Poor shooting, late turnovers costly in Los Altos' home loss to Del Mar

By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer

R. Alan Hwang/Special to the Town Crier Los Altos High’s Matt Favaro goes up for a shot in last Friday’s game against Del Mar, which the Eagles lost 46-40.

If you believe there are good losses and bad ones, file Friday’s under the latter for the Los Altos High boys basketball team.

The Eagles dropped a 46-40 home game to a Del Mar team that came in without a win and lacking much size or athleticism.

Del Mar (1-3) committed 24 turnovers, but Los Altos (1-2) failed to take advantage of most of them. The Eagles, who had 19 turnovers themselves, shot just 28 percent from the field and went 2 of 17 from three-point range.

“We turned it over too much, that was the biggest thing, and we didn’t shoot the ball well,” Los Altos coach James Reilly said. “We hadn’t seen zone before - our first two opponents played man (defense) - and we were slow to attack it.”

Yet the Eagles still had chances to win. Guard Kevin Shah drained a three-pointer near the right baseline with 2:28 to play, tying the game at 40.

The Dons went back on top with 1:13 left on a layup by Travis Masterbone. Over the next minute, Los Altos had five possessions to either tie or go ahead, but missed two shots and turned the ball over three times.

The last of these turnovers proved especially costly for the Eagles. Evan Nelson was whistled for a double dribble as he headed for an uncontested layup after making a steal in the backcourt. Los Altos quickly fouled, stopping the clock at 13 seconds, but Arron Mollet sunk both free throws to put Del Mar up 44-40.

The Eagles never led after the first quarter. Shah’s follow of his own miss gave them their biggest advantage at 8-4. Half of these points came on free throws by post player Brett Perrotta, who finished with a team-best 14.

Del Mar capped the quarter with an 8-0 run and built a 25-14 lead with two minutes left in the half on a three-point play by Mollet (game-high 15 points).

The Eagles rallied by scoring the final seven points of the half to pull within 25-21. Shah, who totaled nine points, ignited the run by rattling in a three-pointer from the top of the key. Matt Favaro and Perrotta followed with point-blank baskets.

The Eagles cut the deficit even more in the third, helped by 10 Del Mar turnovers. Kennie Park’s layin off a steal with 12 seconds left allowed Los Altos to enter the fourth down 32-30.

Although Reilly was disappointed with the loss, the team’s second in a row, he did find some positives in it.

“We kept fighting - we didn’t give up,” the team’s first-year coach said. “The effort was great and the fight was good, but we need to execute better, rebound better and make shots.”

Los Altos plays at rival Mountain View at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game is part of Mountain View’s “Honor the Game Day,” a celebration of sportsmanship.

MV tops Mt. Pleasant

Spartans senior Terence Willis “had a great tournament,” coach Bob Heckmann said, and made the all-tourney team. The guard scored 11 points against Mt. Pleasant and 19 in a 77-74 first-round loss to Andrew Hill.

Junior center Jesse Griffin tallied 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in the Mt. Pleasant game. Ricky Appler scored 18 points in Mountain View’s 78-46 rout of Lick in the second round.