The Los Altos Eagles boys varsity basketball team fell to cross-town rival Mountain View Spartans 49-62 on Saturday, January 8.

The Eagles were hoping to avenge a preseason tournament loss to Mountain View, but struggled to stop the sharp-shooting Spartans, who were effective draining baskets from the perimeter.

“Throughout the game we didn’t get enough stops on defense,” junior forward Simon Rosenbaum said. “As they continued to score, we got frustrated which led to us taking bad shots and going cold offensively.”

The game started evenly though. The Eagles only trailed by 1 point, 23-22 midway through the 2nd quarter. However, the momentum shift could be felt and heard during the Spartan’s 9-1 surge to close the half, as boosted by strong crowd support they raced to a 32-23 lead.

However, despite being down as much as 15 points in the third quarter, the Eagles had a surge of their own supported by chants from an energized home crowd. Bemi Onipede and Simon Rosenbaum found success attacking the basket and using their athleticism in their late run, getting inside the paint and to the foul line.

The Eagles lack of a three-point shooter on this night to counter Mountain View’s attack was apparent throughout the game, and hurt them in the end. Despite narrowing Mountain View’s lead to just 7 points with over 2 minutes remaining, Simon missed a momentum killing open 3. The Eagles never recovered, as they were forced to foul to prolong the game, and could not make any baskets in the final minutes either.

Mountain View also found success through offensive rebounds, proving to be a huge problem for the Eagles defensively.

“Its tough to stop your opponent from scoring when they get offensive rebounds,” Simon said. “2nd chance points kill us.”

Although this was a tough loss for the Eagles, it was a non-league game and doesn’t jeopardize the teams goal of a CCS berth. The team needs a 6-6 record in the tough De Anza Division to qualify.

Photos by Alex Kent