Wildcats in the zone as winning streak stretches to 9
The Los Gatos girls basketball team is proving tough to beat at the moment.
In a matchup of teams ranked in last week's Bay Area News Group Top 20 — Los Gatos was 16th and Monta Vista was 18th — the Wildcats rans their winning streak to nine games with a 58-39 victory at home on Jan. 19.
But is the best yet to come?
“I feel we are on the right trajectory and we are not peaking,” Los Gatos coach Sara Quilici Giles said. “We have good things to come.”
Los Gatos entered this week with a 14-3 overall record and a perfect 6-0 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division mark.
“Every team will give us their best game now because we are in first place,” Quilici Giles said. “Our mindset is always that we are down by two. … That's the effort that we are putting in.”
Los Gatos trailed early in the first quarter against Monta Vista, but led 19-8 after the first eight minutes and 31-21 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats held a 4226 advantage.
“Our zone is starting to figure itself out,” Quicili Giles said. “We are using our length to our advantage. … We are really clogging gaps.”
Nicole Steiner led the Wildcats with 19 points, including 7 for 12 field-goal shooting. The sophomore also had a team-high 15 rebounds and three steals. Ashley Childers added 16 points and a team-high six assists.
Los Gatos opened last week with a 48-39 nonleague
victory over Evergreen Valley. The Wildcats trailed 26-24 at halftime and held only a one-point lead with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Childers sank a pair of 3-pointers, the first on a deep shot and the other with less than 90 seconds remaining, to put Los Gatos up by seven points.
“It was a huge shot,” Quilici Giles said.
The next night, Los Gatos took a 10-2 lead and didn't look back after that in a 60-34 victory over visiting Saratoga. Childers scored a career-high 22 points and Casey Brennan dished out eight assists, one off the school record according to Quilici Giles. Steiner added 18 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Boys basketball
Los Gatos entered this
week with a 13-5 overall record and a 5-1 SCVAL De Anza Division mark — part of a three-way tie atop the standings with Mountain View and Palo Alto.
On Jan. 16, the Wildcats trailed 23-21 at halftime to host Gunn, but pulled away after intermission for a 49-33 victory. Max Houghton scored a teamhigh 16 points and also led the team in rebounds with eight. Houghton and Ronan Chinmulgund both dealt three assists, while Scotty Brennan had a team-high three steals along with eight points.
Two nights later, Los Gatos led 29-24 at halftime against visiting Saratoga on its way to a 56-39 triumph. Nolan Koch and Brennan both scored 11 points to pace Los Gatos.
But the Wildcats fell to host Mountain View 60-45 on Jan. 20 after going into the locker room all even at
26-all. Koch and Chinmulgund paced the team in scoring with nine points apiece.
Girls soccer
Los Gatos outscored its two opponents last week by a total of 7-2 and entered this week barely behind leader Wilcox in the SCVAL El Camino Division
standings.
On Jan. 17, the Wildcats scored twice in the first half against host Monta Vista and eventually won 3-1. Leila Nicole Pozas produced two goals in the victory, with Monta Vista contributing an own goal off a Sam Elliott cross.
Two days later, the Wildcats produced two goals in
each half of a 4-1 victory over host Lynbrook. Elliott found the back of the net twice, while teammate Brynn Gibson also scored.
The Wildcats entered this week with a 7-2-2 overall record and 4-0-1 SCVAL El Camino Division mark; Wilcox was 4-0-2 in the El Camino Division.
Boys soccer
Los Gatos notched a pair of victories last week and entered this week tied for first in the SCVAL El Camino Division.
On Jan. 17, Los Gatos held off host Monta Vista 3-2. The Wildcats held a 1-0 lead at halftime. Brady Kamali, Nico Olivella Rogelis and Omer Rabin scored for Los Gatos
Two nights later, the Wildcats shut out Lynbrook 2-0 with goals from Drew Dillehay and James Niemeyer and entered this week with a 7-3-2 overall mark, a 4-1-1 El Camino record and an eight-game unbeaten streak.