Publication Date: Wednesday, January 18, 2006
PREP BASKETBALL
Paly boys, girls
Paly boys, girls
(January 18, 2006)impressive in
key victories
by Keith Peters
The Palo Alto boys' and girls' basketball teams are making a statement: Come and get us, if you can.
The Paly boys (3-0, 16-1) have won six straight games while the girls (3-0, 15-3) have won 11 in a row. Both are threatening to run away with their respective SCVAL De Anza Division races after impressive efforts last week.
The Palo Alto girls grabbed sole possession of first place by holding off visiting Milpitas, 50-43. It was the second straight game in which the Vikings defeated a previously unbeaten team. Two days earlier, the Vikings toppled division-favorite Wilcox, 40-39. It was Paly's best back-to-back effort this season.
Paly holds a half-game lead over Wilcox (3-1) and Milpitas (3-1) going into games this week against Los Gatos (0-4) and Gunn (1-2).
First-year coach Scott Peters liked the way his team reacted to the pressure Milpitas exerted after the Trojans overcame an 11-point deficit to take a two-point lead into the fourth quarter.
"When they put a little pressure on us we struggled with our offense, but we didn't give up," Peters said. "I just liked the way with stayed with it."
Paly battled its way back into the lead on the strength of an 8-0 run on two baskets each by senior Bre Clay and junior Katie Barich. Clay finished with a game-high 19 points and Barich added 10. Senior guard Ranecia Fields drew praise from Peters for helping spark the defensive effort as well as running the offense.
After the game, Peters noted there was little celebration in the locker room.
"I think the girls realize we have to keep working," he said." When we play these teams a second time, we want to be better."
The Milpitas boys, for one, don't want to see their Paly counterparts play defense much better than they did last Friday. The Trojans (2-2) made only seven of 47 field goals and trailed by 31-8 in the third quarter.
It was the second-fewest points allowed this season by Paly, which held King's Academy to 13 on Nov. 30.
"Obviously, Milpitas is not King's Academy," said Paly coach Peter Diepenbrock. "They (Milpitas) definitely had their shot opportunities and they couldn't hit."
Part of that was due to Paly's suffocating defense. Senior Cooper Miller was all over Milpitas scoring leader Erik Rush, who was 0 for 11 from the field.
"He (Miller) got in Rush's face and made him work for all his shots," said Diepenbrock, who noted his team's interior defense and rebounding was a big plus all night. So, too, was the fact Paly turned the ball over only nine times - only twice in the first half.
Kheaton Scott had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Paly while fellow senior Jeremy Lin added 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. The Vikings are at Los Gatos (1-2) on Wednesday before hosting division co-leader Gunn (3-0, 12-5) on Friday night (7:45 p.m.) in Game 4 of a quad.
The Titans, obviously looking forward to Paly on Friday, first must defeat visiting Fremont (1-3) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
In other boys' games:
Menlo School (1-1, 12-3) got back in the PAL South race with a solid 71-58 thumping of host Menlo-Atherton (1-1, 11-6) last Friday. The victory was important to the Knights, who had lost a tough division opener to Sequoia (2-0) two nights earlier.
Junior Beau Heidrich scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the first quarter to stake Menlo to an early lead. The Knights held a 53-33 lead in the third quarter and wrapped things up by hitting 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter. Senior Blake Schultz was 8 for 8 and finished with 18 points.
In the Christian Private Schools Athletic League, Mid-Peninsula (2-0, 11-3) followed up its streak-busting win over Eastside Prep with a 61-49 win over Bridgemont. Junior guard Jamar Williams scored a career-high 31 points for the Dragons. Eastside Prep (1-1, 8-11) rebounded from its first league loss after 96 straight wins to beat San Francisco Christian, 60-25.
In the Private Schools Athletic League, Sacred Heart Prep (5-0, 9-3) ran its league winning streak to 67 straight with a 52-51 nail-biter over host Harker. Junior Michael McMahon led the Gators with 18 points, including four three-pointers.
Elsewhere in the PSAL, Pinewood (3-2, 8-5) won back-to-back games - 33-23 over Fremont Christian and 44-37 over Woodside Priory. Tyler Mosher made six three-pointers for Pinewood in the two wins.
Girls basketball
Menlo-Atherton (2-0, 14-3) maintained a first-place tie with Carlmont in the PAL South Division with a solid 61-43 win over visiting Menlo (1-1, 11-6) last Friday. Christina Dixon led the Bears with 16 points with Marike Wolters adding 14 points and eight rebounds as the Bears dominated the boards, 31-16. Freshman Jackie Shepard led Menlo with 21 points.
Sacred Heart Prep (2-3, 8-7) scored a big 41-37 win over Presentation on Friday in West Catholic Athletic League action as sophomore Hannah Stephens had 13 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. The Gators, however, settled for a weekend split following a 52-41 loss to host St. Francis on Saturday. Stephens tossed in 14 points and pulled down five rebounds.
In the West Bay Athletic League, freshman Ericka Von Kaeppler returned to the Castilleja lineup following a trip to Europe and tossed in 14 points in a 41-30 win over ICA. The Gators improved to 3-1 in league (8-6 overall).
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
