March 6, 2007

Dons ride high with Jones, Mollet

Del Mar captures West Valley crown in 2006-2007

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Del Mar Coach Eric Ostrowski was able to harness the talents of seniors Aaron Mollet and Stevone Jones, and the Dons enjoyed the school’s finest boys’ basketball season this millennium.

After beginning the year 4-3 through Dec. 15, Del Mar built a 16-game winning streak, 14 of which came in league, and captured the West Valley Division championship outright.

The closest competitor, Mount Pleasant, finished 9-5, five games behind the Dons.

However, Del Mar was ousted from the playoffs in the first round by eventual semi-finalist Burlingame on Feb. 21, after receiving a tepid fourteenth-seed in the Central Coast Section Division III playoff bracket.

While Ostrowski was somewhat dissatisfied with the outcome of his club’s efforts after compiling such an impressive game record this year, the coach could not deny the success this season.

Del Mar won the perfect 14 games in league by an average of 17 points.

“We had a really great year,” said Ostrowski. “They looked past us and looked past us at the seeding meeting; I thought the 14-seed was pretty low. It’s hard to get a lot of respect and notoriety in the C-Division.”

The Dons set out to prove themselves in the first round, however, leading over Burlingame, which has reached the finals three times since 2003, with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

“We were up with three minutes left in the ball game, but we ended up making some young mistakes,” said Ostrowski.

Ostrowski called the team’s victory over Menlo on Dec. 7 the major turning point in the season. Collectively, the team came to realize that they had something special after besting the Knights 40-39 in a Mt. Tamalpais Tournament match-up.

Menlo School was ranked in the Mercury News’ Top-15 at the time, and ended up reaching the CCS Division IV final game last week.

“That early Menlo win definitely showed our guys that we were a solid team,” said Ostrowski. “It gave them that little extra confidence, a little swagger.”

Another key moment came on Jan. 9 when the dons blew out defending West Valley champion Mount Pleasant 71-43. “All year long, we had been looking toward Mount Pleasant,” said Ostrowski.

At the time, both teams were 3-0 in league, and both Del Mar victories had been decided by fewer than 15 points. “Our guys came in fired up and we ended up beating them by almost 30,” said Ostrowski. “After we got them, we really started rolling people.”

Ostrowski said that Mollet, who has been named 2006-2007 West Valley Division Most Valuable Player, and Jones were the most obvious contributors this season.

Mollet led the team in scoring. The 6-feet, 1-inch, senior guard averaged 17 points per game, with a high of 25 on Feb. 2 versus Mount Pleasant.

Jones, meanwhile, averaged 15 points per game. At 6-feet, 3-inches, and built like a football player, according to Ostrowski, Jones is a legitimate Division I prospect.

Both of them are looking at some of the junior colleges around here right now,” said Ostrowski. “They are just weighing their options and seeing where they would get the most playing time. They both have aspirations of playing at four-year schools after this.”

The Dons will lose 10 seniors to graduation this spring.

Ostrowski called junior point guard Travis Masterbone his top player returning next year. Masterbone averaged four points and nearly five assists per game this season.

“Travis played really well this season,” said Ostrowski. “He didn’t turn the ball over.”

The Dons also will graduate to the B-league Santa Teresa Division next year.

Westmont’s Weimer breaks career and single game scoring marks

Warriors advance to CCS quarterfinals, year ends there

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Michael Weimer may go down as the best basketball player in the history of Westmont High School.
The senior capped a stellar senior season in 2006-2007, becoming the first player to exceed 1,000 points scored in a career for the Warriors in January, according to Coach Bill Gerth.

Westmont standout Michael Weimer defends the Warrior goal versus Pioneer early this season, while senior Spencer Smith (lt) gets ready to run.

Then on Feb. 7, versus Evergreen Valley, Weimer dumped in a record 52 points in a single game.

“Weimer was just hot,” said Gerth. “All of his scoring came within the course of the game.”

Despite Weimer’s outburst, the game remained close into the second half. While Weimer racked up 19 field goals, including five three-pointers, Evergreen shot 40 three’s, converting 15.

Ultimately, Westmont prevailed 87-67.

“We just ran our stuff,” said Gerth. “It wasn’t like we went out and said, ‘Okay, let’s get him the record.”

The Warriors, meanwhile, pieced together a season of great highs and slower lows.

They sprang out of the gate, going 10-2 through preseason; but opened league with two losses, one at Prospect and the other at home versus Piedmont Hills.

The club regrouped to finish in the Mount Hamilton Division’s fourth place, behind Central Coast Section Division I champion Oak Grove, Division I runner-up Piedmont Hills and Division III number-four seed Pioneer.

Come playoffs, the Warriors won an opening round match-up with Aptos on Feb. 21 with a score of 61-41.
The squad advanced to face eventual Division II champ and state title contender Archbishop Mitty in the quarterfinals, where the year ended 76-52 on Feb. 24.

“We lost five games this season by a total of 12 points,” said Gerth. “If we could have won three or four of those, then our year looked a lot better. There were a lot of [good things].”

Weimer led the team in scoring throughout the year. He averaged 22 points per game.

Senior guard Darrien Broadnax was the team’s second leading scorer, averaging 10.6 points per game.

Junior Max Schneider, meanwhile is likely the team’s top returning player. Schneider led the Warriors in assists this season with 170.