A showdown between the top two teams in the SCVAL De Anza Division saw visiting Los Gatos give Los Altos a wake-up call in a 46-35 win Wednesday night.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 27-13 lead by halftime and stopped a second-half comeback to end a seven-game winning streak by the Eagles and knock them out of first place. Los Altos head coach Brittany Taylor said the team needed to continue building elite championship habits to compete with perennial league contenders like Los Gatos, which has won the last three SCVAL De Anza Division titles.
“I think this was a good aha moment for them to wake up a little bit and see every team is trying to get you,” Taylor said. “Every team is trying to beat you. You’ve got to regroup and refocus. I think this was a good team to get that little punch that we needed to really reset.”
While Los Altos (15-3) entered the night undefeated in league play at 4-0 with Los Gatos (12-5) just behind at 3-1, Los Gatos came out strong and had an 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, followed by a 16-6 run in the second quarter thanks to good defense that got into the Los Altos passing lanes to force turnovers.
“If we’re going to go for a steal, it’s OK to miss it, as long as you go really hard for it,” Los Gatos head coach Sara Quilici Giles said. “I feel like we were taking really good chances and trusting what we had behind us.”
Fortunes changed in the third quarter thanks to an 11-3 run by Los Altos, driven by the Eagles’ increased defensive intensity and the Wildcats’ fouls.
“We were able to get some stops,” Taylor said. “We ramped up a little bit. We got to the free-throw line and took advantage of being in the bonus. That helped us get a run going, seeing the ball go in and holding them to only one basket in the third slowed them down. We just need to capitalize a little bit more in those moments.”
Los Altos scored nine of its 11 points in the third quarter from free throws and was behind 30-24 entering the fourth. Both teams traded buckets throughout the quarter, with an and-1 bucket from Los Altos point guard Taylor Ware and a three-pointer from Chloe Caldbeck bringing it to within six twice late in the fourth. However, Los Gatos responded both times with three-pointers from Lola Cuevas and Jenna Webb to increase the lead back to nine points and put the game out of reach.
“I think we need to clean up some things offensively, getting cleaner looks in their zone, just capitalizing on our stops,” Taylor said. “We ramp up, we’ve got to be able to sustain that a little bit more. Just adjusting a little bit better.”
Quilici Giles noted that Los Gatos’ fouls in the third quarter allowed Los Altos to set up its defense and press, giving the Eagles the advantage.
“We were having a really hard time defending without fouling,” Quilici Giles said.
Los Altos rebounded Friday with a 49-28 win against Gunn, while Los Gatos beat Monta Vista 57-52.
Los Gatos and Los Altos are now 5-1 in league play heading into the last two weeks of the regular season, with Los Gatos hosting Los Altos Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
