As recently as a week ago, there was no love lost between the girls basketball teams at Saratoga and Cupertino.
The two clubs were battling each other in an effort to keep their noses above the .500 mark in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
The Falcons won that battle, 50-37, then came back to whip Milpitas 59-50 later in the week to push their record to 7-5 in division play.
Now the Saratoga girls are hoping that those same Pioneers they defeated a week ago will come back to do them a favor this week.
Cupertino, 6-6 in the division, finishes off the regular season against Milpitas and Wilcox, two of the three clubs ahead of Saratoga in the division standings. And the Falcons would like nothing better than to see a pair of 'Tino victories.
Should Cupertino win two, and Saratoga win its last two league games this week, the Falcons could make a run at second place in the division standings.
Gunn enters the final week of the regular season with an 11-1 record and a virtual lock on first place in the division race. But Milpitas, Wilcox and Saratoga rest in the next three spots in the standings, and this week's showing will determine who finishes where.
Saratoga made all of this possible with a pair of impressive victories last week.
The Falcons entered the week even in league play at 5-5. But Saratoga beat Cupertino to nose over the .500 mark, then knocked off Milpitas by nine points to improve to 7-5 in league and to 12-9 for the year.
Senior Karin Bencala and junior Nicole LaMore combined for 40 of their team's 59 points in the important win over the Trojans. Bencala canned eight buckets from the field and added seven points at the free-throw line to lead the Falcons with 23 points, and LaMore supported with 17.
Nancy Fathali tossed in nine points, including a three-point bucket, and Stephanie Morrison added six. Lynn Chouw and Courtney Miyamoto had two points each to round out the Saratoga scoring.
The Falcons were up a point after a period, but trailed by five at the half, 35-30. Saratoga cut the Milpitas lead to three after three quarters, then outscored the Trojans 21-10 in the fourth to win it.
It was a different story earlier in the week against Cupertino. Saratoga outscored 'Tino in every period but the third on the road to a 13-point victory.
LaMore had the hot hand with 17 points. She drilled eight buckets, including a three.
Fathali joined her in double digits with 12 points. Bencala had eight, Morrison six, Miyamoto three and Karen Woo and Szu-Han Wang two each.
Warriors, Panthers fall
In other local girls action, Westmont lost in its only try last week, falling 45-32 to Leland. The Warriors are now 4-6 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and 13-11 for the year.
Senior Alyssa Parsons was the top scorer for the Warriors in the game. The 6-foot center pitched in 12 points for Westmont.
Sheryl Mahaffey buried a pair of three-pointers to finish with six points, Victoria Sifuentez had five, Stacey Simmons four, Kim Castillo three and Jenny Brown two. Castillo hit a three-pointer.
The Prospect girls lost twice last week in Santa Teresa Division play, falling 48-28 to Lick and 41-31 to Valley Christian.
Erinn McGrady tossed in nine points to lead Prospect scorers in the loss to the Comets.
The Panthers are now 4-8 in the division.
Falcons win
The Saratoga boys, meanwhile, evened their record at 5-5 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL with a 58-47 win over Monta Vista last week. The Falcons are 14-10 for the year.
Micah Weger poured in 15 points to lead all Saratoga scorers in the win. Spencer Jamison supported with 12 points and Geoff Lamotte added 10. Matt Garrapolo added seven points, Dan Goñi five, Adam Weiskal four and Mike Crosby, Scott Snider and Robert Kim two each.
The Falcons led 15-11 at the first buzzer and outscored Monta Vista 23-6 in the second quarter to take a commanding 21-point lead by intermission at 38-17.
Warriors top Panthers
In a clash of local rivals, Westmont pulled out a 53-48 win over Prospect in a boys game in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
Daniel Sherburne, a 6-foot-3 junior forward, poured in 23 points, and Kyle Collins and Navdeep Hundel added 12 apiece to lead the Warriors to the victory. Sherburne had a three among his 11 field goals, and Collins canned three three-pointers in the win.
Erik Cisler chipped in with six points for the Warriors, who are now 2-8 in the division.
Westmont went up 15-11 in the first period and held that four-point edge at the half, 30-26. The Warriors added to their lead by one in the third quarter, and that turned out to be their margin of victory.
Senior Barry Sharpe was the big scorer for the Panthers. The 5-foot-10 guard had three threes among his five buckets, and he added seven points at the free-throw line.
Mike Senteio added eight points, including a three. Jerome Ort hit six points, Thomas Turner five, Bryan Spratling three and Gil Vasquez, Chris Hudson and Stephen Juran two each.
Both Westmont and Prospect had opened the week with losses. Hundel hit 11 points, including two threes, but the Warriors fell 64-36 to Santa Teresa. Vincent Chung added eight points, Feras Elrayas six, Sherburne four, Cisler three and Byung Park and Dustin Wong two each. Chung hit a pair of threes and Elrayas dropped one.
Prospect, 5-5 in the division and 14-8 for the year, lost 58-44 to unbeaten Mt. Pleasant to open the week. Turner had 18 points, including three threes, and Sharpe added nine, including two threes. Senteio had five points, Hudson and Vasquez four each and Juran and Slaven Moro two apiece.
The Panthers came back with a 60-47 win over Del Mar. Sharpe buried 22 points in the win, including an impressive five three-pointers, and Vasquez had 11.
Saratoga, California Since 1975
