West San Jose Resident
Sports
Jasper sparks Panthers to win over Leigh
By Kevin Sparrer
Sometimes in sports, those watching the game get to see something so inspiring that it's hardly believable. For the Prospect girls basketball fans last Saturday night, Jennifer Jasper was able to deliver just such a show.
Jasper, a junior, went down hard to the gym floor early in the first quarter against Leigh on Jan. 26, but she refused to stop. She iced her knee and returned to the game in the third quarter, limping a bit but still able to dominate the middle and lead the Panthers to a 72-39 victory.
Jasper had only four points prior to her injury, but she returned to score another 11 points for the Panthers in the third quarter alone and was able to dominate the boards. Even hurt, Jasper managed to score 15 points in the win with only one from the line.
Along with Jasper, other top scorers for the Panthers were Mariah Rogers, who led the team with 20 points, including four free throws, and Simone Scott with 17, including three at the line.
"Jasper and Rogers are getting better and better every day," said Prospect head coach Megan Sainsbury. "This was one of those games where everything came together."
Prospect dominated the Longhorns from early on, scoring eight points before Leigh was able to get on the board. In fact, Prospect scored 20 points and held Leigh to only three in the entire first quarter. The three points for the Longhorns were free throws by Beatrice Conejero, who was one of Leigh's top scorers in the game, finishing with 12, including five at the line and a three-point bucket.
The second quarter was very much the same, with Prospect adding 15 while holding Leigh to only five points, with Katie Breslin of Leigh scoring two and Conejero hitting her three.
In the third quarter, Leigh came out with a renewed vigor and attacked the Prospect defense, scoring 15 but allowing 24 from the Panthers, largely because of Jasper's dominance in the middle.
Leigh's best all-around effort came in the fourth quarter when the Longhorns actually outscored the Panthers 16-13 with Tina Allen hitting a pair of threes for six of her 11 points and two of her three threes for the night.
"We came out hitting all our shots," said Sainsbury. "We were playing good defense and increased our shot percentage. Everybody was contributing on both offense and defense."
The other scorers for Prospect were Audrina Sablan with seven, including a free throw, Katie Kinder with eight, including a three and a free throw, and Taylor Kikuchi with five, including a three.
The win brought Prospect to 5-2 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and 12-6 overall, while it dropped Leigh to 2-5 in league and 6-12 overall.
Prospect's win over Leigh gave the Panthers a winning record for the three-game week after defeating Piedmont Hills 58-46 on Jan. 24 and falling to Santa Teresa 56-50 on Jan. 22.
Against Piedmont, it was Jasper dominating the floor with 23, including a free throw, while Scott added 13 with three at the line. Kikuchi had nine with a pair of free throws, Rogers had nine with three at the line and Kinder and Sablan each had two, with Kinder's both coming from the line.
Against the Saints, it was Kikuchi who led the attack with 16, including two free throws and two beyond the arc. Jasper added 10 with two at the line, Scott had nine with a free throw, Kinder had eight with two threes, Rogers had six and Sablan had a free throw.
Prospect continues its tough schedule this week with another three-game week. The first was to be against Leland on Tuesday, then Prospect will hit the road to face Evergreen Valley on Jan. 31 for a 7 p.m. tip-off and to visit Westmont on Feb. 2 for a 5:30 p.m. start.
"In this league, every game you have to rise up. Everything has to be firing all at once. These girls work as a team and are not only great on the court, but are just a great group of girls," said Sainsbury.
Warriors top Leland
The Westmont girls topped Leland 52-39 last week, but lost 63-39 to Evergreen Valley and 53-42 to Piedmont Hills. The Warriors, 4-3 in the division and 13-5 overall, were to host Gunderson on Tuesday and will visit Santa Teresa on Jan. 31, 7 p.m., before visiting Prospect.
Kelly Gregg poured in 21 points and Stephanie Priest added 17 to lead the Warriors past the Chargers. Elle Koshiyama and Alyssa Kanzaki added three points apiece and Kayla Blakley, Robyn Araujo, Riane Sanchez and Jessica Barrett had two each.
Priest had the hot hand with 13 points and Gregg and Kanzaki added 10 apiece, but the Warriors lost to Piedmont Hills. Priest and Gregg each tossed in three-pointers.
Against Evergreen, Kanzaki led Westmont with 12 points. Gregg had seven, Sanchez six, Araujo five, Koshiyama four, Katie Higbee hit a three-pointer and Blakley added two.
Dons win three
Del Mar swept past three division opponents last week--beating Overfelt 35-31, James Lick 57-9 and Yerba Buena 39-32--to improve to 6-1 in the West Valley Division of the BVAL and to 7-10 overall.
The Dons will try to maintain their winning ways in three games this week. They were to host San Jose on Tuesday and will entertain Andrew Hill on Jan. 31, 5 p.m., before heading to Independence on Feb. 2, 7 p.m.
Junior Ali Quilici, a 5-foot-11 center, led the Dons with 14 points in the win over the Royals. Elli Batinich supported with eight points, Josie Steeves had a three among her five points, Sara Quilici hit four and Anna Myers and Veronica Bourdens had two apiece.
The Dons dominated Lick earlier in the week, allowing the Comets only nine points in their 57-9 victory. S. Quilici led the Del Mar scoring with 14 points, Katherine Petersen had nine, including a three, Batinich hit eight, Aimee Myers six, A. Quilici five, Anna Myers and Caroline Garfink four apiece, Vanessa Guzzetta three and Steeves and Bourdens two each.
S. Quilici popped a pair of threes among her 12 points to lead the Dons past Yerba Buena. A. Quilici had eight points and Anna Myers drilled a pair of threes to finish with six.