January 05, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Palo Alto definitely has a shot

This is the first in a series of stories previewing the high school winter sports season. Today: boys' basketball.

by Keith Peters

Had the Palo Alto boys' basketball team won last week's St. Francis Holiday Basketball Tournament, comparisons to the Vikings' state championship team of 1993 could have been made.

Paly, circa '93, used that tourney title to remain undefeated and continue a perfect season that culminated in a 31-0 campaign and the school's first state title in the sport. Paly, circa, '05, however, fell to Santa Cruz, 70-58, last Thursday night to fall to 13-1.

So, throw out those comparisons but don't throw out the season. The current Vikings comprise one of the best teams in the Central Coast Section and should advance past last year's second-round loss in the section playoffs.

Palo Alto, which opened defense of its SCVAL De Anza Division title on Tuesday night against Los Gatos, has all the tools to make this season a special one. The Vikings have height (five players 6-foot-5 or taller), experience (seven players off last season's 25-4 team), an outstanding point guard (junior Jeremy Lin) and fine perimeter players (seniors Brian Baskaukas, Nathan Ford, juniors Steven Brown and Lin).

The missing piece of the puzzle is toughness.

"No question, we need to get tougher," Paly coach Peter Diepenbrock said.

Palo Alto is not alone in missing an ingredient or two. Eastside Prep, 28-2 a year ago, has an entirely new starting lineup. Sacred Heart Prep, coming off the best season ever (16-0 in the Private Schools Athletic League and 26-4 overall), lost star Tyler Holland and three other starters to graduation. Menlo-Atherton returns only one starter in Dan Trautman. Gunn returns no senior starters. Mid-Peninsula lost leading scorer Da'Ron Maxie to graduation.

Despite all that's missing, only one team (Woodside Priory) enters league play this week with a losing record. The nine local teams have combined for a 60-39 record and three tournament titles (all by Palo Alto).

The Vikings missed a fourth tourney crown last week at St. Francis, falling behind CCS Division III favorite Santa Cruz by 17-2 in the first five minutes before putting on numerous rallies. After going scoreless on 11 of their first 12 possessions, the Vikings had runs of 9-0 and 10-0 to close to within 50-49 when Baskauskas made the first of two free throws with 7:03 left in the game. Santa Cruz turned the miss into an opportunity to go on an 8-0 run that turned into a 16-2 advantage to put the game away.

Palo Alto, which relies on a very solid man-to-man defense, was forced to zone against the tall and athletic Cardinals, who always found an open player who most often knocked down a shot.

Lin kept the Vikings in the game with a season-high 22 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Baskauskas added 14 despite not being effective on the perimeter while fellow 6-6 senior Greg Walder added 10.

Palo Alto's first big test of the De Anza Division season arrives Thursday in a road game against contender Fremont. Diepenbrock said the loss to Santa Cruz might have been well-timed for this week's division opener.

"It's always good to get a wakeup call, which lets us know there are things to work on," said Diepenbrock, who expects additional challenges from Homestead and Milpitas in league play.

Eastside Prep

Coach Chris Bischof has his youngest team since the school's first season in 1997. The Panthers lost every starter off last season's 28-2 squad that reached the NorCal Division V semifinals. Bischof also lost Gio Connor, who transferred to Fremont, and was without returner Clarence Webster for much of the preseason.

Carrying on the school's fine tradition is senior Tim Johnson, junior Anthony Grady, sophomores Marquis Pickrom, Ramon Meacham, and Mobolaji David, plus freshman Kahri Griggs. Despite the lack of numbers and height (no player is over 6 feet), the Panthers (9-5) reached the championship game of the Head Royce Roundball Classic last week before falling to NorCal Division V power Branson in the finals, 33-18.

Therein lies the problem for Bischof this season: no offensive firepower.

"We're going to have a hard time this season scoring," Bischof said.

The Panthers opened play in the Christian Private Schools Athletic League on Tuesday, risking their 85-0 record in league since 1997-98.

Gunn

The Titans (7-6) have one of the better CCS players in sophomore Peter Jordan, a versatile 6-4 forward who has carried his equally young teammates this season. Problem is, when Jordan is shut down, the Titans lose a big chunk of their offense. In a 56-30 win over Carlmont to cap the nonleague schedule, Jordan tallied 26. In a 41-39 loss to Eastside Prep in the consolation finals of the Fremont-Sunnyvale Holiday Classic, Jordan was held to 10.

First-year coach Chris Redfield's supporting cast includes 5-10 sophomore guard Bernard Anthony, 6-3 sophomore forward David Riley, 6-4 junior forward Matt Johnson, 5-9 junior guard Mike Wong, 6-0 senior forward Jason Griffin, 6-6 junior center Niel Brennan, and 6-0 senior guard Brennan Blair.

Menlo-Atherton

The Bears (5-5) lost only two PAL South Division games last season, both to co-division champ Woodside. The bad news is that the Wildcats are every bit as good as they were a year ago while M-A is not the same team that earned a four-way tie of the division title. Senior forward Dan Trautman has been the team's solid leader with his consistent play. His absence (due to sore leg) in the third-place game of the Sand Dune Classic last week, however, likely led to a 65-45 loss to PAL rival Aragon.

The supporting cast for coach Craig Carson includes 6-2 senior forward Chris Dallmar, 6-1 senior guard Carson Finkle, 5-11 senior guard Mike Jorgenson, 6-3 senior center Eric Peterson, 6-6, 250-pound sophomore center Jordan Sanvictores, 6-3 sophomore forward Logan Skidmore, 6-2 junior forward Gorjan Hrustanovic and 5-11 junior guard Noah Bennett.

Menlo School

New head coach Chris Weems began his first PAL North Division season this week with a 6-2 mark in preseason action. Expectations are high to improve upon last season's 4-9 league mark (11-13) overall with a solid group of returning players who have not lost by more than six points thus far.

Junior Blake Schultz has been the early scoring leader for the Knights, while seniors Brandy Bassett (6-3) and 6-3 Matt Curtis, juniors Kirk Lacob (6-0) and 6-1 Nick Schneider, 6-1 sophomore Beau Heidrich, and junior Zach Lagod have been contributing to the team's success, which includes the consolation title of the Carmel Invitational.

Weems brings a background of success, having played on Stanford's 1998 team that reached the NCAA Final Four and finished 30-5. Weems scored in double figures while starting at guard three straight years while helping the Cardinal go 78-20.

Mid-Peninsula

Head coach Curtis Haggins has seven players back from last season's fine 13-2 (20-6 overall) squad that set numerous school records, including earning a CCS berth and reaching 20 wins for the first time.

Senior Walter Washington is back to solidify the Dragons. Joining the 6-4 center are returnees Bruce Grady, a 6-3 sophomore forward; 5-11 senior guard Reggie Demery, 6-2 junior forward David Cruz, 5-8 junior guard Ben Capon, 5-9 junior guard Kevin O'Farrell plus newcomers Jamar Williams and Marcus Thomas.

Pinewood

Coach Andrew Slayton already has doubled last season's win total of two as the Panthers have posted a 4-3 mark in preseason play. The next task is PSAL play, where Pinewood went 1-15 a year ago, but is off to a 1-0 start prior to Tuesday's game against Woodside Priory.

Senior guard Vishal Nataranjan has taken over the scoring duties recently, averaging 15.6 points in the past three games. He's supported by 5-10 senior Josh Raskoff, 6-1 sophomore Nick Fraioli, 6-2 junior Tim Wang, 6-1 senior Greg Enenstein, 6-0 junior John Khainson, 5-10 sophomore Tyler Mosher, 5-10 junior Varoon Bose and 6-3 senior Andrew Kogan.

Sacred Heart Prep

First-year coach Angelo Biagi has six players off last year's PSAL championship team, but only junior guard Pat Coffey has starting experience. The 6-foot Coffey, who quarterbacked the Gators' football team in the fall, is the floor leader for SHP this winter during a 7-5 start.

Coffey averaged 15.9 points to help the Gators get the PSAL season off to a 3-0 start (6-3 overall) before missing the final three games (1-2 finish) of the Marin Catholic tournament.

His supporting cast includes 6-2 junior Chad Gibbs, who made two late free throws (for 14 points) to lift the Gators to a 44-42 win over Mills in the final Marin tourney game; 5-4 junior Kevin Izuka, 5-9 junior Mikel Davila, 5-10 senior Max Mandel, 5-10 junior Scott Cattaneo, 6-1 juniors Kevin Dos Remedios and Travis Lucian, 6-1 sophomore Michael McMahon, 6-3 senior Thomas Donahoe, 6-4 junior Eric Cowell, and 6-5 senior Jordan Stone.
Woodside Priory

First-year coach Jason Stamps has some attainable goals this season following last year's 2-14 finish in the PSAL and 6-17 overall mark. The Panthers went 3-7 in the preseason, including a 0-3 start in league play.

Junior Hap Plain, a 6-2 forward, is the key returnee along with 6-2 sophomore forward Alex Schreiner. Senior guard Michael Lo and 6-0 senior Tim Kovachy have been contributing, as well, along with Kristof Horompoly and Brian Yam.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.