Three basketball teams wrap up league titles

It was a night to clinch league basketball championships for the Gunn boys plus the Pinewood and Menlo girls, as all did it in impressive fashion while making a little history.

Gunn (9-1, 20-5) wrapped up its first-ever SCVAL De Anza Division title with a 65-39 triumph over visiting Los Altos. At the same time, second-place Palo Alto (5-4, 12-9) was being upset by last-place Cupertino 39-38, thus handing the division crown to the Titans.

Had Palo Alto won and remained mathematically alive, Gunn would have had to beat the visiting Vikings on Friday night (7:45 p.m.) to claim the outright title. Now, it’s a done deal and the Titans have their most significant league championship since the 1980-81 Kent Lockhart-led Titans won the SCVAL and reached the Central Coast Section finals.

Just up Arastradero Road at nearly the same time, the Pinewood girls clinched their 14th straight league title under coach Doc Scheppler with a 52-40 thumping of visiting Castilleja. The Panthers (9-0, 21-4) have only Friday’s game at Eastside Prep remaining on their West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) schedule while the second-place Gators (6-3, 17-6) now trail by three games with one to play — against visiting Mercy-San Francisco on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

For Pinewood, the triumph was its 148th straight league victory, dating to the 1994-95 season. Scheppler arrived the next season and the Panthers haven’t lost a league game since. Tuesday’s win was their 11th in a row this season.

Castilleja made it easy for Pinewood in the early going by turning the ball over too many times and digging a hole the Gators could never climb from. Castilleja trailed by seven (22-15) at halftime and never got closer than 48-40 with 1:16 left in the game.

Senior Lindsay Nickel, the only senior playing for Pinewood this season (senior Katie Cosner is injured), led the Panthers with 22 points. She made six three-pointers as the Gators failed to pressure her on the perimeters.

Junior Rachel Marty added 12 points for Pinewood, also hurting Castilleja from the perimeter. Hailie Eackles scored nine and did a solid job on the boards as the shorter Panthers outhustled the taller Gators.

Castilleja was led by sophomore Natasha von Kaeppler, who tallied 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior Ericka von Kaeppler added nine points and seven boards but junior Eve Zelinger, who scored 80 points in four wins last week, was held to just three points. Her lone three-pointer in the fourth quarter marks the lowest-scoring game of her career.

In the Skyline Division of the WBAL, the Menlo girls improved to 9-0 (20-6 overall) and won their first-ever title in the league, since moving from the Peninsula Athletic League last season, with a 58-51 victory over Mercy-Burlingame.

The contest was tight throughout with Menlo not being able to put it away until Lauren Berry hit a baseline 15-footer with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Senior Jackie Shepard led the Knights with 22 points and Whitney Hooper added 20. Emma Paye was a solid addition with 10 points at Menlo won its sixth straight game.

At Gunn, the Titans dismantled a Los Altos team that actually helped them win the league title. The Eagles beat Palo Alto twice this season.

Using their size to open up inside scoring, the Titans broke open the game late in the first period and cruised home for the win. Earlier this year Gunn defeated Los Altos 56-31 and on Tuesday night the Titans used their considerable size in another way to their favor.

“We knew after the first time we played them that we had an advantage inside,” said Max Minowitz. “If we played our game we would be in good shape in this one.”

The first time the two teams played it was 6-foot-9 Gus Brennan who had a big game. Tuesday, the Eagles keyed on Brennan and it was the 6-1 Minowitz who was the inside force.

Gunn led 18-8 at the end of the first quarter on a nice feed from Brennan to a slashing 6-4 Stephan Castro, who put in a layup before the buzzer. At the start of the second period Minowitz scored 10 straight points, including two drives to the hoop where he was fouled and made the free throw for a three-point play. Minowitz finished the night with a career-high 18 points.

Gunn led 28-12 after the streak by Minowitz and the closest Los Altos got the rest of the night was 13 points. The half ended on a drive to the hoop by Brennan to put the Titans up 37-20.

Throughout the night there were times where Los Altos’ pressure defense wreaked havoc with Gunn, but the Titans still managed to keep their composure and extend their lead as 6-5 Avery Reiss made it three buzzer-beaters for the night for Gunn when he put in an inside shot to make the score 56-33.

In addition to Minowitz, the Titans received 12 points from Castro, 10 from 6-3 Kyle Perricone and nine from Reiss.

In other boys’ action on Tuesday:

Getting 17 points from senior Kenny Diekroeger, Menlo maintained its two-game lead in the WBAL with a 62-46 triumph over host Priory. The Knights improved to 10-1 in league (17-3 overall) while the Panthers (6-5, 12-8) saw their three-game winning streak end.

Diekroeger also played some defense on Priory’s leading scorer, Andras Helmeczi, who finished with 14 points. Menlo senior Alex Smith contributed 12 points while senior Will Tashman had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Ben Kovachy added 10 for Priory, which lost head coach David Moseley to a pair of technical foulds and an ejection in the second quarter. Moseley picked up the technical fouls within 14 seconds of each other. Diekroeger hit both foul shots to give Menlo a 26-17 lead. Priory managed just three points in that period and fell behind by 30-17 at the half.

Menlo can clinch no worse than a tie for the league title by beating visiting Eastside Prep on Friday at 5 p.m. Should Sacred Heart Prep also win that night, the Knights can win the outright WBAL crown on Tuesday by beating visiting Pinewood (6:30 p.m.).

Sacred Heart Prep will host Menlo on Feb. 20, but the title likely could be decided by then.

Getting 12 players in the scoring column, the Gators (8-3, 14-8) rolled over visiting Crystal Springs, 74-56. Sacred Heart remained two games back of first-place Menlo following the triumph with only three games to play.

Balanced scoring led the way for the Gators as the backcourt of Ryan Sakowski and Alek Konopnicki combined for 21 points.

In other girls’ action Tuesday:

Sacred Heart Prep took a positive step foward toward securing a better seeding for the upcoming WBAL (Foothill Division) playoffs with a 52-43 victory over visiting Eastside Prep.

The Gators (4-5, 12-12) moved ahead of the Panthers (3-6, 12-12) in the division standings and can tie third-place Mercy-San Francisco (5-4) should the Gators beat last-place King’s Academy on Friday while Mercy loses to second-place Castilleja. The difference between finishing third or fourth is the semifinal matchup — fourth would mean a date with No. 1 Pinewood.

On Tuesday, senior Gabby Micek knocked down four three-points and finished with 21 points to pace the Gators. Freshman Erin Sheridan added 11 points while Bryn Aitken-Young contributed 10. Eastside Prep, which has lost seven of its past eight games, was led by Ausjerae Holland’s 14 points. Takara Burse added 13 and Shayla Bunch 10.

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