Pleasanton Preps: Falcons, Dons split varsity rivalry basketball games

In front of a packed and raucous gym that brought back memories of years gone by, the Foothill boys basketball team pulled out a 52-43 win over Amador Valley.

Attendance has certainly waned over the years, but last Friday, the stands were full at Foothill by halftime of the JV game.

The Falcons jumped out to an 11-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 24-15 lead at the half, which turned out to be too much to overcome.

For Amador, Isaac Owen had 18 points, most in the second half as he nearly single-handedly kept the Dons within reach.

In the end it was 18 points from Josh Valentine, as the junior guard from Foothill endured taunts from the Amador student section to lead the way. Nick High had 13 and Garret Hill had 10, including a pair of big baskets down the stretch.

Earlier in the week, the Falcons beat Livermore 76-19. Adith Swarup led the scoring for Foothill with 20 points. Aaron Miller added six in the second half and did nice work on the boards.

Foothill girls basketball

The Falcons picked up their first East Bay Athletic League win when they traveled to Livermore and came away with a 38-33 victory.

Reese Lombardi and Caelin Cavanaugh were the leading scorers, with Kendall Harris turning in a great defensive game with four steals. Lauren Twamugabo was strong on the glass.

Then last Friday night, the Falcons traveled to Amador for the rivalry game. The two sides battled to a 19-17 halftime scored before the Dons pulled away in the second half, winning 52-32.

Lombardi led the team with 10 points and Cavanaugh added eight.

Amador girls soccer

The Amador girls soccer team prevailed at home against crosstown rival Foothill by a score of 2-0 on Jan. 14.

Noelle Marceno scored both goals, unassisted in the first half and via a Penny Murphy assist in the second. Freshman goalkeeper Elizabeth Fineberg and the Dons’ defense repelled Foothill’s offense for the shutout. Foothill keeper Maddie Goldberg made several saves to keep the Falcons in the game.

Two days later, the Dons took on the California Grizzlies in San Ramon and came away with a very wet 1-0 victory.

Conditions were a challenge for both teams, with no scoring in the first half. The only goal of the game came early in the second with a superb Kate Reedy score off a Maille Smith pass. The Dons’ defense secured Amador’s second shutout of the week from there.

The Dons have earned a No. 3 ranking in the latest MaxPreps Bay Area rankings with an 8-0-1 record.

Foothill boys soccer

The Foothill varsity boys ran its undefeated streak to nine games with ties against crosstown rival Amador (1-1) and Monte Vista (3-3) last week.

On Jan. 14, Amador took an early 1-0 lead and an Amador defense led by Mike McMasters were able to hold off Foothill until the last five minutes. In dramatic fashion, Foothill was able to put one in the net on a header by Evan McConnaughey on a cross from Jensen McMillan.

Then on Jan. 16, the Falcons played a very physical Monte Vista team that received three yellow cards in the first half, including one to the coach. Two Foothill players were carted off with injury, with one being taken to the hospital.

Despite the overly physical play, Foothill took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Joseph Lemus and Pablo Gill. Monte Vista rallied back and took a 3-2 lead, but once again Foothill refused to lose and tied the game 3-3 on a goal by McMillan.

During the previous week, the Falcons won a pair of games, beating Dublin (3-0) and Cal (1-0).

The defense gave up only one goal in a five-game stretch, getting big play from Jake Lambro, McConnaughey, Cole Eastman, Matt Reeves and Drew Wong.

Adam Harbourne had his best game of the year in goal against Cal High with five great saves. Michael Kachkouche scored in both games one being a penalty kick, which proved to be the difference against Cal. McMillan and Max McGee also scored goals.

Foothill JV girls soccer

The Falcons had a tough go of things the week of Jan. 13, losing both games.

Foothill got down early to Amador but were able to tie it up on a goal by Ava Ricker. Early in the second half Amador would score the winning goal leading to a 2-1 final score. Then, in difficult conditions, they played a very good Monte Vista team and lost 3-0.

The previous week, the Falcons were able to pull out a 1-0 victory against Dublin in their only game of the week. After a scoreless first half, Sydney Mutzel scored early in the second half. That proved to be all the Falcons would need.

Foothill JV boys soccer

Last week, the Falcons played to a hard-fought 0-0 tie against Amador, and then fell 1-0 to Monte Vista two days later.

The previous week, the Falcons dropped a pair of matches, losing to Dublin 4-2 and Cal High 3-1. Foothill got behind early in both games but battled back to pull within in one goal before giving up late goals. Leo Koempel, Anthony Bonev and Alex Smith scored the goals for the Falcons.

Foothill wrestling

The Falcons sent six wrestlers to compete in the Albany Tournament on Saturday where they competed with wrestlers from 35 other schools.

Max Wise finished first for Foothill with Jack Madden and Cody Mocciaro finishing second. Miguel Lopez was third, with Lucas Bentley and Ethan Hoffman finishing seventh.

Need help from Amador

Once again, we are lacking for results from Amador teams.

If you would like to remedy this problem, shoot me your results from the previous week at acesmag@aol.com by noon on Sundays and I will make sure they get in the paper. Thank you!