It was a Super Sunday in more ways than one for the Los Gatos High girls basketball team. On Feb. 13—the day of the Super Bowl—the Wildcats had a key game of their own against arch-nemesis Palo Alto High in the final league game of the season.
Two weeks earlier, the Vikings extended their win streak over Los Gatos to 13 games, dating all the way back to the 2015-2016 season. But Los Gatos (21-3)—which is the top seed in the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs—completely turned the tables in the rematch, rolling to a 55-31 victory.
Even though Palo Alto had already clinched the Santa Clara Valley League’s De Anza Division championship, the Wildcats’ victory was significant.
“That was our team highlight because it had been a while since Los Gatos had beaten them,” sophomore standout Belle Bramer said. “They’re our rivals and we didn’t just beat them—we beat them by 20 to 30 points. That was our peak and our team chemistry grew even more from that game.”
That’s saying something considering the girls already had tremendous cohesion prior to the Palo Alto game, Bramer said. The Wildcats are prohibitive favorites to reach the section final, where it would most likely take on a highly-rated Evergreen Valley team.
No matter what happens, Bramer said it’s been a memorable season, on and off the court.
“We all get along super well, and we’re friends and hang out outside of basketball which really grew our season,” Bramer said. “One of the reasons why we play well on the court is because we’re friends off the court.”
With just 10 players on the roster before the usual spate of junior varsity and freshmen call-ups for the playoffs, Los Gatos has had to rely on the likes of Bramer, Nicole Steiner, Jeanette Grasty, Casey Brennan, Claire Galbo, Ashley Childers and Keira Dodd to log a lot of minutes.
Wildcats coach Sara Quilici Giles said Bramer is the catalyst of the team, and with good reason. The 6-foot Bramer can do it all, from bringing the ball up court, hitting shots from the outside and mid-range, driving to the basket and playing tenacious defense against quick guards or big centers.
Her long wingspan and instincts have resulted in a bevy of steals that usually leads to layups either for Bramer or her teammates. Even though opponents have become weary of Bramer’s defense, they still make passes that get intercepted by her because passing lanes that appear to be open close up fast with Bramer around.
Last spring, Bramer’s freshman season consisted of 12 league games and two non-league contests. Bramer did well but ultimately the season for her was an afterthought. Los Gatos finished 6-8 and at that point, Covid’s impact on high school sports was still near its peak.
“I don’t even remember last season,” she said.
After the season was over, Bramer was as motivated as ever, running two miles each morning to keep her conditioning up. And just when Bramer’s motivation started waning, it was time for her travel ball season with the San Jose Cagers.
The age-group team Bramer was on traveled to Idaho, Texas and Los Angeles for tournaments, and at each stop Bramer had time to do some sight-seeing and enjoy the experience. The club season bled right into Los Gatos’ preseason training, and Bramer returned to school a more complete player.
“I really got better over the summer and that was my mindset after last year’s high school season ended,” she said. “I really wanted to make an impact this season and help the team be successful.”
The Wildcats have three freshmen—Steiner, Childers and Ella Rabitz—who have made sizable impacts and fit right into the team’s dynamic.
“It’s great because coming into this season, we knew we’d be adding three freshmen who were pretty good,” Bramer said. “I had grown up with them since middle school so it was pretty exciting even before the season started.”
Bramer has had a terrific season, highlighted by a 28-point performance in a win over Branham in late December and the second Palo Alto game in which she helped break a Palo Alto press that had given the team fits in the first meeting between the teams.
“I feel like I played my best in that Palo Alto game even though I didn’t score as many points,” she said. “I felt really good about my passes and my decisions.”
If the Wildcats can take care of business against San Benito and then most likely Los Altos in the semifinals, they would have a probable matchup with an Evergreen Valley squad that is the top-ranked Division I team in the CCS, according to Max Preps (Los Gatos is No. 3).
With three prominent freshmen, two outstanding sophomores in Bramer and Galbo and two juniors in Brennan and Dodd, the Wildcats are set up for multiple league and section title runs in the next couple of years. Los Gatos’ lone CCS championship came in 1982—20-plus years before any of the players on the team were born—and it has been runner-up three times: in 1978, 1984 and 2017. But this year’s team has a chance to end the long title drought.
Sports editor Emanuel Lee can be reached at el**@we*****.com
