Los Gatos girls’ basketball and soccer teams advance.
Wildcats girls soccer team also plays in Northern California tournament
The Los Gatos High School girls basketball team reached the CIF Central Coast Section Division I semifinals last week and snagged a spot in this week’s CIF Northern California regionals after a clutch 32-31 overtime win over No. 4 seed Sequoia.
The Wildcats are the No. 14 seed in the Division III Northern regional playoffs and played at No. 3 Placer on Tuesday. The winner played in Thursday’s second round and the semifinals are Saturday.
In the CIF-CCS quarterfinals on Feb. 25, Los Gatos trailed 14-11 at halftime, but outscored the Ravens 12-7 in the third quarter. In overtime, Los Gatos edged Sequoia 3-2.
Olivia Lo paced the Wildcats with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Los Gatos, the No. 5 seed, hosted No. 1 Palo Alto in the semifinals on Feb. 27. It was also the site of the other Division I quarterfinal. The Wildcats fell behind 2112 in the second quarter and lost 45-37. Lo produced 12 points again to lead her team in scoring.
The fifth edition of Archbishop Mitty versus Pinewood matchup in the CIF-CCS Open Division final ended up just like the previous four meetings.
Behind a swarming defense and numerous contributions on offense Feb. 28 at Stanford’s Maples Pavilion, top-seeded Mitty defeated No. 2 Pinewood 76-44, its biggest margin of victory this season over the Panthers.
“I thought we played with great pace and we were thoroughly efficient offensively as well,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips said. “Pinewood’s a great team and it’s obviously a great win for us, and we’re grateful for the CCS championship, and we live another day.”
Thirteen Mitty players scored.
The opening eight minutes left the title up for grabs, as a layup by Pinewood’s Una Jovanovic narrowed Mitty’s lead to 13-10 at the end of the quarter. But the Monarchs, who extended their win streak to 17 games, had an answer.
In the opening minute of the second quarter, both Ashley Hiraki and Olivia Williams sank 3-pointers for a 1910 Mitty advantage. Another Mitty 3-pointer, this time by Noemie Bariteau, gave the Monarchs a 26-14 advantage with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left in the half.
Mitty went on an 11-3 run to end the half up 32-17, and led by at least 20 points in the last 11 minutes of the game.
Williams, in her second season at Mitty after transferring from Pinewood following her freshman year, led all scorers with 17 points on 8 for 12 shooting.
But she talked about the team’s defense after the game.
The Monarchs forced 22 turnovers and held the Panthers to 28.1% from the field, including 16.7% from long range.
“We had to stop the 3 and maintain that, and if there was a drive inside, stay glued on the shooters,” Williams said.
Girls soccer
Los Gatos reached the CIF-CCS Open Division semifinals last week and advanced to the CIF Northern California regionals this week.
On Feb. 25, the thirdseeded Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the first half against second-seeded St. Francis on a goal by Isabella Scott, which was assisted by Emily Nedom. But the Lancers came back with a pair of goals in the second half for a 2-1 victory.
Because it reached the semifinals, Los Gatos advanced to the Norcal regionals. The Wildcats, who are seeded third in Division II, opened the tournament against No. 6 Maria Carrillo on Tuesday. The semifinals were Thursday and the final is Saturday.
Boys wrestling
Los Gatos’ Thomas Mailhot won his opening match at the CIF State championships last week in Bakersfield before being eliminated in the consolation bracket.
Mailhot shut out Luke Meyer of Bakersfield 7-0 in the first round, but then fell 11-5 to Xavier Jones of Valley Center. In the consolation bracket, Tal Malhi of Pitman-turlock edged Mailhot 2-1.
Baseball
Los Gatos opened its season with a 4-3 victory at St. Francis on Feb. 27.
Wildcats junior Logan Johnstone had a big game. He was 4 for 5 at the plate, including a triple, and drove in a run. Tommy Splaine had two RBIS for Los Gatos.
Prospect went 2-1 last week to open the season.
On Feb. 25, the Panthers scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to top Lynbrook 5-1.
Jackson Prudhon drove in three runs, Connor Kenigsberg had two RBI, and Brandon Rodriguez had a double for Prospect. Randy Lemos and Kenigsberg both pitched three innings of shutout ball.
Four Prospect pitchers combined for a threehit shutout in a 2-0 win over visiting Saratoga on Feb. 27. Lemos was 2 for 3 with a run scored, and Prudhon also scored a run in the victory.
In a 9-5 loss to Del Mar Saturday, Prospect had a big game at the plate from Joshal Parikh. The senior was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Robert Drews was 2 for 3 with an RBI for the Panthers, and Ketan Bagade also drove in a run.
Saratoga also lost 4-2 to Branham and 7-4 to Sobrato last week. In the Branham game on Feb. 25, Mihir Bettadapur was 2 for 3, including a double, and drove in a run. Against Sobrato Saturday, Nik Scridhar had a double and drove in two runs. Trevor Green and Karan Vizirani also had doubles.