Despite forfeiting four weight classes, Live Oak defeated Palma
in its TCAL home opener 36-33 on Wednesday before an enthusiastic
crowd. Senior Hondo Dominguez pinned his Palma rival at 119 pounds,
followed by co-captain Jason Hendersen winning at 125 and
co-captain Buck Tanner defeating his Palma opponent at 130 pounds
in a seesaw scrambling match which saw Tanner take the advantage in
the third period with near-fall points.
Despite forfeiting four weight classes, Live Oak defeated Palma in its TCAL home opener 36-33 on Wednesday before an enthusiastic crowd.
Senior Hondo Dominguez pinned his Palma rival at 119 pounds, followed by co-captain Jason Hendersen winning at 125 and co-captain Buck Tanner defeating his Palma opponent at 130 pounds in a seesaw scrambling match which saw Tanner take the advantage in the third period with near-fall points.
Palma came back to win the next three matches before LO sophomore Mitch Haaser pinned his opponent. Live Oak senior Jonathan Redmond received a forfeit from Palma at 171 pounds, then sophomore first-year wrestler Sean Simonsen sealed the Acorn victory with a pin at 189 pounds.
“This is a young team that made up for its lack of experience with tremendous heart and intensity” said LO coach Robert Fernandez.
On Wednesday next week, Live Oak wrestles at Hollister-San Benito a TCAL dual meet.
Gavilan hoops
The Gavilan College Rams men’s basketball team shut down visiting West Valley’s post game for the early part of the first half. But the Vikings went on a 17-3 run to close it out and went into halftime with a comfortable 38-24 lead.
The Rams made runs in the second half, but by then the deficit was too much to overcome and they lost going away 80-63. The Rams (9-11, 1-4 conference) got within 10 a couple of times in the second half, but each time West Valley buried a big basket to increase their comfortable lead.
“They always seemed to have an answer, which is what good teams do,” said Gavilan coach Chris Shoemaker. “They shot well from the perimeter. It’s very tough because of the way they run their offense. If you help (defensively), they kick it out.”
West Valley (15-3, 3-1 conference) had eight 3-pointers in the game.
Adrian Zamora kept Gavilan within shouting distance in the second half, scoring 16 of his game-high 24 points. San Benito High grad Broc Sondgroth scored all nine of his points in the second half, including a pair of treys.
Gavilan controlled the opening eight minutes.
The Rams’ largest lead in the game was six points, but it didn’t last long. West Valley had three 3s in the first eight minutes, but the Ram defense kept them out of the paint. Zamora had several blocked shots early on and a couple of dunks.
Next Wednesday, Gavilan plays visiting De Anza at 7pm.
Sobrato sports
In its first TCAL JV dual meet, the Sobrato High wrestling team showed up well against host Salinas last week. Bulldogs Jake Ortiz, Gennaro Redmond and Victor Gillespie each recorded pins in the match.
The following weekend, Ortiz, Redmond and Gillespie had fine showings at the Los Gatos Tournament. Ortiz and Redmond both claimed second place in their weight classes by winning three of four matches, while Gillespie added a pair of wins.
Bulldog boys hoops
Two more games and two more wins for the Sobrato High JV boys basketball team. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs smacked Archbishop Mitty 55-31 behind 23 points from Marqus Crawford to improve to 14-5 overall this season. Tom Buich added eight points in the win.
The previous Saturday, Sobrato had beaten Highlands 60-21. Crawford led the way with 11 points, followed by Ryan Denise with eight, and Quincy Rich, Malcolm Holcrombe and Robert Munoz with seven each.
