His point was proven twice last week.

After Leland had jumped to a 2-0 start in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, the Chargers went up against Overfelt and Evergreen Valley, who were both undefeated in division play. Leland came up short in both contests, dropping a 60-52 loss to Overfelt and suffering a disappointing 48-45 defeat by Evergreen Valley.

In the Overfelt match-up, it was a slow start that the Chargers could not overcome and got the best of them. Overfelt was able to build a 29-18 halftime advantage, which proved to be enough. Leland battled the Royals evenly in the third quarter and outscored them in the fourth but could not muster enough offense to overcome the first half deficit.

The Chargers employed an outside attack that included seven three-pointers with three each coming from Navdeep Rai and Kyle Walker, who were the leading scorers with 16 and 11 points, respectively. David Farsai was also in double figures, firing in 10 points. Danny Hamouie dropped in six, including four from the free-throw line. Jimi Kogura, Andrew Atmeh, Nate Cheung and Kyle Yoshioka added two each. Philip Petro sank one free throw.

It looked like the Chargers might have avoided the bug that had plagued them all season when they battled toe-to-toe with Evergreen Valley through the first half, resulting in a 23-23 deadlock at intermission. Leland came out strong in the third quarter to build a six-point lead at 40-34 heading into the final stanza. The bug bit them however and allowed Evergreen Valley to close the gap and pull out a last minute win.

"We led the whole game except for the first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds," Frandsen said. "It was a give and take battle the whole game."

"One of their players made a twisting lay-up down the lane to tie it up and then another one hit a tough three-pointer off the top of the key with a man in his face and his hands up to take the lead with 23 seconds left. I couldn't have asked my guys to do anymore than they did. That's just basketball."

Leland left the door open in the fourth quarter when two lay-ups didn't fall and four free throws--two on the front end of one-and-ones--were missed.

Farsai and Rai were in double digits to lead the effort. Farsai popped in 14 points, including a couple of three-balls, while Rai tossed in 12. Hamouie dumped in seven and Kogura was good for five. Walker contributed three while Iasias Asfaha and Cheung added two each to round out the scoring.

The Chargers will try to get back on the winning track this week. They hosted Prospect (2-2) on Tuesday and will host Independence (0-4) on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Pioneer had only one game last week due to a first-round bye, but it was a disappointing one. The Mustangs slipped to 2-1 in the BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division with a 63-43 loss to Leigh.

The Mustangs were down only 29-23 at the half but suffered through a disastrous third quarter, being outscored 14-3 to face a 14-point deficit headed into the fourth quarter. Leigh kept the pressure on and the Mustangs were unable to fight their way back.

"We just didn't match their effort both offensively and defensively," Pioneer coach Joe Berticevich said. "They put up inside pressure and we were not able to stop them. Their post players scored 38 points between them. We shot 1 for 16 from three-point range."

"In the third quarter, we had too many turnovers and didn't take care of the ball, and therefore couldn't get off the shots," the coach added.

Craig Weaver was the only Mustang in double figures, tossing in 11 points. Mike Kaufmann banked in nine from down low and Robbie Nelson dropped in eight. Mark Bundlie hit the only three-ball for the Mustangs and totaled seven points on the night. Mark Osborn contributed four and Joe Montelongo and Marc Afshar added a bucket each.

Pioneer hosted Westmont on Wednesday of this week and travels to Santa Teresa on Jan. 21 for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

After opening BVAL Mt. Hamilton Division play with a win, Branham hit a three-game skid that included two losses last week. Early in the week, the Bruins let Westmont slip by them in a 40-35 loss. Then Santa Teresa hung a 62-52 defeat on the Bruins last Friday night. It's Branham's first season at the "A" league level and the learning curve can result in some hard lessons.

The Bruins actually took a 27-26 lead into the fourth quarter against Westmont, but seemed to run out of gas down the stretch, allowing the Warriors to sneak away with the win. Branham got a solid defensive effort from its big center, Derek Fletcher, who pulled down eight rebounds and blocked six shots. The Bruins actually outrebounded the Warriors 34-26 but couldn't find enough offensive firepower when they needed it.

Jason Whitcomb was at the top of the scoring chart for the Bruins, knocking in nine points. Both Dennis Lee and Tom Walias finished with six points each. Fletcher and Anthony Pizano dropped in five and Sammie Malakiman added two. Walias and Whitcomb also grabbed six boards each. Kai Kawahara did not tally any points but he dished out six assists.

Santa Teresa came up big on the boards against the Bruins and pulled down almost three times as many rebounds as the Bruins with Branham losing the battle of the boards by a 33-12 count. That helped Santa Teresa get some extra shots on its offensive end of the court and prevented Branham from doing the same. Santa Teresa built a 30-19 halftime advantage that Branham could not overcome.

Fletcher and Pizano fired in 14 points each to lead the Branham effort. Whitcomb put in eight and Walias dropped in seven. Malakiman found the range on five points and Lee chipped in four. Kawahara hit a free throw to close out the scoring.

It didn't get any easier for the Bruins, who went up against undefeated division leader Piedmont Hills on the road on Wednesday night. They will try to get back in the win column when they host Oak Grove (1-3) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.