The Chargers were opening the Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division season at home, but before they knew it they were down 13-0 to the Cardinals. It wasn't exactly the start Dave Frandsen and his club were hoping for.

But unlike a week earlier, when the Chargers scored just two points in a dismal third quarter against Santa Teresa, this time Leland came charging back. The Chargers fought from behind to pull out a 54-39 win over Mt. Pleasant, then picked off a 55-50 road win over Overfelt on Friday night to get off to a 2-0 start in the league campaign.

Frandsen seemed pleased with his squad's showing against the Cardinals, despite the slow start.

"We were down 13-0 before we decided to score," he said. "But then the kids settled down and played excellent defense. The offense started to click, and it started to get contagious."

Guards Kyle Yoshioka and James Kogura led the defensive effort as the Chargers went on to hold the Cards to just seven points in the second period. Leland outscored Mt. Pleasant 15-7 the rest of the way in the first half, and trailed just 22-20 at intermission.

"We shifted gears now that we're in league and we're starting to concentrate on our half-court defense rather than stretching ourselves out," said Frandsen. And it paid off against the Cards as the Chargers outscored them 17-7 in the third and 19-6 in the fourth to coast to what turned out to be an easy win.

"We've been playing teams that are so much bigger," said the coach. "It was nice to play someone we can actually look at eye-to-eye."

"And we rebound better out of a man-to-man than we do out of the zone," he added.

Izzy Asfaha has been the rebounding leader for the Chargers, averaging eight boards a game, with help recently from big Gabe Castenada.

"[Asfaha] has been doing a good job there," said Frandsen, adding that "Castenada is making a presence with his rebounding and his toughness" under the boards.

Leading the offensive attack for the Chargers have been senior forward Doug Proudfoot and sophomore guard David Farsai. "They're our offensive catalysts right now," said Frandsen.

Farsai was the scoring leader for the Chargers in the win over the Cards, pumping in 18 points. The sophomore had a couple of three-pointers among his six field goals and he added four points from the free-throw line.

Proudfoot supported with 11 points for the Chargers and Asfaha joined the two in double digits with 10 points. Castenada and Nate Cheung added four points apiece, Danny Hamouie hit three and Kogura and Kyle Yoshioka had two each. Cheung popped a three.

It was Farsai's performance down the stretch that helped Leland clinch a tight
55-50 win over Overfelt later in the week.

"He played excellent against Overfelt over there," said Frandsen of Farsai. "He hit all eight of our points in the fourth quarter."

Farsai, who topped the Chargers with 16 points, buried eight free throws in the final period as Leland held off a late surge by the Royals.

The Chargers, who led by nine at the half 35-26, pulled out to an 11-point lead in the second half before Overfelt capitalized on an unusual seven-point play to cut the lead to four in a hurry. A turnover, a foul and a technical foul led to four free throws and a three-pointer for the Royals as they trimmed the Leland advantage.

But Farsai stepped up to the line in the fourth quarter and helped Leland nail down the win.

Supporting Farsai's effort was Hamouie, who pitched in 15 points in the victory.

"He was our best player back in November before he sprained his ankle," said Frandsen of Hamouie. "If he starts playing like that ... "

Hamouie started playing to his early-season form on Friday when he dumped five field goals and five free throws to support Farsai's scoring performance.

Proudfoot tossed in eight points against the Royals and Castenada had seven. Asfaha added four points, Cheung hit a three-pointer and Matt Zuvella had two.

"That was a good win for our kids on the road against a decent opponent," said Frandsen. "It's always a good win if you can win over there [at Overfelt]."

The Chargers, 2-0 in league and 5-8 for the year, were out to make it three straight when they visited Independence on Jan. 13. Leland had lost by 13 to the 76ers earlier this year. The Chargers will be back home on Jan. 16 (7:30 p.m.) to host Westmont, another team than beat them by 13 in the preseason. But Frandsen is quick to point out that he believes his club is "vastly improved" from that point in the season.

"We're getting an idea of what we have to do to compete in league," he added. "It's really a pretty even league, except for one team—Branham."

Leland will visit those Bruins on Jan. 20, 7 p.m., in a key league game.

Frosh-soph wins

The Leland frosh-soph basketball team also jumped out of the gates with two straight wins to open the league season.

Kevin Battipede tossed in 18 points to lead the young Chargers to a 72-36 win over Mt. Pleasant to open the season.

The Walker brothers, Kyle and Brennan, also played well in the win, along with Scott Lucas and Nav Rai.

Leland came back later in the week with a 58-43 win over Overfelt.

The frosh-sophers will be home against Westmont on Friday at 6 p.m. before visiting Branham for a 5:30 p.m. game on Jan. 20.