December 2, 2005

Evergreen Sports

Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes wins U11 Boys District 2 Cup

In their first official tournament competition, the Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes won the California Youth Soccer Association District 2 Cup, U11 Boys Class 3 White division on Nov. 20.

Winners of the CYSA District 2 Cup, U11 Boys Class 3 White division, (from left) front row: Cesar Camacho, Jose Madrigal, Mario Ortega, Abraham Munoz, Saam Mirzalou, Ryan Marinucci, Andrew DeClerck, Jacob Gronlund and Tyler Rockwell. Back Row: Kevin Cordon, Allen Marinucci, Asst. Coach Ron Cordon, Carlos Vargas, Ruben Lopez, Head Coach Reza Mirzalou, Julio Hernandez, Aman Haile and Asst. Coach Jose Mario Ortega.

The two-day tournament, played at Marlin Park in Redwood Shores, drew eight teams from as far south as Monterey and as far north as San Carlos.

In their first game of the tournament on Nov. 19, the Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes beat the San Carlos Stealth 1-0. Later that afternoon, they faced the Palo Alto 95B, winning that game 2-1.

The next day, the Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes trounced the SVSC Cougars 4-0 in their first game, entering the championship against the Los Gatos Tigers undefeated. The Tigers entered the championship game with one win and two ties. With a 2-1 victory, the Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes took home the first place trophy and medals all around.

According to Tony Marinucci, manager of the Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes, the team never trailed in any tournament game. “We had several outstanding players who sacrificed for the team by playing defense when they surely wanted to be playing offense and scoring more. It was such a team effort throughout the season.”

Mid-fielder Andrew DeClerck leads the Earthquakes defense with teammates Jacob Grunlund (left), Cesar Camacho (right) and Jose Madrigal.

Regular season 
The Mt. Hamilton Earthquakes played in the Delgado division of CYSA in U11 Boys Class 3 Division B, finishing the regular season with a record of 6 wins, 3 losses and 1 tie. They scored 24 goals in the season and allowed in 14 against them.

This was the team’s second season in Class 3 competition, with about half of the players returning from last year. The rest of the team had played either recreational or Class 1 competition.

Head Coach Reza Mirzalou, assisted by coaches Jose Mario Ortega and Ron Cordon, looks forward to another successful season in 2006.

Evergreen boys’ hoops drops to 0-2 after 75-68 loss to Menlo

EVHS guard Morgan Blakely leads team with 28 points

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

Despite a team-leading 28 points from guard Morgan Blakely, the Evergreen boys’ basketball team dropped to 0-2 to start the season following a 75-68 loss to Menlo on Nov. 28.

Evergreen’s Rishi Shah looks to pass the ball to teammate Tinh Nguyen during the first quarter of the Cougars’ 75-68 loss to Menlo on Nov. 28. Photo by Diego Abeloos

The loss was a disheartening one for head coach Dennis Fernandez, who said he’s never lost a season-opening game during his coaching career, much less the first two games of any season he’s coached.

In the loss to Menlo, the Cougars held a 4-point lead at the half, and at times led by as much as 8 points, before things turned south in the second half.

“I think what’s happening, and I don’t know if it’s because it’s early in the season, but we’re extremely anxious,” said Fernandez. “At halftime, I go in there and I just write on the board ‘urgency.’ I’m asking them, ‘What is the urgency?’ We had an 8 or 9-point lead, and the next thing you know, they’re right back with us.”

Down by four with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter, the Cougars saw hopes of a comeback fade away quickly as Menlo embarked on a 7-0 run to take a 66-55 lead with 4:28 to go.

The Cougars fought back, getting a jumper from Gurchet Sanghera and two free throws from Tinh Nguyen less than a minute later before Menlo reeled off four straight points on a pair of free throws and a layup.

With Menlo still holding an 11-point lead at 70-59, the Cougars made things interesting down to the wire, bouncing back with a pair of layups from Blakely to draw within seven.

After Menlo dropped in another two points on a layup, Blakely completed a 3-point play, hitting a layup while being fouled before sinking a free throw with 30 seconds left, cutting the lead to six.

But the night belonged to Menlo, which went to the free throw line twice in the final 17 seconds of the game, sinking three shots, while the Cougars mustered just one more basket, a jumper from Billy Miller with 8 seconds left to play.

“It’s early, but I hate to use that excuse because I think we’re better than the two teams we’ve played so far,” said Fernandez. “That is what’s a little frustrating to me. When’s the light bulb going to go on?”

Fernandez said he was particularly disappointed in his team’s shot selection in the second half, which saw the Cougars take several shots beyond their range. Fernandez said he would’ve preferred better shot selections from Blakely in the fourth quarter, despite the 17 points he contributed in the second half.

“He’s a hell of a player, and he’s going to have his moments,” Fernandez said of Blakely. “He has just got to know when and when not to take a shot, and when to give the ball up.”

Things appeared to be going the Cougars’ way in the first half, as the team built up a 17-7 lead after the first quarter and kept things going in the second quarter, upping the lead to 28-22. Blakely was particularly effective in the second quarter, dropping in a layup with 3:11 left to give Evergreen the 6-point lead, only to see Menlo go on a 6-point scoring run immediately thereafter to tie things up.

Blakely broke the tie and later on gave the Cougars some breathing room heading into halftime, knocking down a 3-pointer at 1:28 to give his team a 31-28 lead before hitting a jumper and another 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cougars a 36-32 lead at the half.

But the tide soon turned for the Cougars, as Menlo went on a 7-2 scoring run to open the third quarter, taking a slight 39-38 lead. A 9-5 scoring run by the Cougars—in which Nguyen dropped in two 3-pointers, a layup and a free throw—gave the Cougars the lead once more at 47-44 with 2:54 left in the third, but a 9-0 run from Menlo saw that lead disappear once more.

Blakely brought the Cougars closer before the close of the third quarter once more, hitting a 3-pointer and a layup in 12 seconds, but a layup by Menlo with 7.8 seconds left put the score at 55-52 to end the third.

Following the loss, Fernandez said it’s time for his team to figure things out.

“I don’t see things getting easier,” Fernandez said of the team’s upcoming games. “It’s just about us figuring it out, working harder, playing smarter and hoping some light bulbs go off and we get this going.”

Evergreen’s Khrystal Carter signs with Texas A&M

Valley Christian track and field star headed to College Station following
season in which she earns 2005 California state championship in 200 meters

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

In the fall of 2006, Evergreen resident Khrystal Carter will be calling Texas home.

On Nov. 14, Texas A&M announced that Carter, a senior Valley Christian track and field athlete, signed a letter of intent to attend school and compete on the track and field team in the fall of 2006.

Evergreen resident Khrystal Carter, a senior track and field athlete at Valley Christian, will be headed to Texas A&M after she signed a letter of intent to compete for the school’s track team. Carter is the current California state champion in the 200 meters and is ranked third in the U.S. in the event. Photo by Dan Miranda

Carter is currently ranked as the No. 3 senior in the U.S. in the 200 meters and is the current California state champion. Carter is also the No. 4 ranked senior in the United States in the 100 meters.

“It was really exciting,” said Carter on signing her letter of intent. “All of my friends kept talking to me about it, saying, ‘ooh, Miss Texas,’ and stuff like that. It was really fun.”

Carter said the decision on where to go to school was a tough one to make, adding that she always harbored hopes of going to UCLA, which also expressed interest in the senior. Still, Carter said she decided on Texas A&M based partly on the coaching staff, led by head coach Pat Henry, which she said has a similar coaching style as her current Valley Christian coach, Greg Marshall. Carter will train and compete mainly under assistant coach Vince Anderson at Texas A&M.

“It just made a lot of sense to go to Texas A&M,” said Carter. “Although it’s far from home and everything … the coach (Anderson) reminded me a lot of my coach now and I just felt like I could progress with him.”

“All along, I felt that Texas A&M and UCLA were probably the lead teams that she was going to be leaning toward,” added Marshall. “Primarily UCLA, because it’s a can’t-miss program. They’ve been in the top 10 in the country for the last 10 years or better. A lot of fantastic athletes have come out of there. I thought of Texas A&M simply after meeting Coach Anderson. He just really impressed all of us as the kind of guy that made sense for Khrystal, looking at the kind of people he’s coached over the years.”

Specifically, Marshall said that Carter will get the individual attention she’ll need, among other factors, in pursuing her track and field career at Texas A&M, something she’s used to receiving from Marshall at Valley Christian.

“Khrystal comes from kind of a small school environment. She’s used to having a lot of one-on-one attention and she’s used to the science behind the sport,” Marshall said. “I think Coach Anderson shares that philosophy and goal. He’ll continue coaching her along those guidelines.”

Although Marshall said location wasn’t the primary issue in Carter’s decision, there was a slight sense of uneasiness for Carter’s mother, Carmen Carter, in having her young daughter leave California for College Station, Texas.

“It wasn’t an easy choice,” said Carmen Carter. “We waited down to the wire before she decided. But she just seemed so connected with Coach Anderson. He was right on target with her along the same lines as coach Marshall … I thought she was going to be a bit closer than Texas. It took me a couple of days to get over the fact she’ll be miles and miles away.”

With her letter of intent signed and delivered, Carter isn’t resting on her laurels just yet. With her senior track season just around the corner, Marshall and Carter both said they’ve established new goals to accomplish in her final high school year. In doing so, both have agreed to put Carter’s past achievements behind them.

Still, Marshall said he’s not surprised by Carter’s success, touting her work ethic and desire to succeed.

“Really, we felt like if we stayed healthy, we had a chance to accomplish great things last year,” Marshall said.

“Fortunately, she was blessed with good health and she’s got a great work ethic and phenomenal talent.”

But above all else, Carmen Carter said her daughter’s journey is something she had trouble imagining nearly four years ago.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Carmen of her daughter’s athletic scholarship with Texas A&M. “I’m just so proud of her. She’s so determined.”

Mt. Hamilton Velocity takes third place in District Cup

Evergreen-based team ends strong season in second place

By Mike van der Zweep
Special to the Times

The Mt. Hamilton Velocity Girls U13 Class 3 soccer team competed in its first District Cup Nov. 12-13, finishing undefeated in four games (2-0-2) for third place.

The Mt. Hamilton Velocity took third place in the Girls U13 Class 3 District Cup tournament held Nov. 12-13. Pictured from left, front row: Kaitlyn van der Zweep, Ashlee Saenz, Jenna Godsil and Tori Jaquez. Middle row: Abigail Villareal, Christina Koral, Heather Heath, Melynee Paniagua and Alejandra Alvarado. Back row: Vivian Thorbecke, Missy Horton, Olivia Mountz, Samantha Munoz, Priyanka Joshi and Lizbeth Cisneros. Not pictured: Kiran Palla. Photo by Jose Jaquez

The team’s strong defense and goalkeeping led the way, giving up only one goal during the Almaden-hosted tournament. Supporting Samantha “Sam” Munoz on the defensive side, Jenna Godsil was assigned to mark the top offensive threats of the team’s opponents, effectively shutting them out.

Kaitlyn van der Zweep’s athleticism and lateral movement as goalie enabled her to stop all but one goal.

After two scoreless ties on Saturday, the Velocity’s offense came to life with a 2-1 victory against the SMSC Firebirds in the third game, held early Sunday morning.

This win enabled the team to move to the consolation game against the Almaden Shock Sunday afternoon. After a scoreless first half, in which the Velocity had many scoring chances but could not find the back of the net, the team broke out with three goals in quick succession to clinch third place.

“We saw continuous improvement from the team during the season, reaching a high note during this game. The girls were really up for it and it showed in the score,” said Coach Rik Thorbecke, after his team won the game 3-0.

Lisbeth Cisneros scored three goals and Vivian Thorbecke scored two goals in the third and fourth games of the tournament.

“Every single player pushed herself farther than I have ever seen,” said Matthew Munoz, a team parent who assisted with coaching last season. This season, Mike van der Zweep and Omar Alvarado served as assistant coaches.

Among the 12 teams competing in the girls U13 Class 3 Division 2, the Velocity was the only team representing Evergreen and the Mt. Hamilton Youth Soccer League. The Los Gatos Wildfire took first place and the OV Fury from Morgan Hill took second place.

When the Velocity received their third place trophy and medals, the District Cup representatives commended the team not only on their performance, but also for their good sportsmanship displayed throughout the tournament.

Second place for the season
The Velocity, which went 6-1-3 during the fall season, took second place in the girls U13, District 3 Division B league.

With only nine goals scored against them throughout the season, the Velocity held one of the strongest defense records in the league. Offensively, the team earned 21 points and scored 20 goals.

The Velocity will be playing again during the spring season, resuming practices in late January. The team is looking for a few additional players. If you are interested in trying out for the team, contact Coach Thorbecke at (408) 858-5663.