2001-2002 Alumni Pics and Notes

The team started the season with a new assistant coach Shozo Shimizaki. They didn’t know what to expect, but knew he would be cool after he came to the first practice. In tournament play, Saratoga recorded two second place finishes in the Cupertino and Saratoga Shootout tournaments. The team lost both championship games to very good teams, one of them was Andrew Hill. The team returned to Canada going 1-2 in the Lambrick Park Xmas Classic. The Falcons beat Lambrick Park, who were one of the best teams in Canada that year, when they came to Saratoga a few days later. In league, the Falcons finished second behind Homestead. We were only team to beat Homestead, who finished with a league record of 11-1 that year. The Falcon's overall record in league was 7-5 with a few tough losses only by a couple points. In CCS play the squad received no respect and wound up with a ten seed. Going on the road they produced a huge upset victory over Gunderson in the first round of CCS. The team beat Gunderson 60-55 with Matt and Eric leading the team with 15 points each. In the quarterfinals the team stormed back from an early deficit to make it a two possession game with 1:10 to go before falling to eventual CCS champ Sacred Heart Cathedral 77-69. Througout the year, the team was led by three main players who were all on the varsity the year before. Justin Zebb, Eric Lee, and Matt Ashburn were the main scorers and team leaders. The team as a whole played very well together, even though there were occasional scuffles in practice, and always played their hardest. Everyone on the team knew their role and did what they had to do so the team could prosper. The Falcons finished 15-14.