Homestead won twice in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL), crushing Cupertino 64-24 and blasting Fremont 52-17.

Mandy Wald proved too much to handle for either the Pioneers or the Firebirds. The 5-foot-11 junior forward tossed in 32 points in the two games to lead the Mustangs to the two victories. Homestead is now 4-0 in the division and 12-5 for the year.

Wald poured in 18 points in the easy win over the Pioneers to open the week. The comeback all-leaguer buried seven field goals and added four points at the free-throw line to lead all scorers in the game.

Junior guard Jenelle Kitasoe supported with 13 points for the Mustangs, and sophomore Elham Mirshafiei joined her teammates in twin figures with 11 points, including a three-point bucket.

Melissa Manuel chipped in with nine points, Joanna Harris hit eight, Shelly Baxter four and Elyse Maru one.

Julie Huang led the Pioneers with 14 points, including three three-pointers.

Two days later, the Mustangs destroyed Fremont 52-17. Harris had the hot hand in this one with 15 points in the win. Wald poured in 14 points, including eight free throws.

Kitasoe chirpped in with seven points for the winners. Manuel had six, Maru five, Baxter three and Mirshafiei one.

Senior Diana Sanchez led the Firebirds with nine points.

Fremont slipped to 2-1 in the division and to 5-9 for the year with the loss.

The Firebirds had opened the week with a 46-40 win over Mountain View. Cupertino lost 40-25 to Santa Clara the same day, despite an 11-point effort by Huang.

Over in the SCVAL's De Anza Division, Monta Vista split a pair of games last week to move to 1-3 in league play and to 4-13 for the year.

Junior guard Melanie Wen jammed 15 points and senior guard Rekha Arakeri added 11 to lead coach Sara Borelli's Matadors to a 45-40 win over Los Altos. Wen had a three among her five field goals, and she added four points at the free-throw line. Arakeri also hit a three and popped four free throws.

Sandra Kuo pitched in nine points, Kim Lau had a three among her six points and Marissa Cerros hit four points.

A few days earlier, the Matadors lost a 45-40 nod to unbeaten Palo Alto, despite getting 13-point efforts from Wen and Arakeri. Wen tossed in a couple of threes and Arakeri hit three shots from three-point range. Lau added five points, and Kuo hit four.

The Matadors will go after their second league win this week when they host Milpitas on Jan. 22, 7 p.m. Monta Vista will visit Los Gatos on Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.


Boys basketball

In boys basketball action last week, Monta Vista split a pair of decisions in El Camino Division play.

The Matadors rolled past Mountain View 74-53 thanks to the hot shooting of Jason Rothbart, Itai Mordo and Jon Garfield.

Rothbart had a big night with 32 points to lead the Mats to the victory. He had a three-pointer among his 13 field goals, and he added five points at the free-throw line.

Mordo had a pair of threes among his 17 points, and Garfield supported with 12 points.

Monta Vista slipped to 1-2 in division play and to 5-10 for the year later in the week after a 78-56 loss to Los Altos.

Rothbart led the Matadors with 23 points. Mordo and Eric Lee supported with seven points apiece.

Elsewhere in the division, Cupertino lost twice last week to slip to 1-3 in El Camino play and to 4-13 for the season. Coach Craig Ellegood's Pioneers lost 63-34 to Los Altos, then dropped a 41-31 nod to Santa Clara.

Junior center Clay Stiver tossed in 12 points to lead all Cupertino scorers against Los Altos. Eric Mayeda and Kris Thacker chipped in with eight points apiece. Mayeda hit a couple of threes, and Thacker had one. Eric Ng, Jonathan Stoyko and Andy Cheng had two points each.

Later in the week, the Pioneers lost by 10 points to Santa Clara. Thacker's seven points led a balanced scoring attack for Cupertino. Stoyko and Stiver added six points apiece, Teppei Maruyama had five, Mayeda three and Ng and Omid Abtahi two each. Mayeda, Thacker and Maruyama each had three-pointers.

The Pioneers will try to get back on the winning track this week. They were to host Lynbrook on Jan. 21, and they will head to Saratoga on Jan. 23, 7 p.m.

Fremont split a pair of decisions last week in De Anza Division action, beating Homestead 63-36 but losing 40-38 to Palo Alto.

Fremont improved to 2-1 in the division and to 11-7 for the year with the win over the Mustangs. Jesse Enchill led the Firebirds with 16 points, including a couple of threes, and Travis Harris scored 14 points. Paul Russell supported with eight points.

Scott Emiano led the Mustangs with nine points in the loss, and Anthony Morales added seven. Each of them popped a pair of threes.

Harris came back with 18 points and Enchill and Scott Bergeron added nine apiece, but Fremont lost a tight 40-38 decision to Palo Alto.

Matt McLaughlin fired in a team-high 19 points, including a pair of threes, but Homestead lost 64-49 to Gunn. Morales supported with 11 points in the game and Ramont Thomas added nine.


Girls soccer

Senior striker Shadi Lanham drilled three goals, but the Monta Vista girls soccer team dropped a 6-3 decision to Saratoga last week in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.