Bulldogs can win division outright on Senior Night Wednesday
SAN JOSE — A fluke loss to Evergreen Valley only prevented the Sobrato boys basketball team from winning league by one game.
On the same night Silver Creek upset second-place Independence, the Bulldogs snared a piece of the Santa Teresa Division title Friday by beating Del Mar 51-35 in San Jose.
Sobrato can clinch its first outright championship in three years Wednesday when the Bulldogs play visiting Gunderson at 7 p.m. on Senior Night.
“We were disappointed with that loss, but, believe it or not, that might help us,” said Sobrato coach Lee Washington, whose team had an 11-game win streak snapped. “It’s something that will help us refocus.”
The Bulldogs (16-6 overall, 11-1 league) had no trouble getting back on track against the Dons (11-11, 5-7).
Pierre Hemphill paced Sobrato with 11 points, Bryan Bradley chipped in 10, and Ryan Williams scored nine. The Bulldogs went into cruise control for the second half after leading 29-15 at the break.
Del Mar, which is two wins from clinching playoff eligability, received a game-high 14 points from Chris Aitchison and nine from Gianni Ullio.
Sobrato’s final regular-season game is Friday at Hill; two days before the Central Coast Section playoff meeting. The Bulldogs are in good shape to earn a second straight trip to the Division II tournament.
Prospect 49, Live Oak 37
The playoffs start this week for the Acorns.
Friday’s 49-37 loss at Prospect leaves Live Oak (8-14, 5-7) needing to win its final two regular-season games to finish .500 in the West Valley Division and have any shot of making the Central Coast Section Division III tournament.
The good news is, the Acorns’ next game is at home, where they’ve been 4-2 in league as opposed to 1-5 on the road. They host Lick on Senior Night at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Michael Schreiber stepped up to lead Live Oak with 15 points Friday.
GIRLS SOCCER
Sobrato 1, Westmont 1
The Santa Teresa leaders played to another tie Friday in San Jose, leaving the Lady Bulldogs alone in first place by a slim margin.
Nika Burnett scored her fourth goal in three games for Sobrato (8-2-7, 6-1-5), which can edge Westmont (10-6-4, 7-3-3) for the league championship with a win and a tie this week.
Leland 2, Live Oak 1
Megan Rauschnot gave the Lady Acorns an early lead, but the visiting Chargers answered with two goals in the second half to overtake first place in the Mount Hamilton Division; two points ahead of Live Oak.
The Acorns (10-3-4, 8-3-1) have locked up their first CCS playoff berth in four years and can still win the league crown if they win out and Leland loses this week.
Live Oak will host third-place Leigh at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday and Santa Teresa for Senior Day on Friday.
