Sports
Las Positas Men Second In James Clark; Hart leads Hawks Women
The Hawks men drop tourney finale after six straight wins; Ashley Hart ranked fourth in state in scoring
The Las Positas College men’s basketball team (6-1), ranked fifth in the current NorCal Signal The Light Basketball Rankings, continued its strong start to the season with a runner-up finish in the James Clark Classic in Sacramento (Nov. 29-Dec. 1).
After beating Merced 81-79 and Siskiyous 98-65, the Hawks fell to Sacramento City 90-86 in the championship game. Sophomore guard John Ketchel, a Freedom High graduate, had 19 points in the loss -- the Hawks' first of the season.
“We had a rough first half and an excellent second half,” Hawks head coach James Giacomazzi said of the championship game. “We were up with 2 minutes to go, but give credit to Sac City. They hit some huge shots in crunch time to win the game.”
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Ketchel and freshman guard Michael Hayes (West HS) were all-tournament selections.
Hayes led the way against Siskiyous with 29 points on 10-of-13 shooting (8 of 8 from the free-throw line). Freshman Marc Starling (Tracy HS) was a sparkplug off the bench with 18 points, seven steals and five boards. Ketchel added 10 points and sophomore forward Alafia Oluwosogo (American HS) and sophomore Nana Appiah (Patterson) combined for 15 rebounds.
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The Hawks opened the tournament with an exciting win over Merced, shaking off the rust after 19 days off due to poor air quality from the Camp Fire in Paradise. Wyatt “Goose” Persin (Piedmont Hills) led the charges with 28 points.
“Goose came off the bench and shot the lights out and saved our butts,” Giacomazzi said of the tourney opener. “Wesley Burse had a huge block at the buzzer to preserve the win.”
Hayes added 15 against Merced, Ketchel had 12, Alvon Marshall (San Leandro HS) 11, and Oluwasogo 10.
The Hawks will be tested again when they face Gavilan (9-1) Friday, Dec. 7 to open the Skyline Classic.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Las Positas sophomore Ashley Hart enters the week ranked No. 3 in the state in points scored, averaging 24.7 per game.
A Millennium High in Tracy graduate, Hart had a team-high 22 points in a 66-62 win over Porterville on Nov. 30 in the Cuesta Tournament. Jadey Thorsteinson (West HS) added 11 points off the bench and Kiara Jones (West) had 10 points.
Hart also had 22 in a loss against Allan Hancock on Dec. 1.
The Hawks (4-3) will host Gavilan (1-5) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in nonconference action.
