Publication Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2005
PREP ROUNDUP
SHP boys win title, 60th straight in PSAL hoops
SHP boys win title, 60th straight in PSAL hoops
(February 16, 2005) by Keith Peters
The Sacred Heart Prep boys' basketball team is two victories away from achieving a remarkable string of success.
The Gators began this week with a 14-0 record in the Private Schools Athletic League (18-5 overall) after clinching the league title last Friday with a 46-42 win over visiting King's Academy.
Two wins this week to conclude regular-season play and the Gators will have three straight years of finishing 16-0 in the PSAL, while stretching their league winning streak to 62 straight - including 14 in a row to end the 2001-02 season.
While the Eastside Prep boys have won 95 consecutive games in the Christian Private Schools Athletic League, the competition (until recently) has been arguably more difficult in the PSAL.
Sacred Heart Prep's performance this season has been impressive for a number of reasons. The Gators lost their leading scorer (Tyler Holland), their coach (Lamont Quattlebaum) and their athletic director (Mike Ciardella) but have not missed a beat.
First-year coach Angelo Biagi and new AD Anthony Thomas both came from Urban School in San Francisco and have settled in like they've been around for years. Despite losing four starters to graduation and having five of the six returning players being juniors, Biagi has put together a solid unit that features only one senior.
The underclassmen carried SHP against second-place King's Academy, with junior Pat Coffey scoring 15 of his team-high 20 points in the first half and junior Eric Cowell tallying five of his 14 points in the fourth quarter to hold off the visitors.
After Coffey made two free throws for a 41-34 lead with 6:34 to play, King's rallied to within 41-38 until Cowell put in a follow shot. He made one of two free throws for a 44-39 lead with 2:08 left before grabbing a loose ball and calling time to retain possession with 1:14 left. Cowell then scored on the ensuing inbounds play for a 46-39 lead. The Gators survived two turnovers and three missed free throws to secure the victory and title.
The Menlo boys (11-3, 17-5) clinched the PAL North Division crown on the same evening, disposing of host Half Moon Bay, 45-27. It was the Knights' first PAL crown and it avenged last season's loss to the Cougars, who clinched the league crown by beating Menlo on its home court.
The win earned host Menlo the No. 1 seed from the North Division and a date opposite No. 4 Menlo-Atherton of the South Division in Wednesday's first round of the PAL playoffs at 7:30 p.m. The Menlo girls (9-5, 14-10) will host Sequoia at 6 p.m., in another first-round playoff game.
The girls' and boys semifinals are Friday and the finals Saturday, all at San Mateo High.
The CPSAL playoff titles will be decided Thursday at Eastside Prep, the girls playing at 5:30 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m. The Mid-Peninsula (17-6) and Eastside Prep (22-6) boys are favored to meet in the finals.
The Palo Alto boys and girls will wrap up their respective SCVAL De Anza Division seasons this week. The boys (10-0, 23-1) host Mountain View on Tuesday with a chance to lock up the division crown. Paly handled host Milpitas last Friday, 61-31, as Brian Baskauskas tallied 15 points and Jeremy Lin added 10 points, nine assists and eight steals. The Vikings limited the Trojans to just six points in the second half.
The Paly girls, meanwhile, take a 7-4 second-place mark (17-9 overall) into Wednesday's Senior Night game against visiting Saratoga. The Vikings won their fourth straight last Friday, a 55-43 win at Milpitas, as junior Megan Grant scored a season-best 22 points.
Pinewood (9-0, 19-5) capped a 3-0 week with a 74-35 romp over Modesto Christian in the one-day Bentley Classic in Lafayette on Saturday. Junior Liz Altmaier (18 points) and freshman Aly Geppert (17) led the Panthers, who routed King's Academy the previous evening, 81-35, behind Altmaier's 19-point effort and 17 each from Geppert and Daniela Roark.
Castilleja (7-3, 13-9) hopes to finish strong in the West Bay Athletic League this week after disposing of Woodside Priory, 58-25, and Harker, 60-36 last week. Mika Peterman's 21 points led the way against Harker.
Wrestling
Gunn senior Adam Juratovac made quick work of the opposition in his two matches, recording two pins to win the 275-pound division at the SCVAL Championships on Saturday at Lynbrook High. Juratovac, who is unbeaten this season, was named the Outstanding Wrestler in the 171-275 divisions.
The Titans finished eighth in the team standings and Paly took ninth. Amir Shahhosseini paced the Vikings with a second-place finish at 145 pounds. Eight Gunn athletes and seven from Paly qualified for the CCS Championships, Feb. 25-26 at Independence High in San Jose.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
