Senior guard Ahjalee Harvey poured in 26 points to lead the Eastside Prep girls’ basketball team to a 63-48 victory over host Piedmont High in the championship game of the Paris Sisters Tournament on Saturday in Oakland.
Harvey tallied 65 points and made 16 three-points during a 3-0 tourney finish and was named the Most Valuable Player.
Takara Burse added 13 points and 10 rebounds in the title game for the Panthers (6-0), who reached the finals with a 59-32 romp over Dublin on Friday as Harvey tossed in 24 points and Hashima Carothers grabbed 14 rebounds.
The 2010-11 season is starting the same way as it did a year ago for the Pinewood girls’ basketball team, and Panthers’ coach Doc Scheppler has to hope it ends just like it did last season.
A year ago, Pinewood lost its own Pinewood Classic title to Presentation, 50-33. The Panthers, however, recovered to win the CIF Division V state championship. On Saturday, Pinewood once again fell to Presentation, 53-41, in the tourney finale.
Stay tuned to find out how the Panthers’ season ends.
Interestingly, both losses to Prez were convincing. In last year’s game, Pinewood made only four three-pointers. On Saturday, the Panthers managed six.
The only difference in the two finales was last year Pinewood was still waiting for a handful of injured players to return. On Saturday, that wasn’t the case as the Panthers threw their best at Presentation and still came up short to the taller, more physical visitors who pulled away by outscoring Pinewood, 15-5, in the second quarter.
Pinewood (3-1) got 20 points from senior Hailie Eackles, but none of her teammates scored more than six as Prez denied the Panthers on the perimeter and had too much size inside for the Pinewood post players.
In the third-place game, Gunn (6-1) rolled to a 59-29 victory over Evergreen Valley as Claire Klausner and Cat Perez each had scored 17 points. Klausner added six steals and three rebounds while Perez had 15 rebounds and three steals. Both were named to the all-tournament team. Gunn had 22 steals and 45 rebounds, with Emily Redfield and Nora Shevick combining for six steals and 15 boards.
At the Terra Nova Tiger Classic in Pacifica, Castilleja salvaged its trip to the tourney with a 48-28 win over Westmoor Saturday afternoon in the seventh-place game. Senior Natasha von Kaeppler scored seven of her game-high 24 points in the second frame helping the Gators to a seven-point halftime advantage.
In the fourth, Castilleja finally put the game away as it scored the first 10 points – eight from von Kaeppler, who also grabbed a career-high tying 19 rebounds to go with six blocks and four steals. Senior Abby Thornburg finished with eight points, a career-high tying 13 rebounds, and three assists. Riya Modi recovered from a bruised hip enough to pull down eight rebounds and dish out six assists while scoring seven points. Sophomore Olivia Nicholls, a game removed from her career-high 12-point performance Friday, dished out a career-high five assists in the victory.
In the third-place game, first-year player Courtnie Roache came off the bench to score four points in the final moments of the game to carry Menlo-Atherton to a 38-36 win over Mountain View. All-tournament player Tennyson Jellins and senior guard Anna Crookston-Herschlag each had eight points for the Bears (3-4).
Boys’ basketball
Brandon Willhite fought through an injury and nearly outscored visiting St. Lawrence all by himself as he poured in 30 points with 10 rebounds to pace host Priory to a 49-38 nonleague victory over St. Lawrence. Michael Nimer added 12 points, four assists and four steals for the Panthers (3-1).
In Atherton, host Menlo School (1-2) got 18 points from Richard Harris and 12 from Mac Osborne, but the Knights couldn’t overcome a six-point third quarter that ultimately cost them in a 60-53 nonleague setback to visiting St. Ignatius, which made 16 more free throws than Menlo.
In Palo Alto, the Vikings (4-1) won their third straight as Max Schmarzo converted six three-pointers and tallied 22 points to pace his team to a 73-55 victory over Milpitas. E.J. Floreal added 19 points for Paly, which won games on Thursday and Friday to claim the consolation title at the Burlingame Lions Club Tournament. Israel Hakim added 16 points for Paly while Aldis Petriceks tossed in 12.
At Pacific Grove, Gunn bounced back from a loss to Palma on Friday and topped the host Breakers, 43-27, in nonleague play Saturday. Jack Hannan tallied 21 points while Matt Redfield added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Titans.
Wrestling
Palo Alto’s Kalen Gans won the 160-pound title at the Webber Lawson Memorial Tournament on Saturday at Fremont High in Sunnyvale. Gans helped the Vikings finish 15th in the wrestling tourney by going 4-0. He opened with a 15-4 major decision over Martin Gonzales of Leigh, pinned Vicente Olivera of King City in the second round, decisioned Maurice Alexander of Leland, 11-4, in the semifinals, and decisioned Jovan Villalobos of Alisal, 9-4, in the championship.
Joey Christopherson of Palo Alto was fourth at 130 pounds and Nick Ortiz took sixth at 125 pounds. The Vikings will wrestle next at the Coast Classic in Scotts Valley this weekend.
Gunn opened its season by hosting three teams at the fourth annual Gunn Quad on Saturday. The Titans defeated CCS-ranked No. 38 Watsonville (63-13) and No. 20 Homestead (40-36) and lost to No. 8 Serra (48-26). Gunn had four wrestlers who went undefeated on the day: Daniel Papp (112), Eric Cramer (119), Chris Jin (145) and Stefan Weidemann (171).
Weidemann, currently ranked No. 1 in the CCS at 152 pounds, was especially impressive with two pins plus a technical fall over Serra’s fourth-ranked Nick Alspaugh. Weidemann wrestled all three matches at 171 pounds.
— Palo Alto Online Sports
— Palo Alto Online Sports
— Palo Alto Online Sports