Paly teams in first-place showdowns Paly teams in first-place showdowns (January 24, 2003)

by Keith Peters

First place will be at stake for the Palo Alto girls' and boys' basketball teams tonight when the Vikings visit Milpitas in SCVAL De Anza Division action.

The girls' matchup at 6 p.m. will pit division-leading Paly (4-0, 12-5) and second-place Milpitas (3-1) while the boys' 7:30 p.m. showdown matches the co-division leading Vikings (3-1, 13-5) against the fourth-place Trojans (2-2), who are always dangerous at home but did drop a 57-53 overtime decision at Fremont on Tuesday.

Both Paly teams tuned up for their respective showdowns with arguably their easiest wins of the season this week. The boys romped past winless Homestead, 80-25, with the girls humbling winless Los Altos, 70-19.

On Wednesday, Paly senior Megan Martin tallied a game-high 18 points while Kate Baskauskas contributed 12 and Sara Schulte 10. On Tuesday, Ryan Symes scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the third quarter during a 31-7 run, to help put the Vikings into a three-way tie for first place.

The Gunn, boys, meanwhile, helped Paly by upending visiting Los Gatos, 40-39. Derek Brannon and Menno Goedman each made a pair of free throws in the final 1:09 to give the Titans perhaps their most significant victory of the season.

The Titans (2-3, 10-10) had been struggling, playing two or three good quarters but letting one bad one ruin the outcome. Against the Wildcats, Gunn finally put together solid effort the entire game and were rewarded. Brannon led the way with 16 points

In the PAL South Division race, the Menlo-Atherton boys kept Capuchino winless with a 59-39 thrashing as Dan Trautman (13 points), Mark Daiss (12) and Mishi Martinez (11) kept the Bears (4-1, 11-7) in a four-way tie for first place. That status will be tested tonight when M-A visits always tough Woodside (3-2) at 7:45 p.m.

In the Christian Private Schools Athletic League, Eastside Prep coach Chris Bischof is slowly putting his team back together following a rash of injuries. First off the injury list is senior Jeremiah Williams, who missed three games with a sprained ankle. In his second game back, Williams scored 20 points and had five steals on Tuesday to help spark the Panthers to an 85-16 romp over Liberty Baptist in league play.

While Williams single-handedly outscored the visitors, the same could be said for two of his teammates. Stephen Waller had a huge game with 22 points and 18 rebounds while Victor Pannu contributed 19 points. Junior guards Myron Jordan and Jeff Nichols split 20 points for Eastside, which plays host to St. Thomas More tonight (7 p.m.) and then welcomes second-place Mid-Peninsula on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. to close the first half of league play.

Mid-Peninsula has made some big improvements this season under first-year coach Curtis Haggins, a former prep standout at Menlo-Atherton and Woodside. The Dragons are 4-1 in the CPSAL (10-4 overall) heading into today's 1:30 p.m. home game against San Francisco Christian.

Junior Daron Maxie led Mid-Pen with 19 points while the Dragons' trio of seniors - Mike Lobrovich (18), Jerome DeGuzman (16) and Paul Paek (11) -- rounded out the scoring. In PAL North Division play, Menlo finally got its first-ever victory in its new league, a 47-42 squeaker over last-place Westmoor. Knights' senior Ryan Seawell scored a season-high 29 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and added four assists. He made 13 of 16 from the foul line to help rally Menlo (1-5, 7-10) from a two-point deficit entering the fourth quarter. Menlo welcomed back Nate Wilcox-Fogel, who had been sidelined with a stress fracture. He contributed a three-pointer to the victory.

Girls basketball

Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler is looking forward to playing visiting King's Academy tonight (7 p.m.) in Private Schools Athletic League action and Marin Catholic on Saturday (4 p.m.) in a nonleague home test, if for no other reason than being able to have the scores published.

That wasn't the case this week when the Panthers (3-0. 9-4) played a clearly outmanned St. Lawrence team. Pinewood won, well, very comfortably.

Katy Digovich led the way with 30 points, making 12 of 13 field goals in barely three quarters. Fellow senior Yasemin Kimyacioglu made seven of eight shots and finished with 19 points. Pinewood made its first five three-pointers and finished with 16, led by 20-0 after three minutes and, well, you get the idea.

To better put the game in perspective, Pinewood beat a solid Acalanes team on Saturday by 30 points in the Acalanes Shootout. The Panthers blew open a close game with a 30-9 advantage in the third quarter.

"When we're on our game, we're tough to beat," Scheppler said.

In the PAL North Division, Menlo (5-1, 11-7) bounced back from Saturday's one-point overtime loss to Castilleja in nonleague action to beat visiting Westmoor, 66-47, and remain in a three-way tie atop the division.

Menlo senior Kathryn Pade, who fouled out in regulation against Castilleja, stayed out of foul trouble Tuesday. She scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while teammate Kristin Olson contributed a season-high 19 points to the Knights' cause.

In the PAL South Division, Meredith Pressfield poured in 21 points while Shayna Smith and Sara Bowser combined for 22 to spark Menlo-Atherton (3-2, 7-11) to a 63-34 romp over Capuchino.

In CPSAL action, Eastside Prep (4-0, 12-6) took another step closer to defending its title with a 83-25 rout of visiting Liberty Baptist on Tuesday.

Chantelle Brown led the way with 20 points while Markisha Coleman added 19 and Brijitta Crum had 14 for the Panthers, who have just four league games remaining.