led the with 13 points, hitting a three among four field goals and adding four points at the free-throw line. Nielsen also popped a three and dropped five charity throws on his way to a 12-point night, and Agahdel added 12 points.
Andy Capek added nine points, Steven Walker had five free throws, Ryan Pak drilled a three and Nick Valuri scored one.
The boys, like the girls, had a solid preseason with an 11-3 record before going 5-7 in the tough De Anza Division of the SCVAL.
Agahdel, Nielsen, Valuri, P.J. Rezaii and Sean Casserly were seniors playing their final season for the Falcons this winter. Head coach Mike Davey will welcome back juniors Ghafouri, Capek, Walker, Jason Chien, Edmund Ye, Chris Chiou and Robin His and sophomores Pak and Owen Huang next season.
