Westmont men’s basketball heads to postseason with win over Menlo

By JACOB NORLING

Westmont Sports Writer

Westmont Men’s Basketball (16-10, 9-8) is officially headed to the postseason after defeating the Menlo Oaks (16-11, 7-10) on Thursday night by a score of 88-77. Heading into tonight, Westmont was one game ahead of the Oaks for the sixth and final spot in the GSAC Tournament.

With tonight’s win, the Warriors have secured the conference’s final bid, and are now penciled in to compete for the GSAC Tournament Championship next weekend in Fullerton.

“We’re playing the best basketball we’ve played all year,” said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. “It’s exciting. At the end of the season, that’s what everybody wants to be able to say.”

The Warriors were led by the heroic efforts of Anthony McIntyre and Tone Patton Sr., who each scored 24 and 18 points, respectively. McIntyre hit a handful of back-breaking shots down the stretch, and also grabbed a pair of steals and four rebounds.

“Back at Menlo, their big men really controlled the paint defensively,” noted Boucher. “Tonight, Tone pulled them out early, and was able to hit a couple three’s. He gave us an offensive surge early.

“In Anthony’s case, he was frustrated at halftime. He really rallied himself, and in the end, he put together one of the most special second halves that he’s had all year.”

The Warriors also received clutch play off the bench from Kyler Warren, Zeke Viuhkola, and Cly Griffith Jr. who contributed with eight, seven, and seven points each. Combined, the trio off the bench converted eight of 13 field goal attempts.

“I’m so proud of Kyler,” began

Boucher, “The way our team is built, it can be anybody’s night, and tonight, it was Kyler’s night. For Cly, a couple months ago he was spotty off the bench, and now, he’s been a huge surge of energy off the bench.

“Zeke has done a great job of just continuing to improve throughout the year. If Zeke is out there, he will find ways to help us win.

“When we have our bench come in and make plays, it gets everyone excited and it almost feels like a basket is worth more than two points.”

Elsewhere, Cade Roth added in 11 points, and Amir Davis added nine points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.

It took until the final minutes of action for the Warriors to pull away, as the Oaks fought hard to keep their season alive. In the first half, the Oaks had their biggest momentum swing of the game when they turned a four-point deficit into a five-point lead with 9:36 to play.

Following the nine-point swing Boucher called a timeout, and out of the timeout, the Warriors threw down three transition dunks in less than a minute, reclaiming the lead and showcasing the tenacity that has turned their season around.

Menlo briefly re-took the lead with 16:31 remaining in the second half, but less than a minute later Davis put Westmont back up with a layup to make it a 45-43 game. From that point on, the Oaks never again led in the contest.

Westmont led by as many as 10 in the middle of the second half, but as the clock winded down and multiple Warriors got into foul trouble, the Oaks found themselves back in the game down six. Then, with 1:48 remaining, McIntyre drilled one of his teamhigh four 3-pointers, putting

Westmont back up nine with the finish line in sight.

Following McIntyre’s three the Warriors made six consecutive free throws, putting the game on ice as the clock winded down. After falling to 5-8 in conference play two weeks ago, the Warriors rattled off their fourth win in a row to save their season, earning them the final spot in the GSAC Tournament.

“After losing to San Diego Christian, it felt like an uphill battle,” reflected Boucher. “There was really nothing to say. We prayed, had a break, and we left. Since then, seeing where we are now, it just shows the character and perseverance of our guys.

“These guys have battled through a lot. Dayshone got hurt in our tenth practice, and they rallied from that. We’ve taken some really tough losses in a tough GSAC, but still, we’ve battled.

“Everybody knew the stakes coming into tonight, so we didn’t have to talk about it. We spent more time prepping on Menlo than we have any team all year, because we knew what was at stake. There was certain focus and determination from this group all week long.

“Our guys played free, aggressive, and confident during a time where there was a lot of pressure. I am really proud of this team for what they’ve done to get to this point.” email: sports@newspress.com

Westmont concludes the regular season on Saturday afternoon, when they host Jessup at 2:00 p.m. Ahead of tip-off, Westmont will honor their four seniors, Cade Roth, Cly Griffith Jr., Tone Patton Sr. and Kyler Warren.

Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.

Westmont women’s basketball team clinches a share of GSAC title

By RON SMITH WESTMONT SPORTS WRITER

With a 66-57 victory over the Oaks of Menlo (18-8, 12-5) on Thursday evening, #5 Westmont Women’s Basketball (22-2, 15-2), secured at least a share of the Golden State Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship and a bye in the quarterfinals of next week’s GSAC Tournament.

Coming into the game, Menlo, who had lost just one game since the middle of December, was looking to hand Westmont its third loss of the season. The Warriors, however, were intent on avenging last month’s loss to the Oaks when the two teams met in Atherton.

The Warriors had a strong start, outscoring the Oaks 20-6 in the first quarter of play. Six different Warriors contributed to the scoring in the opening frame with Stefanie Berberabe leading the way with six points and Sydney Brown adding four.

“I thought we started the game with a focused defensive effort that set the tone for the whole game.” said Westmont’s veteran head coach Kirsten Moore. “Menlo plays aggressive defense and it is part of their game plan to not allow us open looks. We had to adjust and take what they gave us. We did a good job of seeing some of those opportunities.”

Menlo shooters found their range in the second quarter as the Oaks shot 50% from the floor (7 of 14) and outscored the Warriors 15-12. Laila Saenz, who did not score in the first quarter, led the Warriors in the second period with five points.

Westmont entered the second half with a 32-21 advantage. However, that lead evaporated over the first eight minutes of the third quarter in which they were outscored 15-2.

“Menlo is an incredibly talented offensive team,” noted Moore. “Obviously, they made a huge run, came back and even took the lead on us.”

With her team down by two with 2:16 to play in the penultimate period, Moore called a timeout.

“I told the team that it was gut-check time and time for us to go on a run,” reported Moore. “We had to make some stops on the defensive end to make it happen. We changed defenses at that point and created a number of turnovers and deflections. The press and our scrappiness came through at that point.”

A minute after the timeout, Menlo added a free throw to go up 37-34. In the final 65 seconds of the third quarter, however, Westmont took control of the game and produced an 11-0 run.

Saenz drilled a long-distance three to start the run, was fouled on the play, and converted the and-one free throw to give Westmont a 38-37 lead. Sage Kramer followed with a layup on the Warriors’ next possession. Then, Berberabe stole the ball and scored on a layup. Before the horn could sound at the end of the third quarter, Kramer hit from beyond the arc, putting the Warriors ahead 45-37.

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Saturday afternoon, the Warriors will conclude the regular season by hosting Jessup (14-12, 98) at Murchison Gymnasium. With a win, Westmont can claim the GSAC Regular Season Championship outright.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors picked up where they left off. Berberabe and Brown hit jumpers before Saenz drained two free throws to extend the run to 17-0 and give Westmont a 14-point lead (51-37).

“I am really proud of that gut-check by my team in that moment to come back and go on our own run,” expressed Moore. “It showed a lot of fortitude. I am proud of Syd and Stef for their leadership and experience in those moments. They gave us that fight and led us through. Though the Oaks would find their shooting touch again, they were unable to cut the deficit to less than seven.

Berberabe finished the game with 21 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Saenz added 13 points for the Warriors while Kramer tallied 10 points.

Brown put up nine points while pulling down 17 rebounds. With 789 career boards, the senior moved into third place on the career rebound list.

“Syd’s rebounds tonight were incredible,” pointed out Moore. “They have a lot of long and athletic post players that we had to battle with on the board.

“So many people stepped up for us. Our bench was incredible tonight. Paula Graichen’s minutes were amazing. Both Sage and Bailey Fong scored the ball and made big buckets in big moments. Sage was an important part of that run. It was a total team effort tonight with Stef controlling the pace. She showed why she is one of the best, if not the best, guard in the country tonight.”

Saturday afternoon, the Warriors will conclude the regular season by hosting Jessup (14-12, 9-8) at Murchison Gymnasium. With a win, Westmont can claim the GSAC Regular Season Championship outright, earn the top seed in the GSAC Tournament, and secure an automatic berth in next month’s NAIA National Championship.

“I want to see us finish out strong here on Senior Day on Saturday,” said Moore. “It is important heading into the postseason to be playing well and to finish conference strong.” email: sports@newspress.com

Ron Smith is the sports information director at Westmont College.