December 30, 2005

Evergreen Sports

Pena’s jumper gives Evergreen girls’ basketball team a 43-41 win at Santa Clara

Last-second shot seals win; point guard Courtney Taku leads squad with 13 points

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Camille Pena’s baseline jumper with two seconds left in the game broke a 41-41 tie and gave the Evergreen Valley Cougars a 43-41 win at Santa Clara on Dec. 23.

Evergreen’s Valerie Ervin (right) plays tight defense against the Bruins in a 43-41 win on Dec. 23. Photos by Diego Abeloos

Pena’s basket came just 38 seconds after Courtney Taku nailed a jumper to tie the game at 41, which stopped an 11-1 scoring run by the Santa Clara Bruins that saw Evergreen give up an early 38-30 lead in the fourth quarter. Taku led the Cougars with 13 points, while Pena chipped in 6 points at forward.

“You expect that from Courtney and Camille,” said Cougars head coach Dan Johnson.

“They’re seniors and they’ve been there. We expect them to hit the big shot.”

At the start of the fourth quarter, things seemed to be going the Cougars’ way. Leading 35-30, the Cougars stretched their lead to 38-30 on a layup from Taku and a free throw from Candice Marquez with 6:46 left.

But the tide soon changed for Evergreen, as the Bruins—namely forward Jacqui Fountain—struck back with an 11-1 run. Fountain supplied all of the scoring during the run, hitting a jumper and a 3-pointer to get the scoring stretch going, before finishing up with a pair of jumpers and a layup. Fountain finished the game with a team-high of 24 points.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Johnson said of Fountain. “She’s probably the best individual player that we’ve played this year. We weren’t expecting her to do as much as she did. …We didn’t expect her to be this good.”

Evergreen’s Courtney Taku drives to the basket in a 43-41 comeback win over Santa Clara on Dec. 23. Taku led her team with 13 points and hit the game-tying shot with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Taku then ended the Bruins’ run by converting on a layup with 40 seconds left, tying the game at 41-41. With only seconds to spare, Evergreen pushed the ball up court and found forward Krista Frausto, who then shot the ball from near the free throw line, only to see it blocked, deflecting to Pena near the right baseline. Pena then quickly reacted, dropping in a short jumper just outside the key to seal the 43-41 win for the Cougars.

The game was a close one from the start, with the Bruins holding a 26-19 lead at halftime before the Cougars bounced back with a strong third quarter. The Cougars started out the third on an 11-2 run, getting four points each from Frausto and Taku during that stretch for a 30-28 lead.

Santa Clara then tied things up at 30 on a layup from Linda Oseso with 2:26 left before Pena hit a layup with 1:40 left, followed by a 3-pointer from Taku with 16 seconds to go as the Cougars reclaimed the lead heading into the fourth quarter at 35-30.

“I’m really happy with the way we played in the second half,” Johnson said. “One of the things we talked about at halftime was boxing out and rebounding. We play really good defense, but too often we gave up too many second-chance points (in the first half) because we’re not a tall team. So we kept harping on the fact that we had to rebound and not let them have the easy second-chance shots. And for most of the second half, that’s what happened.”

Itch to return to bench lures EVHS girls’ basketball coach Dan Johnson back

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

Basketball has a way of pulling Dan Johnson back into coaching time and time again.

Johnson, in his first year as High School head coach of the Evergreen Valley High School’s girls’ basketball team, has walked away from the game on two separate occasions, retiring as a coach to spend more time with his two young children. Yet the desire to teach and coach the game always returns.

Evergreen head coach Dan Johnson talks strategy with his team during a Dec. 23 game against Santa Clara. Johnson, 42, is in his first season as the head coach of the girls’ varsity squad. Photo by Diego Abeloos

“I love the game, and I love teaching the game,” said Johnson, 42. “To me, at this level, whether it’s junior varsity or varsity level, boys or girls, it’s about teaching and I love teaching. That’s why I got into teaching. It’s really hard when you’re not coaching to see in the box scores how things are going, so you really do get the itch to get back into it.”

Johnson’s history as a basketball coach has strong ties to the Evergreen area. He began his high school coaching career at Silver Creek High School, where he coached both boys’ and girls’ basketball for six years combined—boys’ on the varsity and JV level for five years, girls at the varsity for one year. A short retirement fell somewhere in between.

When Johnson accepted a position teaching math at Evergreen Valley, he thought his coaching days were once again behind him, given the fact he had already retired once before during his time with the Raiders. Guess again.

In the school’s second year of existence, Johnson was lured back again after more than three years of coaching retirement, this time to coach the girls’ JV basketball team, which he has done the past two years. Retirement obviously can’t argue with success, as Johnson led his 2004-05 JV squad to a 12-0 record, leading opponents by at least 25 points in all of the team’s games throughout the season.

This year, Johnson took over at the helm of the girls’ varsity squad, which compiled a 19-8 overall record and a 13-0 record in league play last season. Those numbers alone were reason enough for Johnson to help keep a good thing going.

“We didn’t come in and radically change things,” Johnson said. “We just changed a few things here and there. The girls have all been terrific. No one’s been giving me a hard time, and they realize we can be a pretty good team.”

Johnson said he employs mainly a man-to-man defensive philosophy and an up-and-down transition game on offense to take advantage of his undersized, but quick players. That style is similar to the philosophy used by Evergreen’s former coach Leo Olmscheid, hence, no growing pains in learning a new offense and defense by the 2005-06 Cougars.

“Defensively, we’re maybe a bit simpler,” Johnson said. “Last year, they ran man-to-man defense 80 to 90 percent of the time, while we’re 90 to 100 percent right now. Offensively, we still push the ball (up the court) like last year’s team. The only difference is, we go a little bit more with a set offense when we can’t push, as opposed to freelancing it.”

So far, Johnson’s transition to the varsity squad has been a smooth one, in part, he said, because of the people on the roster.

“It’s not so much that they’re great players; they’re great girls,” Johnson said. “I teach over at the school, and I’ve probably had over half of the girls in my class also, so I know their characters. They’re just really neat girls. They’re about playing as a team and getting better, which makes coaching much easier.”

Back in the coaching circle once again, Johnson said he’s rarely thought of retirement for a third time since taking on the new job—with one exception.

“Only when I go home at 10 p.m. at night,” Johnson said jokingly, “do I start remembering why I retired in the first place.”

Fast friends

Raider hoops spin Lick, promises quick ascent in Santa Teresa Division

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Silver Creek trounced James Lick Tuesday, issuing a final notice to B-league Santa Teresa Division foes: the Raiders scream.

On the eve of Silver Creek’s league opener Jan. 3 at Overfelt, head Coach Cliff Warren has speculated that his team’s speed will navigate treacherous waters, heading into a higher division, which features three teams listed on 2004-05 CCS playoff brackets.

For Silver Creek, who cruised to the C-League West Valley Division Championship and CCS berth one year ago, the challenge is clear. Can they compete?

Silver Creek co-captains Nic Nott and David Caranza led all scorers with 17 and 15 points respectively Tuesday versus James Lick. The Raiders will look to make an impression early in B-League Santa Teresa Division action. They are expected to vie for the league title despite this being their first year up from C-League West Valley Division.

“With us, it’s all about running and ball control,” said Warren. “We play uptempo basketball and have the athletes to do so. We’ve beaten teams by 40 points and had 25 turnovers.”

“We got jumped up to the B division,” added assistant coach Greg Martinez following the game at James Lick, which served as a reunion of sorts for himself and Coach Warren. Martinez joined mentor Warren on Silver Creek’s Junior Varsity level in 2002-2003, after the two Lick exiles left behind a program they resurrected four years ago. The varsity job opened last year and the two were hired as head and assistant coach.

“We set the tempo of our game with speed,” he continued. “We’ll press you and move.”

The intensity at Lick was fueled by two less memorable moments which came during The Fremont Holiday Invitational tournament last week at Fremont in Sunnyvale. Jefferson High and Homestead handed the Raiders (6-2) their first losses of the season, capitalizing on Silver Creek turnovers in consecutive contests.

“So far other teams haven’t beaten us, we’ve beaten ourselves,” continued Warren. “I tell the kids to protect the ball and don’t play stand-around basketball. It’s got to be fun. Run and make it exciting for everybody, the fans, the coaches and yourselves.”

If Tuesday’s result was any indication of Silver Creek’s offensive potential when the ball is protected, B-league pillars Leland, Evergreen Valley and Andrew Hill had better run. Silver Creek burned up the overmatched Comets, who appeared to rest while Raiders blazed up and down the floor, amassing a 25-0 lead and committing zero turnovers in the first quarter. The assault stopped at 72-18, despite the victor’s thin lineup; seven players, including two starters, were absent thanks to holiday season.

The Raiders anticipate the return of 6-foot-1-inch senior shooting guard Chigozi Ndekwe and 6-foot-2 sophomore standout Darren Sumida especially. Ndweke, who, according to assistant coach Martinez, will likely walk-on at UC Berkeley in the fall, is the fastest player on a team of speedsters. Sumida, meanwhile, rotated through the starting lineup last season as a freshman and is considered a ‘tireless defender and versatile threat offensively’ by Coach Warren.

Warren also noted the unveiling of a 1-3-1 zone package, which baffled Lick in the teams’ second meeting this season.

“They expected us to come out and play man-to-man,” said Warren. “But we’ll cover from the elbow to the baseline and be all over you in zone.”

“Lick wasn’t much competition,” summed senior co-Captain Nick Nott, who led all scorers with 17 points. The 6-foot-3-inch small forward demonstrated a solid repertoire inside and outside, expanding on the moves he developed last year that earned him recognition on West Valley Division‘s First team All-League squad.

“We were working as a team, not just focusing on one player. All of us played really hard. If we keep working like this, anything is possible,” he concluded.

Co-captain and WVAL First Team performer David Caranza also chipped in 15 points.

“We have a lot of good players,” said Caranza. “Good guards, good shooters, good big guys who can rebound. Everyone just needs to be committed and have heart. We can get it done. It’s up to us.”

Currently 5-foot-5-inch senior sparkplug Gabriel Sanchez is averaging 11.7 points per game, leading the raiders in that category. Sophomore Billy Dick is second with 11.0 points per game.

The Raiders face Overfelt in an away game on Jan. 3.

For more information, go to the Web at: www.silvercreekraiders.olinesports.com.

Sign-up for the 2006 baseball season today

Evergreen Little League celebrates it 45th season in 2006, and the league is now accepting registrations for both co-ed baseball and girls softball programs.

Online registration
For the first time ever, ELL offers online registration. Parents may register their children online from the comfort of their home or office and pay by credit card. E-mail confirmations will be sent immediately to ensure your reserved spot for our 2006 season. Visit http://ell-baseball.com to register.

Age determination date changes
ELL has also changed the age determination date to 4/30/2006 for baseball and 12/31/2005 for softball. That means your child’s Little League age for the 2006 season is his or her age on 4/30/2006 for baseball and 12/31/2005 for softball.

Room for new players
ELL has room for players in all divisions: T-Ball ages 5-6, Pee-Wee ages 7-8, Farm ages 7-9, Minors ages 9-12, Majors ages 10-12, Juniors ages 13-14, Seniors ages 15-16, and Challenger all ages.

Plans to expand softball program
ELL also has girl’s fast pitch softball ages 7-18. The league would like to expand its softball program this year and is looking for coaches and players. Contact softball@ell-baseball.com with questions or president@ell-baseball.com to volunteer to help out.

Fees
Fees for players registered before Jan. 15, 2006 are $100 for ages 5-6, $110 for ages 7-12 and $120 for age 13-16. All fees go up $20 after Jan. 15, 2006.

Tryouts
All players age 8 and older are requested to tryout. Tryouts for Minor and Major divisions (ages 10-12) will be held at Chaboya Middle School on Jan. 21 and 22 (ages 9-12) and on Jan. 28 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Tryouts for Farm Division (ages 8-9) will be held at Chaboya Middle School on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Try-outs for Junior and Senior divisions (ages 13–16) will be held at Quimby Oak Middle School on March 4 and 5.

Tryouts are not necessary for T-Ball (ages 5-6), and Pee Wee (ages 7-8) divisions.

Check the ELL Web site, http://ell-baseball.com, for updates.

ELL is also looking for volunteer umpires. If you are interested, please contact Evergreen Little League at (408) 534-1727 or playeragent@ell-baseball.com. ELL offers hands-on training as well as classroom training if you want to learn how to umpire or just want to brush up on your skills and the knowledge of the rules.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a team this year can contact our sponsorship representative sponsor@ell-baseball.com.

Visit http://ell-baseball.com for updates.

Preseason clinics Clinics are intended to prepare players for tryouts and to assist them if they are moving up a level. The focus is on fundamentals, fun and facts about Little League Baseball. Preseason clinics will be held as follows: Saturday, Jan. 7 & 14, 9 a.m. – noon, Ages 8-12 at Chaboya Saturday, Jan. 14, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m., Ages 13-16 at Quimby Saturday, Feb. 11 & 18, 9 a.m. – noon, Ages 13-16 at Quimby