The first four minutes of the Saratoga High School girls basketball team’s game against Lynbrook on Jan. 5 couldn’t have been better for the Falcons.
Saratoga took a 12-0 lead in that time frame, but Lynbrook chipped away at the advantage. It caught Saratoga at the end of the third quarter and eventually won 49-44.
“They played pack man d and they did a good job not letting our post players get the ball,” Saratoga coach Dan Wallace said. “We’re a transition team, and we weren’t really pushing the ball or moving it, so that’s another issue.”
“This whole season, we’ve really been emphasizing the defensive end,” Lynbrook coach Lynley Takaki said. “I thought Saratoga was shooting the lights out to start, and we just wanted to defend them cleanly. … I think that the defense kept us in it in the long run. … We went to the man, and that slowed them down a little bit.”
With the victory, Lynbrook improved to 9-5 overall and 2-0 in El Camino Division play. Saratoga fell to 10-4, 1-1 with the loss.
Saratoga’s Jane Loo scored eight of her game-high 20 points in the first quarter, which ended with Saratoga holding an 18-12 lead. The Falcons also went into halftime with a 28-20 advantage and increased their lead to 10 points when Loo scored on a layup for the first points of the second half.
But Lynbrook proceeded on an 8-0 run to get close to the lead. A 3-pointer by Lynbrook’s Catherine Huang with 29.6 seconds left in the third quarter tied the game at 35.
A close basket by Kavitha Thirumaran gave the Vikings the lead to stay at 37-35 with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter. But Saratoga remained close. It was within one point of the lead when Harshini Ramaswamy sank two free throws with 1:19 to play in the last quarter to narrow Lynbrook’s advantage to 45-44.
The Vikings scored the last four points of the game, however, on a layup by Ho and a basket by Lydian Li, who led her team in scoring with 18 points.
Wallace said his team’s rebounding was a problem.
“I pretty much told (the Saratoga team) the difference of the whole game, though, was 14 points from offensive rebounds,” he said about Lynbrook’s pounding of the boards.
Ramaswamy had a solid overall game with eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals in addition to her five points. Anika Prasad added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Falcons.
Saratoga fell to 10-4 overall and 1-1 in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division action.
Boys Basketball
The Falcons fell behind early against Monta Vista on Jan. 3, then were edged by Lynbrook on Jan. 5 in their first two SCVAL El Camino games.
“We’ve definitely been in a shooting slump,” Saratoga coach Patrick Judge said.
In their 70-64 loss to the Matadors, Saratoga trailed 19-9 in the first quarter and Monta Vista outscored the Falcons 22-12 in the third quarter to take a 50-35 lead. Even a nine-point scoring advantage in the fourth quarter couldn’t bring Saratoga all the way back.
Judge mentioned multiple missed layups against Monta Vista, but also said “Monta Vista played really well. They were ready.”
Will Turpin scored a team-high 26 points for Saratoga, and teammate Kyle Yu added 15 points. Michael Xue and Turpin both grabbed five rebounds, and Harrison Fong had a team-high six assists for the Falcons. Yu added a team-high four steals.
Against Lynbrook, the Vikings took a 27-17 halftime lead and Saratoga couldn’t close the gap at the end of the game.
Fong produced a team-high 24 points, but was the only Saratoga player who scored in double figures. He also led the team in assists (four) and steals (four). Neal Iyengar grabbed a team-high seven rebounds,
“We made a lot of mistakes, missed a lot of layups,” Judge said. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the basket when we needed it most.”
He also said “Defensively we have to be more consistent … it’s nothing that can’t be fixed.
“I’m incredibly proud of the boys, their resiliency, their character … through this adversity.”
Entering this week, Saratoga had a four-game losing streak and an 8-6 overall record.
Boys Soccer
The Falcons ended their first week of SCVAL El Camino Division play undefeated, as they beat visiting Milpitas 9-0 on Jan. 3 and tied Cupertino 1-1 on Jan. 5. Saratoga had an overall record of 2-4-2 entering this week.
Girls Soccer
After a 2-0 loss to Palo Alto on Jan. 3, Saratoga tied Los Altos 1-1 on Jan. 5 with a second-half goal. Entering this week, the Falcons had a 2-4-2 overall record and 0-1-1 mark in the SCVAL De Anza Division.
