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The Priory girls’ soccer team will begin the new year in first place in the West Bay Athletic League following a 1-0 nail-biter over visiting Castilleja on Thursday. A goal by Alex Schnabel off an assist from Sarah Montgomery was all the Panthers needed to improve to 2-0 in the Foothill Division (3-1-1 overall).
“We dominated possession and shots, again creating excellent scoring opportunities,” said Priory coach Armando Del Rio. “We hit the post four times. I am excited to give the girls a break from soccer, since they seem a little burnt out from their intense club schedules. I think this had added to our team’s lack of finishing great opportunities. I am optimistic that we will begin to start finishing better.”
When that happens, it won’t be with standout scorer Massiel Castellanos, who will be sidelined until mid-to-late January at the earliest with a stress fracture. That really throws the WBAL into a wide-open race. Priory will face fellow contenders Menlo (Jan. 6) and Sacred Heart Prep (Jan. 15) before Castellanos returns.
In a battle between two contenders in the new WBAL, Menlo and host Sacred Heart Prep battled to a 2-2 decision on Thursday in another Foothill Division showdown.
“It was probably fitting that we tied,” said Menlo coach Donoson Fitzgerald, who lauded his team for rallying from a 2-1 deficit.
The Knights (0-1, 4-2-3) grabbed a quick lead in the opening moments when Katie Howard scored off a cross from fellow senior Madi Shove. With the match headed to intermission with Menlo leading, the Gators (1-0-1, 3-2-2) struck quickly with two goals in the final five minutes.
Kira Abe tied things off an assist from Abby Dahlkemper and Nicole Quilliam put her team in the lead just before the half on an assist from Lizzy Weisman. While SHP took the momentum into halftime, Menlo came out after intermission and pressed the issue. Senior Ginny Miller finally broke free and took an assist from Shove to tie things. The teams battled evenly after that with each squad getting a few opportunities before time ran out.
Boys soccer
Adam Zernik, John Anderton and Federico Clerici all scored to lead Palo Alto to a 3-0 win over visiting Lincoln on Thursday in the final round of pool play for the Homestead Christmas Cup.
The Vikings (7-0-1 overall) are 4-0 in the tournament. Zernik provided the winning goal at the 20-minute mark of the first half off an assist from Elliot Sanbord. Zernik also assisted on Clerici’s goal in the second half. Michael Hanabusa set up Anderton’s goal just four minutes after Paly had taken a 1-0 lead.
The Priory opened its WBAL season with a 3-1 loss at Harker on Thursday. The Panthers trailed at halftime, 1-0, on a defensive lapse by Priory. The Panthers hit the post and had two disallowed goals in the second half, finally breaking through with an unassisted goal by Servando Barriga. Scoring threat Evan Filipczyk returned to the Priory lineup for the first time this season following an injury.
In nonleague action, Gunn (3-3-2) bounced back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat visiting Piedmont Hills, 3-1, Thursday. Yotam Kasznik tied the match off an assist from Danny Jauregui and Sean Parshad provided the winning goal off an assist from Ryan Wood. Greg Albrecht provided an insurance goal with Parshad assisting.
Boys basketball
The Menlo boys’ basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Burlingame Lions Tournament for the second straight year following a 65-41 dismantling of El Camino in the semifinals on Thursday night.
The Knights (3-1) played well in the first half and were rewarded with a 15-point lead at intermission. Menlo continued its strong play in the second half with 34 points.
Kenny Diekroeger, a standout baseball player headed to Stanford next fall, led the Knights with 16 points while Jerry Rice Jr. contributed 13 off the bench. Menlo will play host Burlingame for the tourney title on Friday at 8 p.m.
Also at Burlingame on Thursday, sophomore Reed McConnell scored 16 points but no other Sacred Heart Prep player reached double figures as the Gators (1-2) dropped a 65-51 decision to host Burlingame in the semifinals. SHP will play El Camino for third place on Friday at 6 p.m.
In a consolation-bracket game, Gunn rolled over Mills, 62-38, and will play in the consolation finals on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Kyle Perricone led the Titans (5-3) with 15 points while fellow seniors Gus Brennan (12) and Stephan Castro (10) also contributed double figures.
At the Wildcat Shootout in Los Gatos, Menlo-Atherton lost more than a game on Thursday as leading scorer Peter Defilipps severely sprained his ankle during a semifinal game and could be lost for at least a month. He had been averaging more than 20 points a game.
Not only did the Bears (4-2) lose their standout guard, but they dropped a 45-43 decision to Pioneer and fell into the third-place game on Friday against Los Gatos at 6 p.m.
Defilipps went down at the end of the first quarter after already scoring eight points. The Bears led after one period, 11-7, and held on to a 21-18 halftime lead. With Sam Knapp stepping up with 17 points, the Bears were still in the game to the end, never leading or trailing by more than five points.
With the game tied at 43 with nine seconds to play, Pioneer came out of a time out and pulled off a trick play for the winning basket with just a second remaining. The Bears had beaten Leland the day before with less than two seconds to play.
Girls basketball
Gunn took the first step toward defending its title in the Pinewood Classic by pressuring Mills into a 60-40 loss on Thursday night in Los Altos Hills. The Titans (6-0) forced 33 turnovers, surpassing 30 for the sixth straight game.
Gunn will face Presentation in the semifinals on Friday at 8 p.m. Prez routed Palo Alto, 75-38, in another first-round game. The championship game is set for Saturday at 4 p.m.
Senior Jasmine Evans had nine steals and Tamar Cartun added six as the Titans converted their defense efforts into points on the offensive end. Evans finished with a game-high 23 points while her sister, Jackie, added 15. Senior Taylor McAdam contributed nine points and solid defense as Gunn continued to hold opponents to under 45 points per game.
Mills actually tied the game twice, at 17 and 19 Mmidway through the second period before Gunn went on an 11-2 run to finish the half on top, 30-21.
The Titans then held cold-shooting Mills scoreless for four minutes in the fourth quarter while forging a 51-31 advantage.
Also on Thursday, it wasn’t pretty but Castilleja nonetheless grinded out a 42-33 nonleague victory over visiting University (SF) on Thursday night.
The victory was the Gators’ (6-1) sixth straight.
Castilleja got off to a 15-6 lead after one quarter but led by only five heading into the final period. Neither team played well in the final quarter as the Gators held on. Sophomore Natasha von Kaeppler scored 18 points to lead Castilleja.
Menlo senior Jackie Shepard poured in 27 points, but the Knights generated little else on offense while dropping a 57-40 decision to Lowell (San Francisco) in the opening round of the Terra Nova Tournament in Pacifica.
The teams were tied at 16 in the first quarter until Lowell hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. After that, Lowell never looked back while steadily pulling away. Whitney Hooper added seven points and seven rebounds for the Knights (2-3).
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Menlo senior Casey Finch (20) did a good job of holding SHP’s Abby Dahlkemper scoreless, but the Gators’ Nicole Quilliam (right) did score in a 2-2 WBAL Foothill Division soccer tie on Thursday. Photo by Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online. -
Menlo’s Casey Finch (20) goes up on a corner kick but can’t get her head on it while Sacred Heart Prep’s Kira Abe (6), Nicole Quilliam (14), Geena Grauman (3) and Abby Dahlkemper (10) have the play well-covered. Photo by Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online. -
Menlo defenders Allie Crandall (left) and Casey Finch react to Sacred Heart Prep’s go-ahead goal late in the first half of Thursday’s WBAL match. The Knights came back to tie it, 2-2, in the second half. Photo by Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online. -
Menlo defender Allie Crandall (19) stops the progress of Sacred Heart Prep’s Abby Dahlkemper during Thursday’s WBAL soccer match in Atherton. The teams battled to a 2-2 deadlock. Photo by Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online.
