This article was originally published in the spring 2013 Harker Quarterly.

By Theresa “Smitty” Smith

Lower School

Grade 4

Junior Varsity-C girls basketball finished a perfect 6-0 in the league, WBAL champs!

Grade 5

Junior Varsity-B girls basketball finished at 2-4 in league, and took the Consolation Championship at the WBAL tournament.

Junior Varsity-B boys soccer finished a perfect 6-0 in the league, WBAL champs!

Middle School

Grade 6

Junior Varsity-A girls basketball finished at 2-6 in league, and headed into the WBAL tournament.

Junior Varsity-A boys soccer is currently 3-2-1 with one match remaining on the schedule.

Grade 7

Varsity-B girls basketball finished a perfect 8-0 in league, WBAL CHAMPS, and headed into the WBAL tournament.

Varsity-B boys soccer is a perfect 4-0 with three matches still remaining on the schedule.

Grade 8

Varsity-A girls basketball is currently 7-3 and going to the WBAL tournament.

Varsity-A boys soccer is currently 1-5 with two matches remaining on the schedule.

By Steve M. Boyle ’06

Upper School

Sure, it’s been a chillier-than-average winter, but a few hot streaks from Harker athletes have provided more than a little entertainment during the shorter days. Harker’s varsity basketball teams cruised to the postseason, while Harker’s soccer teams improved, and one talented senior wrestler ended his career at Harker on a high note.

Basketball

Both of Harker’s varsity basketball teams stormed into to the postseason with 17-win seasons, won a playoff game, and then saw their seasons end in hard-fought match-ups.

The boys advanced to the playoffs after a 17-7 run in which the team went 11-3 in league play and won five of their last six games, earning them a number 6 seed and a first-round bye. In round two, Harker faced off against Pacific Grove with a shot at the quarterfinals on the line. There, Harker muscled through to a 64-56 victory in front of the home crowd at Blackford as senior Nikhil Panu led the way with a team-high 21 points. The win set up a CCS quarterfinals game against league-rival Menlo Park, against whom Harker had split its two games during the regular season. Unfortunately, this time Menlo bested Harker 53-46, ending Harker’s run. Overall, Panu led the team in points with 319 for the year while averaging 12.3 per game. Sophomore Eric Holt stood out with 278 points for the year and 10.7 per game, while sophomore Nicholas Nguyen led the team with 98 assists and 59 steals.

The girls finished up their year with a 17-6 record overall and a 7-3 mark against league opponents, earning them a playoff berth. In the first round of CCS, the girls matched up against 11th-seeded Ocean High School and defeated them on the road, 51-40, setting into motion a second-round collision with number 6 seed Monte Vista Christian, where they were bested 53-35. For the year, Daniza Rodriguez, grade 12, put up a team-high 342 points, averaging 14.3 a game. Senior Shreya Vemuri and junior Nithya Vemireddy added another 13.5 and 11.4 points per game, respectively, while Rodriguez led the team with 139 assists. Vemireddy led the team in rebounds with 146. Senior Priscilla Auyeung stood out on both sides of the ball with 146 rebounds and 67 steals, second on the team in both categories.

The JV boys finished strong, winning four of their last five to wind up the year 13-10. The JV girls dropped their 15 games, but took massive strides forward at the close of the year, drawing to within two points of Summit Public Schools – Tahoma in their fourth-to-last game and coming within just one point of Notre Dame High School San Jose in their final game of the season. Meanwhile, the freshmen boys went 5-11 and ended the season with a dramatic overtime win against Santa Cruz High School.

Congratulations to both varsity teams on their playoff runs!

Soccer

Girls soccer finished in third place in league with a 9-4-1 record, 10-8-1 overall. Senior Sondra Leal Da Costa led the team in scoring with 18 goals, while Nikita Parulkar, grade 10, had a team-high 11 assists. Alyssa Amick, grade 10, finished second on the team in both goals and assists, hitting the back of the net 11 times and assisting on nine other goals.

The boys went 7-8-2 this season with a 5-7-2 record in league play, giving them a fourth place overall finish. The JV squad wound up at 4-8 on the year, but finished strong, winning their final two games in front of a home crowd.

Wrestling

At the 49th annual Wiliam C. Overfelt Wrestling Classic, Harker’s lone senior wrestler, Danny Wang, went 3-2 and made it to the consolation semifinals. All three of his victories came by way of pinning his opponents.