Through the process, coach Craig Ellegood was looking for his team to develop consistency. "For us to improve, we need to finish off games," he said. "We had some tough losses in non-league—three games by two points and one game by one."

Good-bye, December. Hello, January and the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

The Pioneers are off the teeter-totter and moving down the road. Specifically, they captured four of their first five El Camino Division games, including three in a row. Now, after playing at Los Altos on Jan. 27, they are looking forward to Friday night's home game with Mountain View.

"It will be a nice rematch," Ellegood said. "The guys are excited."

As they should be. After the Pioneers topped Saratoga 61-55 in the division opener, Mountain View stuck the Pioneers with their only division defeat, 47-38.

"We were winning," Ellegood recalls a perfect example of not finishing a game. "But there was a three minute stretch where we let them take it to us." The Spartans, trailing by one point after three quarters, blitzed Cupertino 15-5 during the final eight minutes.

The Pioneers had more "trouble spots in the fourth quarters" of last week's games, Ellegood said, but strong third quarters help them turn back the challenges of Santa Clara and Lynbrook.

Sophomore guard Ehson Mortezaie scored 16 points and junior forward Jonathan Hiley had 12 to lead the Pioneers past Santa Clara 51-40. Eric Ng came off the bench for six points, Greg Thacker tallied five, and Eric Mayeda, Clay Stiver and Alonzo Fitz had four each.

The Pioneers trailed at halftime by three, but outscored the Bruins 18-5 in the third quarter and held on down the stretch. Ellegood cited the defensive play of Fitz, a 6-foot-4 junior who had to relieve the foul-plagued Stiver.

"Clay [Stiver] does the best job overall guarding the post players," Ellegood explained. "So when he had to sit with foul trouble, Alonzo came in and played big minutes for us defending their big guy."

Against Lynbrook, Cupertino had its hands full with another big guy—Viking Jacob Fine. "He played a very good game," Ellegood said after the 6-foot-4 senior poured in 22 points.

Four Pioneer starters scored in double figures, offsetting Fine's display and help secure a 52-40 win. Hiley led the way with 13 and Thacker had 11, while Mayeda and Stiver popped in 10 each.

Cupertino built a 13-6 lead in the first quarter and led 24-18 at half. A 14-7 run in the third quarter gave the Pioneers enough cushion to stave off a late Lynbrook surge in the fourth.

Ng, a senior guard, again bounced off the bench with energy for the Pioneers, breaking out for a couple of layups in the third-period run. Ng finished with six points and Mortezaie added two.

Lynbrook, whose division record slipped to 1-4, received seven points from senior John Lee and five from senior Hsiang Hsiao. Steve Kemp and Jethen Pandian both scored two for Lynbrook. Teammates Doug Bitney and Bomdad Pourabdollah had one apiece.

Fine, who is a strong shooter from 12 to 15 feet out, had another big game a week earlier. He scored 24 in a 53-50 loss at Saratoga. Lee added eight, Kemp seven and Pandian five for the Vikings.

Cupertino's three-game spree started with a 44-41 win over Monta Vista. Mayeda paced the win by shooting over the Matadors' zone defense. The 5-foot-10 senior guard connected on five shots from beyond the three-point arc and finished with 19 points. Hiley scored eight, Thacker six and Mortezaie five. Stiver, Fitz and Ng all had two.

Freshman Marcus Woo scored 12 to lead the Matadors, who entered this week 0-5 in division play. Garrett Peters had eight points for the Mats, while Eric Peng tallied seven and Jeff Clewett and David Chien six each. Kevin Baugh chipped in with two.

In De Anza Division play, Homestead's Domingo Emiano scored 17 points and teammate David Ostrow added 10, but the Mustangs fell 55-50 to Fremont. The loss dropped the Mustangs to 1-4 in league play.

After a 12-12 first quarter, Fremont outscored Homestead by three for a 26-23 halftime lead. The Mustangs stayed close in part because Fremont players twice fouled Emiano while attempting three-point shots. He cashed in on all six free throws.

In the fourth quarter, Ostrow's dribble penetration drew some fouls from Fremont's interior defense and he converted five free throws to help trim the Fremont lead. Fremont led by seven with a minute to play, but committed turnovers that helped Homestead make it a one-point game, 51-50.

Fremont recovered, however, making a couple of defensive stops in the final seconds and forcing Homestead to stop the clock with fouls. The Firebirds canned four foul shots in the final seconds, putting the game out of reach.

Prior to the Fremont game, Homestead fell 76-65 to Gunn and 55-37 to Palo Alto. Emiano (20 points), Mark McLaughlin (19) and William Tsai (19) were the scoring leaders against Gunn. Ostrow, Alex Mrozack and Min Park scored two each and Ronald Jackson added one.

McLaughlin scored 14 at Palo Alto. Emiano tallied seven, Tsai six, Ostrow and Jackson four each and Shane Wey two.