Los Gatos senior Josie Despars gets ready to take a shot in last week’s league opener against Homestead. Despars, coming off of an MVP performance for the Cats in their championship effort at Del Mar’s Dons Club Holiday Tournament, scored 17 points in the Wildcats’ 64-44 win over the Mustangs.
There was no three-point line in high school basketball when Suzy Meckenstock was throwing in the long bombs that led the Los Gatos girls to league, Central Coast Section and Northern California championships back in 1982.
There is now, though, and her daughter, Korie Seandel, is taking full advantage of it.
Seandel was deadly from beyond the arc last week and it was enough to spark the Wildcats to a 64-44 win over Homestead in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division opener for each team.
Seandel poured in a team-high 19 points, including five three-pointers, as Gatos outscored Homestead in every period on the road to victory.
“Korie put on a three-point shooting clinic,” said Los Gatos head coach Sami Field-Polisso of Seandel, the 5-foot-6 senior guard whose mother, Suzy Meckenstock Seandel, played her way into the Los Gatos High School Athletic Hall of Fame during her time as a Wildcat in the early 1980s.
Seandel topped a list of three Wildcats who scored in double digits in the win over the Mustangs. Senior guard Josie Despars supported with 17 points and 5-foot-10 junior Alex Anthony came through with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Sabrina Belquist, a 5-foot-9 guard contributed seven points, including a pair of threes.
“I was really impressed with our intensity from start to finish,” said Field-Polisso after the win. “I emphasized the importance of showing our new teammates how much more competitive games become once league starts and I really think we did just that.”
The win in the league opener came on the heels of a three-game sweep to a championship in the Dons Club Holiday Tournament at Del Mar. The Cats defeated St. Joseph of Santa Maria 60-37, Mission San Jose 44-37 and Gunderson 60-42 in the title game.
Despars was selected as the tourney Most Valuable Player after scoring 53 points (17.7 per game) and leading the Cats to the three wins. Anthony was also named to the all-tournament team. Anthony tossed in 42 points (14 per game) and was dominant on the boards with 30 rebounds.
“Overall the tournament went really well,” said Field-Polisso. “Josie really had a great tourney, and I also thought our freshman, Sabrina Belquist, played very well. She’s not playing like a freshman anymore.”
Despars poured in 22 points and Anthony added 18 points and led the Cats with 10 boards in the title-clinching win over Gunderson. Senior Tianna McBurney-Lin drilled a pair of threes to finish with six points.
An 18-point effort by Despars had sparked Los Gatos to the win over Mission San Jose in the tourney semifinals. Belquist added 11 points and Anthony had 10 points to go with 11 rebounds.
In the tourney opener it was Anthony who led the way with 14 points and nine boards. Despars added 13 points, Belquist and Seandel nine apiece and senior Caroline Brossart eight. Seandel drilled two threes in the game.
The Dons Club tourney title marks the second tournament win for the Wildcats this season. Los Gatos opened the year by taking the crown in the Gilroy Mustang Classic.
The Wildcats were to take their 11-1 season record up against rival Saratoga earlier this week and they will continue De Anza Division play at Gunn on Jan. 13, 6:15 p.m. After facing Lincoln of San Francisco in the Martin Luther King Showcase at 9 a.m. on Jan. 16 at the City College of San Francisco, Gatos will return to league play in a home game against Mountain View on Jan. 18, 7 p.m.
“Seandel, Despars and Anthony continue to lead the way for us on the offensive end,” said Field-Polisso. “Anthony is averaging a double-double every game; Brossart is setting the pace—we go as she goes, and her motor never tires; and Belquist is gaining more and more confidence every game, and I’m excited to see her continue to contribute.”
“This may be the best defensive team I’ve coached at Los Gatos,” added the coach, “and we are at our best when we rely on defensive stops to create transition opportunities.”
