January 30, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Eastside Prep, Castilleja match their hoop strengths

by Keith Peters

The Eastside Prep girls' basketball team is averaging 71.4 points a game over its past five contests. Castilleja, meanwhile, is allowing just 39.4 points during the same time.

On Saturday night at 7 p.m., the offensive-minded Panthers will be host the defensive-minded Gators. Something has to give.

"We think this is a good matchup for us," said Castilleja coach Jez McIntosh. "Our defense is designed to hold teams under 40 points. So, that will be the challenge."

Castilleja, which saw its nine-game winning streak end while dropping its first West Bay Athletic League game on Tuesday to first-place Notre Dame-San Jose, 39-33, takes a 6-1 league record (15-4 overall) into tonight's WBAL home game against Harker.

Eastside Prep will bring a 15-3 overall record into Saturday's game after raising the school scoring record again Monday in a 98-24 rout of visiting Mountain View Academy. Toss out last Saturday's 67-43 nonleague win over San Rafael, and the Panthers are averaging 95 points over a four-game period.

Will Eastside score that many on Castilleja?

"No," McIntosh said. "We only lost to them by one point last year (51-50) and we should have won."

Eastside Prep has been putting five players in double figures most games. On Monday, senior Chantelle Brown led the way with 22 points and 14 rebounds, 10 on the offensive boards. Brijitti Crum and Torey Walker each added 19 points, with Walker contributing seven steals. Sharissa McDaniel tallied 17 points and Sade Johnson had 14 points and seven steals.

Castilleja, meanwhile, made only nine of 20 free-throw attempts while scoring a season-low 33 points against NDSJ. The Gators, however, have been without scoring leader Mika Peterman for four weeks after suffering a torn posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in her left knee. She was cleared by her doctor on Wednesday and rejoined the team that day. McIntosh will ease her into the Harker game, and her play tonight will determine her availability against Eastside.

With Peterman back, Castilleja has a solid one-two scoring punch with fellow junior Nikki Perlman, who has been averaging nearly a double-double (points, rebounds) during Peterman's absence. Others like Allison Baxterbeck, Logan McClure, Kate VanderePloeg and Rachel Dwan have contributed victories along the way, as well.

Elsewhere in girls' basketball:

In the Private Schools Athletic League, Pinewood (4-0, 9-6) got a career-high 22 points plus 12 rebounds from senior Liz Ashby in an 82-45 romp over visiting King's Academy. Sophomore Liz Altmaier added 17 points and fredshman Samantha Field-Polisso contributed 16.

In the PAL South Division, Menlo-Atherton (2-5, 5-13) got 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals from Meredith Pressfield in a 48-24 romp over Capuchino.

In the West Catholic Athletic League, Emma Hoffacker had 13 points and Jessica Pecota added 12 points and nine rebounds for Sacred Heart Prep (2-6, 8-11), which let a one-point lead slip away in the final seven seconds of a 40-38 loss at St. Ignatius.

Boys' basketball

Sacred Heart Prep senior Tyler Holland scored a season-high 33 points to pace the Gators (9-0, 16-2) to a 68-45 triumph over host Valley Christian-Dublin. SHP will be host to Redwood Christian tonight at 5 p.m. in a battle for first place in the Private School Athletic League.

Palo Alto (17-3) tuned up for tonight's SCVAL De Anza Division first-place battle with visiting Milpitas (7:30 p.m.) with a 52-42 nonleague victory at Santa Clara.. Sophomore guard Jeremy Lin led the Vikings with 16 points while senior center Oystein Aukland scored 14. It was the 17th time this season that Paly has held its opponent to under 50 points.

In De Anza Division action, Milpitas (6-0) remained in first place with a 59-56 nail-biter over visiting Homestead while Gunn (3-3, 12-9) fell back following a 67-38 spanking administered by host Fremont.

In the PAL North Division, sophomore Blake Schultz scored 13 points to pace Menlo School (2-6, 9-9) to a 43-34 win over host Westmoor, which was limited to just 26 shot attempts by the Knights' tenacious defense.

On Monday, Eastside Prep (4-0, 19-1) won its 16th straight game with a 60-32 CPSAL triumph over visiting Mountain View Academy. Keith Garner scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Stephen Waller added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers.
Boys soccer

Gunn (4-1-2, 11-2-3) moved into a third for third place in the De Anza Division with a 2-0 win over visiting Los Gatos. Matt Marquess and Eadon Jacobs scored for the Titans while Nick Marsh and Ryan McDermott provided assists.

Mountain View still leads the division at 6-2-1 with Palo Alto second at 5-2.
Girls soccer

Woodside Priory (2-3, 6-4-1) moved within two points of second-place Mercy-Burlingame following a 1-0 WBAL victory over visiting Harker. Christina Tobacco scored the game-winning goal.

Menlo School (4-2-3, 10-3-3) remained in fourth place in the PAL Bay Division following a 1-1 deadlock with last-place Terra Nova on Tuesday. Molly Lapolla scored for the Knights, off an assist by Kate Bentley.
Water polo

Many of the top CCS girls made the most of a trip to Florida recently and brought home a team championship from the fourth annual Winter Invitational 18-under Water Polo Tournament in Orlando.

The CCS players made up two teams, one of primarily seniors and sophomores and the other primarily juniors. Eleven players combined from Sacred Heart Prep and St. Francis competed alongside players from Mitty, Cupertino, Presentation, Soquel, Aptos and Live Oak. Sacred Heart Prep's Ed Samuels was one of the coaches.

Playing through separate brackets over the three-day event, the two local squads went undefeated in round-robin play (7-0) and faced each other in the championship match, won by the senior-junior squad, 8-4.

Local players included Sacred Heart's Christie Clark, Anne Deggelman, Ali Gramaglia, Melissa Mordell, Bailey Samuels and twins Carrie and Janey Paton. St. Francis was represented by Natalie Chrisman, Natalie O'Farriell, Amanda Tipton and Audrey Yau.

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