Season Summary 2003
The Falcons returned from a 15-14 season in which they scored an upset over Gunderson in CCS play before falling to eventual Division III Champion Sacred Heart Cathedral 75-67 to find themselves with just one returning starter. It was obvious from early in the summer that a main theme of the year would be rebuilding and overcoming adversity from all angles of the game. The Falcons struggled through a summer in which the team found in hard to execute their complicated offense with so many new faces. Over the course of the summer the Falcons managed just a 7-17 mark. Questions about success for the 2002-2003 campaign were magnified by the loss of projected key contributor Eugene Kim and starting center Chris Barrett early in the season. Local schools saw this as an opportunity to score a win over the rebuilding Falcons team and set up Saratoga as the first round patsy for their tournaments. Thus after a road win again St. Lawrence Academy to open the season, Saratoga headed to the 35th Annual Westmont Warrior Classic to play host Westmont. Despite early successes in the game the team faltered and suffered a 53-41 loss. After a focused practice the next day the team returned to the tournament to win two games and the Consolation Championship. Senior guard Matt Ashburn garnered a birth on the All-Tournament team and became a recognized team leader. The Falcons next faced cross town rival Los Gatos who was hosting the Wildcat Shootout. Putting together an excellent defensive effort combined with domination of the boards the team checked the much larger Wildcats and held on for a 55-51 victory. The victory gave the Falcons confidence and showed the potential for a surprising season. The Falcons showed resilience in facing highly regarded Pioneer the next evening when early season standout center, Greg VanHoesen, was visiting Cal on a recruiting trip for the weekend. Sophomore center Danny Wallace stepped up with a stellar performance garnering 16 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Falcons to their second consecutive upset in an overtime victory. With their confidence buoyant the Falcons next played two ranked opponents and realized there was still much work to be done to prepare for league. Saratoga fell to both Live Oak (who featured a 6'10, 6'9 & 6'7 front line) and then Mills on the road and finished off the first two-thirds of the Pre-Season 5-3. In late December the Falcons finally returned home to play four games in which they went 3 and 1 losing only to undefeated Mt. Eden 58-51 and finished off the pre-season 8-4.
Saratoga opened league against two of the league favorites, Mountain View and Los Altos. After scoring a two point win (38-36) in a defensive struggle over Mountain View, the team went on the road and built a large lead over Los Altos. That lead eroded in the second half however, as the late turnovers and a 9-22 performance from the free throw line resulted in a two point loss. Recovering from the devastating loss the team scored another two point win over Santa Clara and a tough road victory over Lynbrook in which the team was behind throughout most of the contest. Against Santa Clara senior guard Lawrence Hui led the way with 10 points and an excellent defensive effort while in the Lynbrook game Matt Ashburn led a three point barrage scoring 22 points to draw the team back to a 50-38 victory. A 55-41 victory over Cupertino was led by the inside players featuring 17 points and 8 rebounds from Greg VanHoesen which helped the team to complete their rebound from the Los Altos game. The win upped their record to 4-1 and allowed them to reclaim a share of first place following Mountain View's victory over Los Altos. The Falcons played poorly in a 74-50 loss to Monta Vista and its 7'1" center Rob Rothbart and then suffered another narrow loss to Los Altos at home. The skid soon ended, however with exciting road victories over Mountain View and Santa Clara by two point margins. In both games the Falcons got off to quick starts and held on for the victories. The Santa Clara game was punctuated by a twenty minute delay when the lights went off in the middle of the second half but the Falcons maintained their composure and won the game on two free throws by Greg VanHoesen with 17 seconds remaining. Leading in to the last week of league the team played its best game of the season on the road at Cupertino where everyone was able to get into the action in the 53-36 victory. Returning home the Falcons played a magnificent high school basketball game against Monta Vista holding Rothbart to 15 points before he fouled out and playing excellent defense to close out the 54-48 victory. It was an exciting team effort with senior Lawrence Hui and junior Aron Mitsunaga seemingly getting every loose ball and corralling eight steals between them. After the victory the team went on to defeat 6th place Lynbrook (4-8).in a physical game and owned second place in league (9-3). In CCS Play the Falcons were disappointed with their #12 seed and were forced to go on the road to play a rematch against Pioneer (19-8). Outstanding play by Pioneer guard Junior Elgin-Taylor and poor shooting by the Falcons guards overshadowed fine performances by Greg VanHoesen (5-6 from the floor) and Danny Wallace (3-3) and the Falcons fell 61-45. On the whole, however, the team had a surprising season and became one of the most respected teams in the valley. The four starting seniors and the seven juniors and underclassmen they carried with them had a season with which to be proud, and an experience not to forget.