It was a longshot that the Los Gatos High School girls basketball team would be selected to compete in the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California playoffs.
But once the Wildcats got a spot in the Division III bracket, they proved they belonged in this postseason competition. The 14th-seeded Wildcats upset No. 3 Placer 53-50 and No. 6 Palo Alto 47-44 before falling behind in the fourth quarter against No. 2 St. Mary’s Berkeley in the semifinals, two games from reaching the state championships.
“It was so fun,” said Los Gatos coach Sara Quilici about the experience. “We were so happy to get another shot. It was like a new-found lease on life.”
There were only two double-digit seeds that reached the girls semifinals in any of the seven divisions – Los Gatos and No. 11 Sierra Pacific-Hanford (Division IV).
It appeared that Los Gatos’ season could be done after a 45-37 loss to No. 1 seed Palo Alto in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals on Feb. 27. Los Gatos, the fifth seed, would need to be selected by a CCS Basketball committee as one of three semifinalists out of all the CCS divisions to continue on to the NorCal tournament. Quilici said she told her team “it was a small chance, but it didn’t seem likely.”
But Los Gatos was selected. The Wildcats were given the No. 14 seed in Division III at the seeding meeting and would most likely play every game on the road.
In both of Los Gatos’ (21-9) wins in the tournament, it received clutch performances in the second half.
Against Placer (26-4), Los Gatos held a 10-point lead in the third quarter before Placer rallied and held a two-point lead in the last two minutes. But a step-back three-pointer by Los Gatos junior Olivia Lo and a free throw by senior Sabrina Belquist helped the Wildcats to come back. Los Gatos junior Ashley Poshard led the team with 18 points, Belquist had 15 points and Lo finished with 14.
Then Los Gatos faced a challenge against rival Palo Alto (19-9), who the Wildcats had lost three games already this season. In fact, the Wildcats had not beaten the Vikings since 2016, going 0-11 during that period including three CCS playoff losses.
In the March 5 game, Los Gatos trailed 22-19 at halftime to host Palo Alto, but went on a 21-11 run in the third quarter behind the hot shooting of Lo, who scored three baskets in a row and finished with a team-high 15 points. The eventual winning points were due to a Belquist corner three-pointer in the final minute. Belquist, who had an outstanding career at Los Gatos, had 10 points in the game and freshman center Casey Brennan had nine points.
“Everybody was so excited,” said Quilici, in her second season as Los Gatos’ coach. “I think we all knew we could beat them. We just had to play well.”
Against St. Mary’s, Los Gatos led 25-22 at halftime and trailed by just six points (40-34) at the end of the third quarter. But the host Panthers lengthened their lead, outscoring the Wildcats 21-12 in the final period. Lo poured in 27 points to cap a great NorCal run, and Belquist added nine points.
Girls soccer
Los Gatos, the No. 3 seed in the CIF Northern California Division II playoffs, fell 4-1 in its opener to No. 6 Maria Carrillo on March 3. The host Wildcats finished their season with a 15-3-4 record.
Baseball
Los Gatos went 2-1 last week to enter this week with a 3-1 record in the young season. The Wildcats bounced back from an 8-5 loss to San Benito on March 3 with a big win over Serra two days later and a 10-run win over Santa Cruz on Saturday.
San Benito scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to win against Los Gatos. Kai Hori, Tommy Splaine and Logan Johnstone all had two hits for the Wildcats, and Splaine drove in three runs.
Los Gatos pounded out 11 hits in a 10-1 victory over Serra on March 5. Hori slammed a home run and had three RBI, and teammate Tommy Troy was 3 for 3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Johnstone added two hits and two RBI, and Splaine and Jimmy Moore combined for a seven-hitter in the win.
On Saturday, the Wildcats’ Ryan Nelson slammed two doubles and Splaine also had two hits, including a double, with four RBI in an 11-1 win over Santa Cruz. Michael Splaine allowed only three hits and one run while striking out nine in four innings on the mound for Los Gatos.
Prospect was 1-1 last week to begin this week with a 4-2 record.
On March 3, the Panthers fell 7-1 to Homestead. Jackson Prudhon drove in the team’s only run in the top of the third inning.
But two days later, Prospect took a 4-0 lead into the sixth inning on its way to a 6-3 victory over Monta Vista. Ketan Bagade slammed a triple and scored a run, and teammates Brandon Rodriguez and Robert Drews both had doubles and RBI in the win.
Softball
Los Gatos took a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning on its way to an 8-6 victory over Hillsdale in the Wildcats’ opener on March 5. The Wildcats clinched the win with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Saratoga also won its opener, 17-3 over Gunderson on March 2.