Publication Date: Friday, January 13, 2006
PREP ROUNDUP
Pecota delivers for Paly
Pecota delivers for Paly
(January 13, 2006)before coach's wife does
Viking girls celebrate big win over Wilcox before
coach does the same after birth of his second child
by Rick Eymer
Palo Alto High freshman post Rachael Pecota helped make a sleepless night not only tolerable but enjoyable for girls' basketball coach Scott Peters.
Pecota rebounded her own missed shot and made the putback with less than a minute to play to lead the Vikings (2-0, 14-3) to a stunning 40-39 victory over host Wilcox (2-1, 15-2) on Tuesday.
"She refused to be denied," Peters said of Pecota's game-winning shot. "Wilcox put a lot of pressure on us and to be able to survive that helps us be a better team."
Peters went from proud coach to proud father when his wife gave birth to the couple's second child, a baby boy (Jaden), early Thursday morning. Jaden becomes the younger brother to 21-month-old Kaella.
The road proved to be a valuable ally for local girls' basketball teams as no fewer than six teams were able to enjoy their ride home.
Neva Hauser's buzzer beater at Los Gatos gave Gunn a 38-35 victory in another SCVAL De Anza Division game on Tuesday.
In West Bay Athletic League action, Castilleja beat host Woodside Priory, 49-14.
The trend continued Wednesday when Pinewood traveled to Salinas and beat host Notre Dame, 70-36, in a nonleague game, while Menlo School made the short trip to Sequoia a success with a 55-50 win in a PAL Southern Division opener and Menlo-Atherton beat host Half Moon Bay, 64-33.
Sacred Heart Prep stayed in Atherton on Wednesday and handed visiting Notre Dame of Belmont a 42-36 loss.
Palo Alto needed a couple of defensive stops from junior Katie Barich and senior Melody Gaal in the final minute to preserve its victory over the Chargers. Senior point guard Ranecia Fields handled Wilcox's pressure.
"It was really our first experience with a fired-up crowd who cheered for the other team," Peters said. "The crowd was really into it and that made it a fun game. It was very high energy."
Peters hopes that energy continues when the Vikings put their 10-game winning streak on the line against division-leading Milpitas today at 6:15 p.m.
"The win Tuesday doesn't mean a lot if we don't take care of business on Friday," Peters said. "We have to play our best. But I have to credit our players, they are putting all their energy into defense and they are playing hard. They understand the significance and are excited about playing."
Pecota finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while the Vikings also got eight points each from seniors Bre Clay and Gaal.
Paly took a three-point lead into the fourth period, but fell behind with just over a minute to play.
Gunn (1-2, 7-7) rallied to tie the score against the Wildcats, with freshman Jasmine Evans hitting a layup to make it 35-all with just over two minutes to play.
Hauser, a sophomore post, didn't have a lot of time to think as she took an inbound pass and shot within the space of 1.5 seconds.
"It was a big win, an exciting win," Gunn coach Sebastian Poitier said. "I'm just glad we're right on track."
Evans led the Titans, who host Santa Clara on Tuesday, with 15 points. Senior Leanne Perricone added 10.
Pinewood (11-4) had five players reach double figures in scoring against Notre Dame-Salinas, led by sophomore Aly Geppert's 15 points. Senior Liz Altmaier, junior Sami Field-Polisso and sophomore Grace Beck each added 11 and senior Hannah Lippe had 10.
The Panthers, who travel to Clovis West for another nonleague affair on Saturday, made eight 3-pointers against the Spirits, three each from Field-Polisso and Beck, and has made 28-of-62 (45 percent) in their past three games. Pinewood was 51-of-183 (28 percent) from long range through its first 12 games.
Altmaier, one of Pinewood's top scorers last year, is also heating it up. She's made 29 three-pointers in her last 71 shots (41 percent) after a slow start.
Something will have to give today when Menlo School (1-0, 11-5) visits Menlo-Atherton (1-0, 13-3) today at 6:15 p.m. in an early battle for first place in the PAL Southern Division among local rivals.
Sophomore Erica Hayes scored 15 points to pace the Bears' win over Half Moon Bay, while junior Brittany Wilson added 13 and junior Sigourney Jellins had 10.
Allie Zamaria led the Knights with 14 points against Sequoia while Lauren Kaewert added 13 and Jackie Shepard had 11.
Junior Brett Powers scored 12 points to lead Castilleja (2-1, 7-6) past Woodside Priory (0-3, 3-6).
The Gators hosted ICA on Thursday night while Woodside Priory plays at Mercy of Burlingame on Wednesday.
Sacred Heart Prep (1-2, 7-6) defended its home court with the help of 21 points from Kim Culpan. The Gators host Presentation of San Jose today at 7:30 p.m. and travel to St. Francis on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Boys soccer
Palo Alto and Gunn tuned up for their first head-to-head showdown of the SCVAL De Anza Division season with solid victories on Tuesday.
Defending champion Gunn (2-1, 6-3-4) broke out of its scoring slump with a 4-0 win over Cupertino behind two goals from junior Dean Hakim and solo goals from Ian Barnett and Russell Wynne.
"We finally got the ball in the back of the net," Gunn coach David Burgee said. "I hope it's a sign of things to come."
Palo Alto (3-0-1, 5-4-2) got a first-half goal from Eric Wardenburg and made it stand up with some solid defense by Patrick Alonis, Shane Clark and Ari Memar for a 1-0 triumph over host Monta Vista.
The Vikings beat Cupertino, 3-0, on Monday.
In the PAL Bay Division, Kerry Fier scored Menlo School's only goal in a 5-1 loss to visiting Sequoia. The Knights (0-6, 3-9) travel to Burlingame today at 3 p.m.
Menlo-Atherton (2-4, 5-7) dropped a 3-1 decision to visiting Woodside. The Bears are at Sequoia today at 3 p.m.
Boys wrestling
Senior Amir Shahhosseini, at 152 pounds, was one of four Palo Alto wrestlers to record a pin during the Vikings' 49-27 loss to host Cupertino in a SCVAL De Anza Division match.
Juniors John Hall (189 pounds) and Uly Morales (275) and sophomore Cooper Newby (125) also recorded pins for Paly (0-1, 0-2), which will be competing at the San Ramon Invitational on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton (0-1) dropped a 51-21 decision to visiting Woodside. The Bears hosted Terra Nova on Thursday.
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