February 20, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Castilleja captures WBAL hoop title

by Keith Peters

The last time Castilleja School won a basketball title, the current members of the team weren't even born.

The year was 1985. The league was the Girls Private Schools League. Since then, Castilleja has been in numerous leagues but had yet to duplicate that title. Until Monday night.

With junior guard Mika Peterman scoring 15 of her game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter, the Gators rallied for a 50-42 triumph over visiting Notre Dame-San Jose to clinch the West Bay Athletic League regular-season championship before a standing-room only crowd.

Castilleja finished 11-1 (21-5 overall) while Notre Dame-San Jose fell to 10-2 in league.

"I am very proud of these girls," said Castilleja coach Jez McIntosh, in his sixth season. "I am extremely proud for what these girls have accomplished. They have worked so hard over the years and I am very happy for them They deserve this."

Moreover, the Gators earned it Monday night. After an early lead, Castilleja went cold and trailed by 21-15 in the second quarter. The Gators closed it to 29-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Castilleja, however, lost junior Nikki Perlman to a fifth foul with 6:33 left in the game. Earlier in the day, Perlman was named Most Valuable Player in the WBAL after leading the league in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (11.9). Within moments, Peterman nailed a three-pointer for a 35-32 lead and the Gators were on their way to an 8-2 run.

Peterman was sidelined with a knee injury the first time Castilleja and NDSJ met. The host Regents won that game, 39-33, as the Gators missed 11 free throws.

While Castilleja missed 13 free throws Monday, the Gators made nine of 12 during a 22-point fourth quarter with Peterman leading the way.

"Mika took over the game and was pretty much unstoppable in the fourth quarter," McIntosh said.

NDSJ got to within 42-38, but Allison Baxterbeck hit one of two free throws with 1:48 left. After the Regents were called for traveling, Peterman drove for a layin and 45-38 advantage. Peterman sealed the victory by making four straight free throws in the final 27 seconds.

Kate VanderPloeg helped fill in when Perlman went to the bench, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds and dishing five assists. Perlman had eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out.

Castilleja will have a first-round bye in the WBAL playoffs, which begin Wednesday. The Gators will play the winner of the Harker/Mercy-Burlingame winner on Friday at Mercy-San Francisco at 5 p.m. The playoff finals will be Saturday, also in San Francisco, at 7 p.m. Castilleja likely will face Notre Dame-San Jose again.

The Central Coast Section seeding meeting will be Sunday, with first-round games set for Feb. 28. All CCS Division V games will be at Mercy-San Francisco.

Elsewhere in girls' hoop action this week:

Sacred Heart Prep (12-14) won't have a .500 or better record heading into CCS following a 46-40 loss to host St. Ignatius on Tuesday night in the opening round of the West Catholic Athletic League playoffs. Jessica Pecota tallied 12 points to lead SHP.

The Gators, who went 6-8 in the WCAL this season, should get into CCS based on strength of schedule and should be among the favorites for the Division V title.

In the SCVAL El Camino Division, Gunn (5-6, 7-13) got 16 points from Jessica Perricone and 12 from Kaja Martin in a 47-45 win over visiting Fremont on Tuesday night. The Titans grabbed a 29-18 halftime lead and then withstood a rally by the Firebirds.

Gunn closed its season last night against visiting Cupertino.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto (9-2, 20-6) needs a victory at Los Gatos tonight at 6 p.m. to assure the Vikings of no worse than a share of the division title. Homestead and Saratoga also are 9-2 heading into their regular-season finales.

In the Private Schools Athletic League, Pinewood (9-0, 14-9) already has clinched the league crown heading into tonight's regular-season finale at Fremont Christian. The Panthers are coming off a 65-50 nonleague loss to host Marin Catholic last Saturday. Daniela Roark led Pinewood with 16 points while Liz Altmaier added 12. Sophomore Alissa Flesher, who scored a combined 42 points in her previous two games, was held to eight.
Boys basketball

Mid-Peninsula can win its first-ever Christian Private Schools Athletic League title tonight by defeating host North Valley Baptist. The Dragons (13-1, 19-5) clinched no worse than a tie for the league crown with a 70-29 romp over visiting Downtown College Prep on Tuesday.

The victory gave Mid-Pen a school-record 19th win and wrapped up an automatic CCS berth for the Division V playoffs.

Senior Da'Ron Maxie paced the Dragons with 18 points while junior Walter Washington and sophomore David Cruz added nine each.

Six-time defending league champion Eastside Prep isn't eligible to defend this season, since the Panthers played only half the league schedule in order to play a more challenging nonleague schedule.

In the PSAL, Sacred Heart Prep (15-0, 22-2) moved closer to a second straight undefeated league season with a 60-22 romp over host Pinewood on Wednesday night.

Seniors Tyler Holland and Jamie Greene each scored 14 points for SHP. Holland continues to pace the team with a 20.2 scoring average while Greene ranks behind Pat Coffey's 9.5 ppg with his 8.4 average. The Gators will conclude their regular-season schedule tonight at The King's Academy, which posted a 49-35 win over host Woodside Priory on Tuesday despite a 24-point outburst by the Panthers' Hap Plain. Priory fell to 2-13 (6-16 overall).

In the Peninsula Athletic League playoffs, Menlo-Atherton (22-4) got 14 points from senior Steve Yob and junior Dan Trautman in a 75-41 win over visiting South San Francisco in the opening round. Senior Peter Hogue scored all nine of his points in the first quarter to get the Bears off to a 20-10 lead.

The Bears will play Burlingame in the semifinala tonight (7:45 p.m.) at South San Francisco, with the winner advancing to Saturday's finals at 8 p.m., also at SSF. Tonight's other semifinal pits Woodside against El Camino at 4:30 p.m. The Wildcats eliminated Jefferson, 79-62, while El Camino ousted Aragon, 67-65 in overtime.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, freshman Peter Jordan scored 22 points as Gunn (5-6, 14-12) pulled into a three-way tie for third place with a 52-50 win over host Fremont on Wednesday night. The victory earned Gunn a CCS berth.

Doug Campbell added 11 points for the Titans, who host Homestead tonight at 7:30 p.m. in their regular-season finale.

In nonleague action, Palo Alto (23-3) streaked to a 40-29 halftime lead and cruised to a 63-54 win over visiting San Leandro on Tuesday night. Senior Oystein Aukland led a balanced Vikings' attack with 13 points while sophomores Jeremy Lin and Cooper Miller added 12 each. Junior Brian Baskauskas tossed in 11 for Paly, which closes its De Anza Division season tonight at Los Gatos. The Vikings need a victory to earn a share of the league title with Milpitas.
Wrestling

Palo Alto senior James McCluskey will begin his quest for a section championship when he takes the No. 1 seed at 277 pounds into the CCS tournament that begins today and concludes Saturday at Independence High in San Jose.

McCluskey, who defended his SCVAL title last weekend, is the most experienced of the four seeds in his weight class and should be considered the favorite.

"If he doesn't take first, he'll be devastated," said Paly assistant coach David Jones. "I don't think he'll be truly tested until the semifinals."

Action begins today at 10 a.m. and continues into the early evening. Consolation matches start Saturday at 10 a.m., with the championship bouts starting at 6 p.m. The top three finishers will advance to the CIF State Meet at the Centennial Garden & Convention Center in Bakersfield, March 5-6.

McCluskey finished fourth in last season's CCS meet with a 4-2 record. All four wins were by pin. Second-seeded Alex Balogh of Watsonville, No. 3 Tommy James of Independence and No. 4 Blaize Davis of Hillsdale are all seniors. James and Davis didn't compete at CCS last year.

James is the only one of that group that McCluskey has wrestled this season. McCluskey beat James at the Coast Classic but fell to James at the Lynn Dyche Invitational.

Paly senior Adam Dexter is a No. 4 seed at 162 pounds while Gunn senior Will Keller is a No. 4 seed at 173 pounds. Dexter went 0-2 at 152 pounds at the 2003 CCS meet while Keller went 2-2.

Also entered from Palo Alto is freshman Jonathan Leape (105), junior Fernando Shahpouri (114), junior Gianni Rosas (127), junior Amir Shahhosseini (137) and senior Rudolfo Rios (154).

Joining Keller from Gunn will be freshman Chris Gumbrecht (105), junior James Thomas (147), sophomore Ross Raffin (191), junior Juan Cativo (217) and junior Adam Juratovac (277).

Menlo-Atherton will be represented by Samuel Pech (137).

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