The Lady Cougar Basketball team ended their season by falling to the Sheldon Huskies (Sacramento,CA) 53-39 in the out bracket game in the California Interscholastic Federation Northern California Division I Tournament.

Evergreen Valley led off the game with their traditional aggressive and scrappy defense, which led to steals and easy baskets as the Lady Cougars took a 9-4 lead into the second quarter. However, when Sheldon put on a zone defense in the second quarter, the Lady Cougars could not stop the Huskies' momentum. The Huskies outscored the Lady Cougars 22-7 in the second quarter and took a 10 point lead going into halftime. The Lady Cougars kept fighting in the second half with their tenacious defense but could not overcome the deficit as the Huskies' lead stretched to 20 points midway through the 3rd quarter.

Lanyssa Fiaui led the Lady Cougars with 12 points as Jennifer Le added 11.

The Lady Cougars finish the season with a record of 23-7 while also claiming the BVAL A-League Title.

The Lady Cougars basketball team will travel to Sacramento tonight to face Sheldon High School in round one of the Northern Californian championships. Sheldon is the San Joaquin Section runner-up, falling to Kennedy in the section championships 54-48. The Huskies finished the season 20-11 and are ranked 10th in the SJS.

The winner of this match will face Monte Vista-Danville, the North Coast Section champions.

Coming into the CCS Division I championship game, few expected the Evergreen Valley Cougars to have much of a shot against number one ranked San Benito. The Haybalers had three players over six feet tall and had outscored their opponents during the CCS playoffs by an average of 25.5 points.

The Cougars started the game sluggishly as San Benito opened with a 7-0 run and led after the first quarter 11-4. Evergreen's perimeter game came to life in the second quarter. Guards Jennifer Le, Alyssa Prudencio and Jezelle Cutia hit clutch threes to bring the Cougars to a one point deficit at the half. After a back and forth third stanza, Evergreen claimed a one point lead, but was unable to hold on in the final quarter. The Haybalers' two centers, Lauren Adamek and Victoria Aguilera, came up with a number of timely rebounds while guard Vanessa Farias hit four clutch free throws in the game's final minutes to wrap the game up for San Benito, 48-37.

Evergreen will advance to the Northern California championships on the merit of its second place finish in CCS. The opponent and location of the game is to be determined.

The Evergreen Valley girls basketball team defeated Carlmont tonight 54-50 to move into the championship game of the CCS Division 1 bracket. They will play San Benito this Saturday night at 6 PM at Santa Clara University.

Our correspondent at the game will have more for you later tonight.

-On Saturday night at Milpitas High School, the Lady Cougar basketball team grinded out a 60-50 win over league-mate Santa Teresa to advance to the CCS semifinals. EV played a sloppy game with many turnovers and missed lay-ups. The Cougars main weakness, which could give them trouble in the future, was height. EV was outrebounded by a wide margin. Coach Dan Johnson urged his players to "sit" in the lane when boxing out to create space but the efforts were futile. Santa Teresa had two forwards whose wingspan allowed them to snatch rebounds out of the air and go up for an easy put-back. Despite the disparity, EV kept the game close throughout and then went on a big run to close the game. Lanyssa Fiaui and Alyssa Prudencio took over the game by attacking the hoop and creating their own shots. EV also stepped it up on the defensive end and Santa Teresa went cold. On Wednesday night, the 3rd seeded Cougars take on number 2 seed Carlmont at Milpitas High at 7:30 P.M.

-The baseball team lost to Los Altos 7-4. After Los Altos scored 2 in the top of the first, EV responded with 2 in the bottom half. Despite 5 errors, the Cougars were able to stay in the game throughout and kept the pressure on Los Altos. Chris Gallegos led the attack with three hits.

• The girls basketball team will be taking on Santa Teresa tonight at 6:15 in the quarterfinals of the CCS Division I playoffs at Milpitas High School. The sixth seeded Saints defeated Independence on Thursday night by the score of 60-44. Santa Teresa was fourth in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division this season, but lost twice to the Cougars during league play.
  
• The Lady Cougars softball team fell to Fremont 3-2 in the non-league match-up Friday. Senior shortstop Janel Salanoa led the team with an impressive 4-4 day at the plate. Evergreen will next travel to Mountain View on Wednesday for anther non-league tune-up.
• On Thursday, the baseball team earned its second consecutive win vs. San Lorenzo Valley at the Mission City Classic tournament in Santa Clara. Catcher Mark Milioto had two doubles and one RBI and senior hurler Chris Gallegos earned the win, going five innings and giving up two runs on three hits. The Cougars will play their final game of the tournament today at 1:00 PM.
  

• The baseball game that was scheduled for this afternoon at Leland was rained out. The make-up date for this match-up will be this Wednesday, February 25. The team will also continue play at the Ted Tamone Memorial Tournament in Santa Clara this week.
  
• Coach Dan Johnson and his Lady Cougar basketball team has earned a number three seed in the CCS Division 1 playoffs. They will face the winner of Santa Teresa and Independence in the quarterfinal round this Saturday, February 28 at Milpitas High School. Time to be announced.
• The Cougar track and field squad will be opening up their season at the Willow Glen Invitational on Saturday, March 7. Entries of all Evergreen athletes will be posted here when available.
  

The Lady Cougars girls basketball team defeated Prospect on Friday night by the score of 55-48 behind the scoring efforts of center Samantha Grant with 16 points and point guard Jennifer Le with 12. Under the leadership of coach Dan Johnson, Evergreen Valley has won its second consecutive Mt. Hamilton Division title with a 13-1 league record and now processes an overall record of 21-5.

The team now looks forward to the CCS playoffs. With a top 15 ranking in the Mercury News, it is likely that the Cougars will receive a bye through the first two rounds of the Division 1 bracket and play their first game on Saturday, February 28 at Piedmont Hills High School. Once the bracket is finalized, it will be posted here: http://www.cifccs.org/playoffs/results/08-09/Bsk%20G%20D1%2009.pdf.

On Senior Night, the Evergreen Valley girls basketball team defeated rival Silver Creek 55-51. Junior forward Lanyssa Fiaui led Evergreen with 22 points. The Lady Cougars will conclude their league season on Friday night at Prospect High School and then move onto the CCS playoffs being next Tuesday.

EV Sporting Events for the Week of 2/16-2/22

2/17 Boys Basketball v. Del Mar (JV 5;30, V 7)

Senior Night at the Cougar Den will honor the contributions of seniors Mark Miloto, Jordan Adkins, and Patrick Ngo. EV won a thriller against Del Mar on the road in mid-January.

2/18 Girls Basketball v. Silver Creek (JV 5:30, V 7)

Senior night at the Cougar Den against a hated rival. EV looks to continue cruising through league a secure a league title on its way to CCS.

2/27-2/28 CCS Wrestling Finals at Independence

Ezra Calumpit leads a class of four EV wrestlers looking to make a deep run in the tournament.

2/28 Baseball v. Santa Clara (@ Washington Park in Santa Clara) 8 P.M.

The Cougars have high expectations as they look to rebound from a tough year. This years squad is talented and a preseason scheduled chalked full of talented A-league teams will be a major test of character. Sources from other schools have indicated they believe EV has the talent to capture a league title.

-Girls Basketball Rolls

The Lady Cougars cruised to a 70-35 home victory over Leigh last night. EV improved to 19-5 and 11-1 in league. They remain in first place and have all but locked up a spot in the CCS tournmanet. Prudencio led all scorers with 20.

-Boys Basketball loses 63-60

The Cougars looked good early but found themselves trailing by 6 at the end of the 3rd quarter. By playing good defense, the Cougars were able to will their way back into the game. With 1:04 left, C.J Refugio sunk a three to ignite the crowd and tie the game. Down the stretch, the Cougars missed several close shots and free throws, and turned the ball over on crucial possessions. Down 4 with 3.1 seconds to go, Mark Miloto went to the free-throw line for the Cougars. He made the first and missed the second on purpose. Marshall Grasty came up with the rebound and dished it out to Larry Melton who launched an errant three pointer. Jordan Adkins,who had four fouls in the first half and fouled out early in the fourth, added 12 points. but was missed down the stretch. Silver Creek came away with a 63-60 victory behind Chijoke Nwuzi who came up one assist shy of a triple-double. Eric Ngo had an outstanding game for the Cougars. He made 4 three pointers (3 in the first half) and took two charges (including one in a pivotal moment in the 4th).

The EV girls varsity basketball team cruised by the Sobrato Bulldogs Wednesday night by a count of 75-45. Center Samantha Grant led the team with 16 points while guard Lanyssa Fiaui chipped in with 14 points. The CCS 14th-ranked Lady Cougars improved their league record to 10-1, all but ensuring a bid in the CCS playoffs.

The squad will take on Leigh at the Cougar Den this Friday at 5PM and will close the season next week on Wednesday at home vs. Silver Creek and Friday at Prospect. Both games will be at 7PM.

Home Events for the week of 2/9-2/13...Games to be played at the Cougar Den.

-Tues. Wrestling v. Overfelt (6:30)

The seniors will wrestle at home for the final time.

-Wed...Girls Basketball v. Sobrato (JV 5:30, V 7)

Lowly Lady Bulldogs are 3-7 in league and should be an easy victory for EV who looks to rebound from their first league loss.

-Friday...FOUR home basketball games! A basketball lover's dream: the QUAD

Girls Basketball v. Leigh (JV 3:30, V 5)
Leigh is winless in league and should be another easy win for the formidable Cougars

Boys Basketball v. Silver Creek (JV 6:30, V 8)
Rival Silver Creek comes to the Cougar Den to try to avenge their loss on their home floor. After losing dominating big man Billy Dick to graduation, Creek has struggled mightily.

Girls Basketball

-After cruising through league, the Lady Cougars 9-game winning streak was halted by Piedmont Hills. At 9-1, EV is still atop the Mount Hamilton Division and was ranked 13th in CCS by the San Jose Mercury News last week. This loss will likely push them out of the rankings. EV was missing its second leading scorer which clearly hurt their offensive production. On Wednesday, EV hosts Sobrato and will look to get back on track as they try to make a run through league and notch some wins in the CCS tournament.

Girls Soccer

-Under the lights, the seniors went out on top by beating Sobrato 2-0. Rain drenched the field and stands as the faithful looked on under the cover of umbrellas. The field was soaking wet and puddles slowed the pace of play. Late in the second half, Ashley Travaglione tried to dribble around a defender, only to have the ball sit in a puddle. EV kept the pressure on Sobrato the whole game by constantly attacking the goal. The Cougars have one final regular season game at Pioneer on Wednesday and then must wait until February 15 to find out if they qualified for CCS. Last year, the Cougars lost by one goal to Los Gatos in the first round of the CCS playoffs.

Boys Basketball

-The boy's basketball team continued to struggle in league (3-7) as they fell to Willow Glen by 13 on the road. The low point of the game was a scoreless 3rd quarter in which the Rams went on a 17-0 run. EV has played well in the first half of almost every league game this year but has folded in the second half against the the top teams in the league. Mark Milioto and Larry Melton each had 12 points in the losing effort. Even though the Cougars have been out of league contention for a while, they host a big game on Friday against cross-community rival Silver Creek. The Cougars routed the Raiders at Silver Creek earlier in the year. Every time these two teams play, the crowds are always large and raucous. Friday night will be no exception.