The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Mustangs get consolation

Homestead girls win two straight to finish Þfth at Mills

By Dick Sparrer

The best the Homestead girls' basketball team could hope for was a little consolation.

The Mustangs lost 56-30 to Pinewood in the opening round of the Mills Classic, so the best they could do at that point was to go on to win a consolation championship.

And that's just what those Mustangs did.

Homestead battled back from that loss with a clutch 51-46 overtime win over Half Moon Bay, then edged South San Francisco 46-43 to clinch fifth place in the tournament and the consolation crown.

Junior Julie Speckels buried five three-pointers among her seven field goals to lead all Homestead scorers with 19 points in the thrilling win over South San Francisco.

Marie Levey supported with eight points in the win. Vickie Chaing and Michele Wald chipped in with six points apiece.

The Mustangs opened up an 18-10 lead after a period, but South San Francisco cut the lead to five by intermission, 25-20. Homestead stretched that lead to 16 by the end of the third, then the Mustangs held on for the win despite getting outscored 19-6 in the fourth.

Wald had pumped in 23 points, including 13 from the free-throw line, to lead the Mustangs to a 51-46 overtime win over Half Moon Bay a game earlier.

Speckels hit a pair of threes on her way to nine points, and Chaing added six points in the win.

Homestead jumped out in this one, too, leading 14-7 after a period. But Half Moon Bay outpointed Homestead 14-7 in the second to tie it by the half.

The Cougars moved in front by two after three periods, but the Mustangs tied it in the fourth and won it in overtime.

Homestead lost a lopsided 56-30 nod to Pinewood in the tourney opener. Speckels led the Mustangs with 11 points, including three three-pointers.

Wald chipped in with nine points.

Fremont sixth

Ben Skinner and Melvin Rabena popped 11 points apiece, but the Fremont boys' basketball team lost a tough 62-52 decision to Del Mar in the fifth-place game of the Westmont Tournament last weekend.

It was the third of three close games for the Firebirds in the tournament. Fremont had lost a tough 46-43 decision to Westmont in the opener before edging Prospect 35-34 in the second game.

The Firebirds led 45-40 heading into the final period against Del Mar, but the Dons outscored the 'Birds 22-7 in the fourth to pull out the win.

Scott Frederickson supported with nine points in the game, Darren Lang added eight, Michael Hardwick seven, and Michael Harris three. Rabena hit a couple of three-pointers, and Skinner, Harris and Hardwick popped one each for the Firebirds.

Frederickson had pitched in 11 points and Skinner added 10 to lead the Firebirds to a 35-34 win over Prospect a game earlier. Lang and Hardwick added six points each for the winners, and Reynold Carlos added two.

Rabena had scored 10 points and Hardwick eight, but the Firebirds lost 46-43 to Westmont in the tourney opener. Skinner added seven points, Lang six, Harris and John Farhang four each, and Frederickson and Carlos two apiece.

Mustangs split

Homestead split a pair of games in the Lick Tournament. The Mustangs opened with a 58-51 win over host Lick, but lost 68-53 to Mt. Pleasant a game later.

The Mustangs battled back from a 29-20 deficit at the half to outscore Lick 18-8 in the third and 20-14 in the fourth to pull out a seven-point win in the opener. Pat Cabell led the Mustangs with 13 points and Max McKay was close behind with 12.

Greg Fobbs supported with seven points, with Matt Hovik adding six, Kevin Fobbs and Steve Lambert four apiece, Matt Hoffman and Dat Lai three each, and Joe Whiteman, Darrell Hill and Keith Morikawa two each.

Cabell came back with nine points, and Hoffman popped eight, but the Mustangs lost 68-53 to Mt. Pleasant. Whiteman chipped in with six points, and Hovik and G. Fobbs added five apiece. McKay and Brian Holm tossed in four points each, Lambert and Morikawa had three apiece, and Hill and K. Fobbs hit two each.

Cabell is the lone returner for the Homestead varsity this winter.

"He's the only returning player with varsity experience," said Homestead head coach Matt Zehner. "So with no returning players of any significance, our outlook looks bleak."

"We need to relay on team defense and a relatively deep bench to meet our season goal of 12-12, and thus a CCS playoff berth," he added.

Lai is a junior who won all-league first-team honors on the frosh-soph squad last season. Lambert, another junior, was a second-team all-leaguer a year ago.

G. Fobbs is a talented senior transfer for Homestead.

Zehner rates Fremont as the favorite in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this year.

King's clinches 5th

The King's Academy boys' basketball team put together back-to-back wins to finish fifth overall and win the consolation championship in the Gator Classic at Sacred Heart Prep last weekend.

Nate Morrow pumped in 16 points and Tony Castillo added 15 to lead the Knights to a 77-50 win over Los Altos in the consolation finals.

Tayo Akinsete joined the two in double digits with 12 points, including a couple of three-pointers, and James Terada had 11 points, including a three. Dan Friske and Mark Hazley supported with eight points apiece, Dan Leong hit four and Hank Spakes buried a three-pointers.

Morrow buried 19 points and Akinsete popped 14 to lead King's to a 73-50 win over Lick-Wilmerding a game earlier. Hazley tossed in 10 points for the Knights, Terada hit nine, Spates eight and Leong six. Akinsete, Terada and Spates each dropped three-pointers.

The Knights had opened the tournament in a 97-60 loss to Palo Alto. Akinsete led King's with 17 points and Spates finished with eight points, including a couple of threes.

Morrow supported with seven points and Friske and Terada dropped six apiece.

Lady Birds win

Natalie Woo pitched in 10 points to lead the Fremont girls' basketball team to a 41-35 win over Lynbrook in nonleague play last week.

Woo pitched in four field goals and added two free throws to reach double digits for the Lady Birds. La-Nolia Ufondu jammed eight points for Fremont and Chi Tran supported with seven points, including a three-pointer.

Fremont outscored Lynbrook in every period on the road to the win, and just pulled away a little at a time. The Lady Birds led by two after a period, by four at the half, and by five after three periods before winning by six.

The Lady Birds are now 3-0 in the young season.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 10, 1997.
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