Eastside Prep, SHP boys trying Eastside Prep, SHP boys trying (January 21, 2004)to remain focused despite lopsided wins

by Keith Peters

Chris Bischof and Lamont Quattlebaum have a lot in common these days with their respective boys' basketball teams.

Bischof has his Eastside Prep squad on a 14-game winning streak while Quattlebaum's Sacred Heart Prep team has won 12 straight.

Both teams are on a collision course to meet in the Central Coast Section Division V championship game in March, if they continue on their successful paths.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Bischof and Quattlebaum right now, however, is to keep their teams interested. In the past five games, Eastside Prep (2-0, 17-1) is winning by an average of 32 points a game, while Sacred Heart Prep (6-0, 13-2) is outscoring its opponents by 24.

"We're not going to get pushed in league," Quattlebaum said of the Private Schools Athletic League.

While the competition has been less-than-competitive for both teams, there have been plenty of positives. Both coaches, for one, have been able to give their respective benches plenty of playing time.

In Eastside's 91-6 rout of Downtown College Prep last week, Bischof pulled his starters before the end of the first quarter. Freshman Marquis Pickrom made the most of his opportunity to get off the bench by scoring a career-high 20 points in addition to 10 steals and four assists. Senior reserve Terell Whitfield scored nine points but grabbed 11 rebounds. Eleven of the Panthers' 12 players scored.

Sacred Heart Prep, meanwhile, had nine players score in a 72-44 romp over Pinewood last Friday.

"I've never had a bench that has played this much," Quattlebaum said. "Now I'm confident that in any big game I can go to my bench."

Helping make that possible has been the play of senior forward Tyler Holland, who scored 22 of his 29 points against Pinewood in the first half. He also tallied 17 points in a 58-45 nonleague win over Gunn on Saturday.

"He can do everything," Quattlebaum said of Holland, who has improved his shooting range this season. "He can bring the ball up the court, rebound, whatever. If you'd ask him him to get 12 assists, he'd get 12 assists."

Holland's all-around play and leadership this season has made up for the absence of 6-foot-6 senior Jamie Greene. After sustaining a stress fracture in his ankle, Greene attempted to come back too early. He played in two games before being sidelined again.

"He came back a little too early," Quattlebaum said. "The doctor put his ankle in a boot. That hurts. He might be able to come back in a couple weeks."

With Greene sidelined in last week's wins over Pinewood and Gunn, others filled in admirably. Sophomore Thomas Donahoe had 13 points in the Pinewood game while sophomore Pat Coffey scored 16, Samer Sayigh had 12 and Spencer Lucian 11 against Gunn.

"When those two (Coffey and Lucian) start scoring in double figures and Holland continues to do the same, we're pretty good," Quattlebaum said.

Gunn, meanwhile, felt the loss of freshman standout Peter Jordan in the loss to Sacred Heart. Jordan missed the game due to illness. A few nights earlier, however, he scored a career-high 32 points in a 76-65 win over host Homestead in SCVAL De Anza Division action. Senior Chris Mugler added 26 against the Mustangs and led the way against SHP with 18. Nick LaFleur also tallied 18 for the Titans, but Jordan's absence was noteworthy.

Gunn (3-1, 12-7) is off until Friday night when it plays host to rival Palo Alto (3-1, 14-3) in the teams' first meeting. The game will decide sole possession of second place, unless division-leading Milpitas (3-0) is upset this week.

Paly is coming off a big 48-30 win over visiting Los Gatos last Friday. Brian Baskauskas (14 points) and Jeremy Lin (12) led the offense, while Paly's defense really showed in the fourth quarter when Los Gatos amazingly was held scoreless.

Elsewhere last week:

Menlo-Atherton (4-0, 15-2) maintained its lead in the PAL Bay Division with a 61-46 win at Sequoia. Junior forward Dan Trautman scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Bears.

Mid-Peninsula (4-0, 10-4) remained tied for first place in the Christian Private Schools Athletic League with an 81-40 rout of East Palo Alto Academy. Da'Ron Maxie led the Dragons with 24 points, giving him 55 for the week.

Sean Moreau scored a season-high 22 points, but Woodside Priory (2-5, 7-9) was edged by King's Academy, 57-55, in PSAL play.
Girls

Palo Alto (4-0, 15-4) earned a guest TV appearance on High School Sports Focus last Friday following the Vikings' 62-41 thumping of visiting Los Gatos.

Jossy Tsenng (16 points), Bre Clay (12) and Sara Schulte (10) provided much of the offense. A 21-10 second quarter broke open an even game.

In the West Bay Athletic League, Castilleja (5-0, 14-3) received two more big efforts from junior Nikki Perlman as the Gators downed Mercy-Burlingame, 53-44, and defeated ICA, 58-47.

With the team's leading scorer, Mika Peterman, still sidelined with a knee injury, Perlman stepped it up with 21 points and 13 rebounds against Mercy. She topped that effort with a career-high 28 points and 18 rebounds against ICA.

In the CPSAL, Eastside Prep (2-0, 12-3) improved upon its school scoring record for the second straight game with a 97-31 rout of Downtown College Prep. Chantelle Brown (22 points), Brijitti Crum (20) and Sade Johnson (15) all had double-doubles for points and rebounds. Fast-improving Torey Walker added 12 points.
Wrestling

Max Pinto (171 pounds) and fellow senior Adam Dexter (161) both went 4-1 and earned silver medals in their respective weight divisions at the prestigious Jim Root Invitational last Saturday at West Valley College in Saratoga. Fernando Shahpouri went 3-2 at 112 pounds to help the Vikings finish 18th out of 42 teams.

Gunn closed its SCVAL El Camino Division home schedule with a 54-23 decision over Lynbrook last week. Gunn's Chris Gumbrecht (103), Kiyoshi Kawano (112), Jin-Jay Chang (125), James Thomas (152), Ross Raffin (189) and Juan Cativo (215) all won their matches by pin.

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