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Evan Shapiro continues to stay hot for Christopher. The senior led the Cougars boys basketball team in scoring for the second straight game, putting up 13 points in a 43-34 win over Lincoln in the Consolation Championship game of the Los Gatos Wildcat Shootout Friday. Three players — Josh Wheat, Adam Bravo and Miika Smith — put up eight points in the game while Chad Hartman had six. The win improves the Cougars to 3-1 on the season. Christopher will be back in action at 5 p.m. Thursday to take on Aptos in the Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament at Gilroy High School.  Mustangs fall in home opener If the Gilroy boys basketball team had to name one thing that hurt it Friday, it would be turnovers. The Mustangs had more than 15 turnovers in their 56-35 loss to Monterey in their home opener Friday.  Gilroy only went 2 for 5 from the line and was only able to hit one of its six 3-point attempts.  The Mustangs only trailed by one, 16-15, after the first quarter but were held to single digits for the remaining three while Monterey was able to put up 11, 18 and 11 points in the second, third and fourth, respectively.  Gilroy will look to rebound as it hosts the 34th Annual Bob Hagen Memorial Tournament, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday vs. Anzar — a team it beat 64-34  on Dec. 10.  GIRLS BASKETBALL Cougars take third in Watsonville Tourney Cydney Caradonna put up a career-high 30 points for Christopher Saturday. The senior led the team to a 66-41 win over San Benito in the third place game of the Watsonville Tournament. Caradonna was named to the All Tournament Team for her performance through the three days.  Christopher held the Balers to just 15 points in the second half while putting up 40 points of its own. Dejah Raoof and Haley Romero complemented Caradonna with 10 points each. 

St. Joseph’s Family Center is in need of about 300 more turkeys in order to provide Christmas dinner for local families, according to the nonprofit center’s staff. Turkey donations can be dropped off at St. Joseph’s Family Center in Gilroy, at 7950 Church Street, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Donations of money are also accepted. Center staff are scrambling to acquire enough turkeys to provide its food pantry clients with the supplies for a traditional holiday dinner, according to St. Joseph’s food pantry coordinator Vicki Smith. The center plans to distribute the turkeys with the food pantry clients’ December food baskets by Saturday, Dec. 20, Smith said. Some of the turkeys will also be cooked and served for the center’s Lord’s Table Christmas dinner which takes place 12 to 3 p.m. Dec. 25 at St. Joseph’s Family Center. If they get enough donations by Dec. 20, the center plans to provide about 700 families with turkeys this month, Smith said. Specifically, the center is asking for turkeys about 10 to 13 pounds in size, Smith said. For more information about making donations to the St. Joseph’s Family Center food pantry, call (408) 842-6662, extension 26. 

After suffering a heartbreaking loss the day before, the Christopher boys basketball team wanted to be sure that didn't happen again. Four Cougars scored in double digits, helping their team to a 69-49 win over Del Mar Thursday at the Los Gatos Wildcat shootout. Christopher had lost by just one point, 70-69, in double overtime in the tournament opener and had to win to stay alive. Senior Evan Shapiro and junior Josh Wheat led the charge for CHS by both scoring 14 points in the game.  Senior Shane Suttles added 11 points, while junior Chad Hartman put up 10. Christopher (2-1) will continue play in the tournament at 5 p.m. today against Lincoln in Los Gatos for the Consolation Championship.  GIRLS BASKETBALL Christopher wins nailbitter  Talk about a close one. The Christopher girls basketball team fended off a 16-point fourth quarter burst from Pacific Collegiate to win 48-47in the opening round of the Watsonville Classic Thursday. The Cougars led 34-31 heading into the final quarter and were outscored by their opponents. Luckily for CHS, its lead was just enough to escape PC.  Christa Arroya hit four 3-pointers in the game and led the attack with 18 points. Dejah Raoof had 11 points — included two 3-pointers — and Cydney Caradonna scored 10. 

At approximately 1:42 p.m. Friday, the California Highway Patrol responded to a motorcycle accident on U.S. 101 at the Masten Avenue exit in Gilroy. Based on the CHP's incident report, a helicopter is en route to provide aid to the “severely injured” driver.

Commercial burglary

The Santa Clara County Board of Education has elected Leon Beauchman as its president for the coming year and Darcie Green as vice president.

The Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved naming the Gilroy High School choir building in honor of Phil Robb, the iconic choral director who retired June 14 after a 30-year career instilling the joy of singing to Gilroy high schoolers.

Snippets of Christmas classics delighted an audience of 400 as high school students danced in the aisles, Santa tossed out candy canes and the Christopher High School choir began to sing.  

Police chased a suspicious vehicle from north Morgan Hill to the Salinas area and arrested one of the occupants after disabling the car, authorities said. A Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on a Honda sedan in the area of Monterey Road and Palm Avenue about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. The Honda was allegedly speeding and the car’s registration was expired when the deputy tried to initiate the traffic stop, Stenderup said.The driver of the Honda failed to yield to the deputy and fled the area south on Monterey Road, police said. Officers continued to follow the vehicle, and the chase continued south at speeds reaching more than 100 mph, Stenderup said. Multiple agencies - including Morgan Hill Police and the California Highway Patrol - assisted County authorities in chasing down the suspect, according to witnesses. The pursuit continued onto U.S. 101 southbound, police said. Officers anticipating the suspicious vehicle’s arrival deployed “spike strips” on the freeway just south of the pursuit to puncture the Honda’s tires, Stenderup said. When the Honda reached the area of the spike strips, the vehicle became disabled and stopped in the area of U.S. 101 and Crazy Horse Canyon Road in Monterey County, police said. Officers observed a number of people run on foot from the stopped Honda, but were only able to detain and arrest one of the vehicle’s occupants, Stenderup said. Arrested was a 25-year-old Santa Clara man, police said. Stenderup did not know if the man was the driver or a passenger in the Honda. He was booked at Santa Clara County Jail. Authorities have not yet released the arrested suspect’s name because the investigation is incomplete, Stenderup said. The other occupants of the vehicle have not been identified or arrested, police said. No injuries were reported.