GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lady Wildcats Overpower Prospect in Tourney Game

The Score: Los Gatos 56, Prospect 26

The Star: Los Gatos senior center Dana Webster, who powered her way to the basket and the boards with 11points and nine rebounds.

The Turning Point: The Lady Wildcats went on a 12-0 run while limiting Prospect to only four points in the entire first quarter.

The Quote: "We played really well," said Los Gatos Junior forward Courtney Mains. "Our defense was solid, we ran the floor well, and everyone did their job. I was hitting open shots and finishing under the basket."

What's Next? Both teams will return to action Monday afternoon at Saratoga High School in separate brackets of the tournament.

Bottom Line: Los Gatos' solid defense and size were simply no match for the Lady Panthers. The Lady Wildcats dominated the boards and were able to make their shots at critical points while Prospect didn't.

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The solid defense and aggressive rebounding of the Los Gatos High School girls basketball team was simply no match for Prospect High Saturday afternoon as the Lady Wildcats cruised to a 56-26 victory in round one of the Susie Nagpal Saratoga Shootout tournament at Saratoga High School.

In fact, Los Gatos' mixture of full court pressure and zone defense helped limit the Lady Panthers to only four points in the first quarter and eight points in the entire second half.

Los Gatos head coach Xavier Cook said their main focus was to take a fast-paced approach to the transition of going from defense to offense.

"What worked for us today was our defense," said Cook. "We were trying to trap and go into transition from defense to offense. Our goal is to make 85 percent of our possessions to be transitions."

The Lady Wildcats were led in scoring by junior forward Courtney Mains with 12 points and senior center Dana Webster with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Mains said she was successful Saturday by getting to open spots on the floor and converting her shots.

"We played well," said Mains. "Our defense was solid and we ran the floor well. I was able to hit my open shots and finish under the basket."

Webster, who also had a blocked shot, said she used her size to power her way down to the post.

"We did well fast-breaking and running with the ball," said Webster. "I helped by powering down to the basket in the low post and get fouls."

Webster was perfect at the free-throw line in the second half and made five of six on the afternoon.

Senior Jodie Lee and Junior Madeline Smedt carried Los Gatos' backcourt and pitched in with 11 points each.

In the first half, Prospect routinely moved the ball down to senior Jenna Roldan in the high post, but she was unable to find a rhythm down low.

By the second half, the Lady Wildcats had figured out Prospect's high post play and were able to shut down their entire offense, thus forcing the Lady Panthers to take several shots from the three-point line.

Prospect head coach Carlos Boles said his team, who was only down nine points at halftime, simply collapsed to the defensive pressure and didn't execute on offense.

"We couldn't handle the ball, we couldn't pass the ball and we couldn't shoot the ball," said Boles. "We couldn't handle the pressure and our passes in the posts were late and slow. Our number one thing is we need to compete as individuals and as a team. We rely too much on certain individuals to do everything and we can't do that anymore."

The Lady Panthers were led by Roldan with 10 points and sophomore guard Stephanie Tandun with seven points and four points.

Both teams will return to action in separate brackets of the tournament on Monday afternoon at Saratoga High School, and as for Cook's concern, he and his team are not worried about who they will play next in the tournament.

"Today, we talked about not worrying about what other teams do," Cook said. "We just play our system and play as one unit. That's what we will do as we move on."