Last year, senior forward Alex Sclavos tore her ACL and couldn’t play during CCS. This year senior point guard Sheeva Hamidieh suffered the same injury during a practice just before winter break and had surgery on Jan. 27. Hamidieh will not be able to play any sports for at least the next six to eight months.
“It sucks that not playing anymore was not a choice; it was taken from me,” said Hamidieh. “Being on the sideline sucks, but I will always be there to support my teammates. When I am off the court, I feel almost helpless knowing I can’t do anything.”
Hamidieh led the Lady Falcons (2-2) in the De Anza league play as of Jan. 22 in both points and steals through the beginning of the season. Coach Mike Davey said she would be “very hard to replace.” Senior shooting guard Ashley Cole practiced at the point guard position and is starting in Hamidieh’s place for the remainder of the season.
With Cole in an unfamiliar leadership role, Saratoga headed to Lynbrook on Jan. 16. The girls managed to take a five-point lead into the final period, but the host Vikings—with the help of some controversial calls by the referees—came storming back for a 51-44 victory.
Davey said the referees’ calls were no excuse for the loss.
“When we play a game on the road, we can’t expect the referee to make all the calls,” said Davey. “There were definitely some things we could have done better to make sure we came out on top.”
Despite the heart-breaking defeat, Cole still expressed optimism, pointing out the team’s strength during the first three periods of the game.
“I think we played really well,” said Cole. “It’s just our defense kind of fell apart in the fourth quarter. They started hitting their shots that quarter. I think this game we did a good job even though we lost.”
On Jan. 14, Palo Alto visited Saratoga. The Lady Falcons jumped out to a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back, winning the game 59-48 in front of the home crowd. Shooting guards sophomore Hanna Nielson and senior Katie Gasik each scored in double digits to lead the team.
The girls’ first victory came in dominating fashion, as the Falcons handily beat Milpitas 54-14 on Jan. 7. Two juniors, forward Uma Sambasivam and shooting guard Shannon Fung, paced the team with 16 and 10 points, respectively.
The Lady Falcons started league play with a Jan. 6 home game against Gunn, which was ranked first in the conference after an undefeated preseason. The Titans controlled the game on both offense and defense and cruised to a 63-21 blowout victory.
“Everybody was just not playing well during the game,” said junior center Baylee Yates, who scored just 5 points but still led the team in that category. “We were all pretty scared.”
Saratoga also played Wilcox on Jan. 23, but due to printing deadlines, The Falcon was not able to cover the results of the game.
