Lynbrook battles for SCVAL De Anza Division lead
Homestead is on top of El Camino Division
For the first time in over two years, the Lynbrook High School girls basketball team found itself looking up at another team recently in the league standings. But not for long.
Just three days after Palo Alto edged Lynbrook 37-36 to take over sole possession of first place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division, Lynbrook reclaimed a share of the top spot on Jan. 24, when it toppled Saratoga 46-31 while Paly was being upset 34-29 by Los Altos.
The two teams remained tied for first place last week when Lynbrook beat Los Altos 51-32 and Palo Alto slipped past Los Gatos 34-29, setting up a likely winner-take-all showdown between the two teams on Tuesday Feb. 11, at Lynbrook. The game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Tonight, Lynbrook travels to Los Gatos for a 6:15 p.m. contest with the Wildcats.
Lynbrook, which shared the SCVAL El Camino championship with Saratoga in 2018 and won it outright last year with a perfect 12-0 mark, had played 29 consecutive SCVAL games since the start of the 2018 campaign holding at least a share of first place prior to being knocked, temporarily, into second place by Palo Alto.
Lynbrook responded to its loss to Paly by producing its best overall effort of the season against Los Altos, despite playing without standout Sara Ho, who was sidelined by a knee injury.
“This was our best game of the season,” said Lynbrook coach Lynley Takaki, who has guided the Vikings to a 57-16 overall record over the past three seasons entering this week’s play. “We have been struggling to start games sharp, and we finally came out with energy from the get-go. Everyone contributed and did well. It was a great team win.”
Junior Lydian Li, who recently surpassed 1,000 points in her stellar three-year varsity career, keyed the win over Los Altos with a game-high 16 points and three steals. Maison Yee, a junior who played for Wilcox last year, chipped in with 15 points and three steals,
“Maison is another offensive threat for our team,” Takaki said. “Now teams have to focus not only on Sara and Lydian as main offensive threats, but also Maison.”
Senior Allison Li led Lynbrook on the boards with six rebounds.
“We played good defense, closing out hard on shooters and shutting down L.A.’S main scorer,” Takaki said. “We controlled the tempo.”
The Vikings were playing without the multi-talented Ho for the second game in a row due to a popliteus strain in her left knee.
“We’re expecting her to be out another week or so,” said Takaki on Saturday. “As our tallest player at 5-7, Sara has been asked to fill our post/center position. She has been doing a great job inside. She’s our leading rebounder and can battle even with the tallest girls. With Sara out, securing rebounds will be a key for us.”
With five games remaining in the regular season entering this week, the Vikings have secured a fourth consecutive trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
“We need to sharpen up our sets as we are nearing the end of league play,” Takaki said. “We need to continue to come out strong from the tip-off.”
In the SCVAL El Camino Division, the Homestead Mustangs remained undefeated and all alone in first place last week with victories over Fremont and Gunn.
Kendra Wong, Shannon Siu and Sandra Yoo tossed in 11 points apiece to spur the Mustangs to a 57-20 triumph over Fremont. Freshman Tatum Leuenberger drilled in 16 points, Faith Yin tallied 11 and Ellen Cheng added 10 in their 61-29 romp over Gunn.
Homestead improved to a dazzling 17-1 on the season, and stretched its winning streak to 16 consecutive games. It is the Mustangs’ longest such streak since winning 17 in a row in the 2015-16 season, when they finished 23-3.
Homestead’s only loss this season was a 62-56 setback to California High of San Ramon in the second game of the year.
“I knew we were going to be successful this year, but I didn’t think this successful,” said Homestead coach Becky Chiu, who has led the Mustangs to a 43-24 record since taking over the program in 2017-18. “Every player has definitely made a contribution.
The girls play hard and hungry. We’ve honed in on our defense and are playing a more freeflowing form of offense.”
Entering this week, Homestead held a one-game lead over second-place Milpitas. The Mustangs beat the Trojans 63-38 in a league opener on Jan. 3.
The two teams meet again in their regular-season finale on Tuesday Feb. 18 at Milpitas. The Mustangs take on Monta Vista tonight in a 6:15 p.m. game on the Matadors’ floor.
Monta Vista started this week with a 4-3 record in El Camino Division play and an 11-10 mark overall. The Mats are attempting to finish with a winning record for the first time since going 1510 in 2013-14.
Last week, the Matadors nipped Santa Clara 39-35 for their second win in a row following a three-game losing streak.
The King’s Academy Knights remained atop the Skyline Division of the West Bay Athletic League last week, running their record to a perfect 7-0 by beating Crystal Springs Uplands 49-16 and Castilleja 39-28. The Knights improved their overall record to 13-5.