Well, the Mustangs must have gotten the message. Kaufmann broke loose to lead the Mustangs to wins over Branham and Leigh last week in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. It was two crucial wins for the Mustangs, moving them to a 5-4 division mark and on track to qualify for a Central Coast Section playoff berth.

Kaufmann cashed in by dropping in shots from low in the paint and with deadly accuracy from the foul line. He fired in 20 points in Pioneer's 63-49 win over Branham and followed that by pouring in 29 points as the Mustangs ran over Leigh 61-49. His totals included 12 of 13 from the line against Branham and he sank 11 free throws against Leigh.

The second part of Berticevich's equation proved to be true as well with Mark Bundlie taking advantage of more opportunities from the perimeter, popping in 17 and 12 points respectively for the two games.

The Mustangs blasted out of the blocks against Branham, working their offense like clockwork and taking advantage of the Bruins' inability to find the bottom of the bucket. The Bruins did not break the scoring ice until over half the quarter was gone. Craig Ryan proved to be the whole offense, popping in a three-pointer and another bucket.

Meanwhile, Pioneer was building what would turn out to be an insurmountable lead. Kaufmann swished 6 of 6 from the line and Brent Osborn banged in five points, including stepping out beyond the arc to drop in a three ball. By the time the smoke had cleared, Pioneer enjoyed a 15-5 bulge at the end of the opening quarter.

The remainder of the game turned into an evenly matched give and take with Branham hanging tough but unable to make up the ground lost in the early going. After halftime, the Bruins began to intentionalize their effort to get the ball inside to their big man, 6-foot-8 Derek Fletcher, but Kaufmann and Osborn would have no part of that. They sandwiched him the whole second half and prevented Branham's strategy from working. Fletcher was able to tally only four points on the night.

"Our plan was to front him the whole game and make him work just to get the ball," Berticevich said. "If he got the ball, we wanted him to be at the block or farther out and not [let him] get any easy shots."

The Bruins had a balanced attack but only one player reached double digits, Dan Chilcott with 11 points. Ryan ended the night with nine while Tom Walias put in eight and Jason Whitcomb banged in seven, all in the fourth quarter. Kai Kawahara and Anthony Pizano added five each.

Joe Montelongo put up eight points for Pioneer and Osborn finished with seven. Robbie Nelson dumped in six while Nolan Maggipinto fired in a three-pointer and Kyle Wong contributed two points.

The win over Leigh felt especially good for the Mustangs since it avenged a first-round division loss from earlier in the season.

"We played a man to man defense the whole game because they have too many good shooters," Berticevich said. "They are very creative against a zone and we didn't want them to get easy touches."

"The plan was to be physical with them and force them to really work for their shots," the coach added. "It worked, at least this time."

Although Pioneer jumped to a 23-10 bulge after one quarter, the Longhorns were not ready to throw in the towel. They came charging back and cut the deficit to 27-23 by halftime with some strong defense.

The Mustangs maintained that four-point spread throughout most of the third quarter until Berticevich got some "key off the bench play" from Maggipinto, who came in and "made some great defensive plays." He helped to create two Leigh turnovers that resulted in Pioneer increasing its advantage to eight by the end of the quarter and gaining momentum headed into the fourth that proved to be decisive.

In addition to Kaufmann and Bundlie lighting up the scoreboard, Osborn bagged eight points and Dan Radunich chipped in four. Maggipinto and Montelongo each nailed three-pointers while Nelson and Andrew Lerma added two each.

Pioneer (5-4) has only one game this week but it's a crucial one. The Mustangs will travel to Westmont (5-4) on Feb. 11 for a 7:30 p.m. game and try to avenge an overtime loss from earlier this year.

Bruins fall to Warriors

Chilcott led Branham in its 64-53 loss to Westmont on Feb. 4. Chilcott scored 12 points, including eight in the first half with two free throws, and four in the second with two more from the line.

Close behind Chilcott was Ryan, who scored 10 points with the majority coming in the first half. Ryan put up eight points in the first half with five free throws and one from outside the arc. He finished it off with a long jumper in the third quarter.

Fletcher and Kawahara both had eight points. Scott Hertler and Whitcomb added four points each for the Bruins. Both made their shots in the second half, but it wasn't enough to help Branham pull out a win.

Branham actually came out strong in the first half, playing tough on both ends of the court and keeping the score tied at the end of the first quarter, 15-15.

In the second quarter, the Bruins gained the upper hand and outscored Westmont 16-6 to lead 31-21 at the half.

"We were able to maintain the ball," said Branham head coach Ray Ochoa. "We controlled the rebounding."

But the Warriors would not go down quietly. They battled back in the third quarter, scoring 24 points to tie the score again, 45-45.

Westmont went on a couple of runs and overwhelmed the Branham defense in the fourth quarter to come away with the win.

"We may be last in the league right now," said Ochoa. "But no one has really blown us out. We are right in every game."

Branham's league record dropped to 1-8 after the loss to Westmont. It was to travel to Santa Teresa on Feb. 9, a club the Bruins lost to 62-52 at their last encounter. The Bruins will face Piedmont Hills at home on Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m., for their last home game. Branham lost to Piedmont 52-42 in the first round of league play.

Kevin Sparrer contributed to this story.