The Palo Alto boys gave up their first goal after eight straight shutouts and suffered their first soccer loss of the SCVAL De Anza Division season, 1-0 to visiting Monta Vista on Tuesday.
The Vikings (7-1, 11-2-2) remain tied for first place with Homestead (7-2) following the loss after taking a lead over the Mustangs last week. Both teams have 21 points.
Monta Vista controlled the ball for the first couple of minutes as the Paly defense failed to clear the ball. A mistake on a clear gave the ball to the Monta Vista forward, who turned just outside the box and placed a perfect shot into the lower left corner.
Paly came back soon after with a Dami Bolarinwa 30-yard shot that bounced back off the cross bar. Several more shots failed to score.
Paly outplayed Monta Vista in the second half, keeping the ball in its half for most of the time. Paly had opportunities on crosses along with several more shots including two off the cross bar, but failed to place the ball in the net as Monta Vista (1-5-3) won its first league match of the season.
Palo Alto began the week ranked No. 6 in the state and No. 24 in the nation by MaxPreps.com.
In the SCVAL El Camino Division, Gunn notched its second straight shutout and remained atop the division standings with a 2-0 victory over visiting Saratoga. Senior Sean MacPherson scored twice, in the 15th and 41st minutes. Alex Ruber and Bryant Cervantes provided the assists as the Titans improved to 7-0-1 in league (10-4-2 overall).
Girls basketball
First-place Pinewood knocked rival Eastside Prep into third place in the West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) race following a 68-62 overtime victory on Tuesday night.
Defending Division V state champion Pinewood improved to 8-0 (16-2) with host Eastside Prep dropping to 5-2 (15-4).
Eastside Prep senior Chaccity Cunningham’s 3-pointer tied the game at 56 with four seconds to play and sent it to overtime. Pinewood wrapped up the win in OT by making 12 of 13 free throws. Senior Gabi Bade was 9 of 9 for the game — five coming in overtime — and finished with 20 points, 14 coming in the second half.
Pinewood, which came into the game ranked No. 8 in the state and No. 13 in the nation by MaxPreps.com, was 20 of 25 from the line while Eastside Prep made 13 of 17.
The host Panthers, who started the game with its six-player roster, finished with just three players. Senior Destiny Graham had 20 points, 20 rebounds and five assists for Eastside. She fouled out in the OT period while fouling Bade on a 3-point attempt with 54 seconds left. Bade made all three free throws for a 62-60 lead.
In San Jose, Menlo School took over sole possession of second place in the WBAL Foothill Division race with a 59-41 victory over host Notre Dame-San Jose on Tuesday night. The Knights (6-1, 14-4) raced to a 35-14 halftime lead before cruising in the second half.
Hannah Paye, Kenzie Duffner and De’Jeane Stine all had 15 points for Menlo with Duffner adding 13 rebounds. Olivia Pellarin finished with six points and nine rebounds.
Next up for Menlo will be a challenge as the Knights visit Eastside Prep on Friday at 8 p.m.
In San Francisco, Sacred Heart Prep got 15 points from Ma’ata Makoni and 13 apiece from Riley Hemm and Chandi Ingram while dropping a 50-45 decision to host Mercy-San Francisco. The Gators (2-6, 11-9) missed 11 free throws.
In the WBAL Skyline Division, freshman standout Tatiana Reese suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and missed the remainder of the game as Priory (2-6, 6-6) was routed by host King’s Academy, 69-11.
Boys basketball
Palo Alto got 20 points from Kevin Mullin and 19 from fellow senior Johnny Rojahn in a 59-49 triumph over host Milpitas in SCVAL De Anza Division action. The Vikings (6-2, 15-4) remained tied for first place with Fremont by pulling away to a 32-20 halftime lead.
Mullin was 4 of 7 from 3-point range while Rojahn made 5 of 11. The two combined for eight rebounds, six assists and four steals.
In the SCVAL El Camino Division, Alex Gil-Fernandez tossed in 20 points and Jeffrey Lee-Heidenreich added 19 as Gunn remained tied for first place with a 64-59 victory over visiting Lynbrook. The Titans improved to 7-1 in league (13-2 overall) and stayed deadlocked with co-leader Saratoga.
In the WBAL, Sacred Heart Prep held on to first place with a 76-35 romp over host Crystal Springs. Junior Conner Moses drained six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 points for the Gators (9-0, 17-2), who won their 10th straight. Andrew Daschbach added 16 points as 11 SHP players found the scoring column. The game was effectively over after the first quarter as SHP grabbed a 20-0 lead.
In Portola Valley, Pinewood remained in second place after holding on for a 64-58 victory ovr host Priory. Pinewood (8-1, 14-4) got 22 points from senior Ryan Brice and 16 from Jordan Riches while remaining a game back of first-place Sacred Heart Prep. A five-point lead in the first quarter held up for Pinewood, despite a big 28-point outing by Priory junior Scott Harris.
In Atherton Menlo School remained in third place following a victory over host Eastside Prep. The Knights (7-2, 13-5 overall) were led by Tench Coxe, who tallied 16 points. Charlie Roth added 11 while Jack Hammond and Liam Dunn each contributed 10 for the Knights. Darius Rilay scored 16 and Chris Southall added 14 to lead the Panthers (1-8, 11-9).
Girls soccer
Palo Alto stayed tied for first place in the SCVAL De Anza Division following a 2-0 win over host Saratoga. The Vikings (7-1, 13-1), who are still deadlocked with Mountain View, won their fifth straight and now have outscored the opposition by 46-5 this season.
Paly was pressed early by the Falcons, but broke the scoreless match in the 36th minute when Jacey Pederson got around the Saratoga defense and drove the ball inside the near post for a 1-0 advantage. In the second half Pederson scored on a free kick from about 25 yards out.
In the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton snapped a two-match losing streak with a 7-0 romp over visiting San Mateo. Molly Briggs tallied twice for the Bears (4-3-2, 7-4-3), who out-shot the Bearcats by 29-0. Josephine Cotto, Julia Moreton, Ellie Purpura, Jordan Olesen and Margaret Child all tallied goals for M-A.
In the SCVAL El Camino Division, Gunn got goals rom Natalie Hill in the first half and Lucy Augustine in the second on the way to a 2-0 victory over host Monta Vista. Robin Waymouth provided the assist on Hill’s goal while Augustine’s was unassisted. The Titans improved to 5-3 in league (8-5-1 overall).
In the WBAL Foothill Division, Sacred Heart Prep opened up a five-point lead over second-place Menlo School following a 4-2 victory over host Harker. The Gators moved to 7-0 in league (21 points) and 13-2-1 overall while second-place Menlo (5-1-1, 8-3-4) tied King’s Academy, 1-1.
SHP tallied three goals in the first half with freshman Mia Shenk scoring twice in the first seven minutes. Sophomore Olivia Athens scored in the 20th and 66th minutes after assisting on Shenk’s second goal while McKenna Angotti assisted on Shenk’s first tally. Athens now has scored six goals in the past two matches.
In Sunnyvale, Menlo School suffered a frustrating 1-1 tie with host King’s Academy and fell further behind SHP. The Knights (5-1-1, 8-3-4) got an early lead when Leah Swig scored in the 23rd minute of the first half with a nice header off a well-placed corner kick from Alexandra Walker.
In the final minute of the half, King’s equalized on Jessica Oyenuga’s 14-yard shot into the far corner of the goal. Menlo controlled play in the second half and nearly scored twice when Swig hit the crossbar in the 20th minute and Sasha Cassidy did the same in the 30th minute. Menlo’s defense of Lizzie Lacy, Tess Batchelder, Claire McFarland, Jamie Corley, and Katie Keller along with goalkeeper Schyler Tilney-Volk (seven saves) played well.
In San Jose, Priory remained winless in the WBAL Foothill Division following a 3-1 loss to host Notre Dame-San Jose.
In the WBAL Skyline Division, Castilleja held on to first place with a 6-0 romp over visiting Eastside Prep at Cubberley Community Center. Anais Sarrazin scored two goals in the second half and Julia Lodoen added one goal and two assists. Single goals came from Sarah Abramowitz, Nicole Goodman and Sarah Richardson.
The Gators (6-0-2, 9-3-3) remain one point ahead of Crystal Springs (6-0-1, 11-4-1), which registered a 6-0 win over Mercy-San Francisco on Tuesday. Castilleja and Crystal Springs will meet on Feb. 12 at Cubberley, likely to decide the division title.
At Skyline College, Pinewood got a first-half goal from junior Jordan Berke with an assist from senior Jayme Sharkey, but the Panthers (4-2-2, 7-6-3) couldn’t hold on and wound up with a 1-1 deadlock with host Mercy-Burlingame.