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Pinewood won its second game in as many days and remained tied for first placed in the West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) girls' basketball race following a 50-42 win over visiting Menlo School on Wednesday.

The Panthers (6-1, 16-4) overcame an outstanding individual effort by Menlo's Drew Edelman (16 points, 19 rebounds) and their own horrendous shooting (16 of 60 for 27 percent) to win their third straight.

Marissa Hing led Pinewood with 16 points while Gabi Bade added 10 points and freshman Chloe Eackles contributed nine points and eight rebounds.

Maddy Price finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Menlo (4-3, 14-7).

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Gunn remained a game back of first place following a 43-39 victory over visiting Milpitas on Wednesday. The Titans (5-2, 12-5) were led by junior guard Zoe Zwerling's 23 points while sophomore Meghan Mahoney added 13.

In Saratoga, Palo Alto dropped back in the race after falling to the host Falcons, 53-46. The Vikings (4-3, 8-10) suffered their second straight loss. Paly and Saratoga were tied at 32 heading into the final quarter before the Falcons erupted for 21 points. Coco Lovely paced Paly with 14 points, draining a trio of three-pointers.

The Vikings did not handle Saratoga's pressing defense well and turned the ball over 16 times in the first half. Paly did a better job in the second half, beating the fullcourt pressure to get back in the game.

In the PAL South Division, host Menlo-Atherton fell two games off the pace following a 53-49 loss to Burlingame (7-1). The Bears (6-2, 10-10) clung to a 30-29 halftime lead before being outscored 10-5 in the crucial third period. Emma Heath tossed in 18 points and Sarah Howell added 10 for M-A.

Boys' basketball
Trailing by 14 points entering the fourth quarter, Menlo-Atherton put on a charge before coming up short in a 53-48 loss to host Burlingame in PAL South Division action Wednesday. The Bears (3-5, 7-13), who were coming off back-to-back wins, got 13 points from Jamar Gaddis against the first-place Panthers (8-0).

Boys' soccer
Sacred Heart Prep opened up a five-point lead over second-place Menlo School following a 7-0 romp over visiting Pinewood in a West Bay Athletic League match on Wednesday.

Brendan Spillane tallied two goals and two assists, all in the first half, as the first-place Gators (8-0-1, 11-2-2) grabbed a comfortable 6-0 lead. Robert Hellman added one goal and two assists.

In San Jose, Menlo fell back in the race following a 0-0 deadlock with host Harker. The second-place Knights are now 6-1-2 in league for 20 points (9-3-3 overall). Only the top two teams in the WBAL automatically qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Menlo started strongly, creating a few dangerous chances in the opening minutes. Sophomore Kyle Perez played junior Matt Myers in on goal down the left wing but Myers was unable to get a shot off before the Harker defense recovered. A few minutes later senior captain Max Parker got behind the Harker defense only for the Eagles' goalie to make a good save.

The game settled down from there and the rest of the half was fairly even with Harker forcing Menlo senior captain Timmy Costa into a good save late in the half on a fierce strike from outside the box. Costa recorded his ninth shutout of the season as Menlo outshot Harker, 14-6.

The Knights came out for the second half with a different defensive game plan that stifled Harker, forcing the Eagles to play long balls out of the back that Menlo won in midfield. Midway through the half Menlo appeared to take the lead after Perez played a dangerous free kick into the box, which junior Justin Wang headed on for sophomore Jackson Wagner to finish -- only for the goal to be called back for offsides.

In nonleague action, Palo Alto kept its postseason hopes alive with a 2-0 victory over visiting Gunn. The Vikings (10-4-2)got a first-half goal from senior Kirby Gee, off a deflection of a Gunn player, and sophomore Preston Kuppe tallied an unassisted goal in the second half to hand the Titans (5-9-2) the loss.

Gunn keeper Mack Radin made several nice stops in the first half to prevent possible goals by Chris Meredith and Gen Murphy. Paly hit the post and crossbar before Gee's shot hit a Gunn player and caromed into the cage.

Paly had another deflection off the post that didn't go in during second-half action. Kuppe took a pass from Fernando Rodriguez and dribbled past two defenders before knocking a shot off Radin for the insurance goal.

Paly keeper Tony Maharaj had two nice saves, including a spectacular diving save off a header by Gunn's Guy Kaznik. Gee and fellow senior captain Alex Chin had arguably their best defensive games of the season as Gunn had just a few shots on frame.

The Menlo-Atherton vs. Sequoia match in PAL Bay Division action was not reported.

Girls' soccer
Palo Alto tuned up for its run at a SCVAL El Camino Division title with a 1-0 nonleague win over host Gunn on Wednesday night.

Paly junior Megan Tall ended the scoreless battle with about 20 minutes gone in the second half, taking a pass from Sunny Lyu before shaking a Gunn defender and the Titans' goalie to score.

Palo Alto improved to 9-4-2 while Gunn dropped to 2-9-3.

Gunn had an opportunity to take the lead when Ming Ming Liu made a steal and passed it into the box, where Camille Shrager's shot was saved by Paly keeper Catherine Angell-Atchison. Paly's Katherine Maniscalco later ran down a Gunn player to break up a one on one.

— Palo Alto Online Sports

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