The Falcons won in both girls and boys competition, with the girls knocking off Milpitas 48-37 in the SCVAL's De Anza Division and the boys beating Santa Clara in a 42-40 thriller.

The Saratoga girls improved to 2-1 in division play and to 12-5 for the year with an impressive 11-point win over the Trojans.

Sophomore sensation Bryte Nielsen led the Falcons to the win over Milpitas with 16 points. Nielsen, a 5-foot-10 center, tossed in a three-pointer among her five field goals, and she added five points at the free-throw line.

Junior guard Victoria Liu joined Nielsen in double digits with 11 points. Liu dropped a pair of threes in the win. Tiffany Tan and Jordan Henry pitched in seven points apiece, Julia Anderson had five and Sarah Yee hit two to round out the Saratoga scoring.

The Falcons cashed in on 21 free throws in the win, with Nielsen and Tan dropping five apiece and Liu, Anderson and Henry adding three each. Both of Yee's points came from the line.

The Falcons led by just a bucket after a period, 12-10, but they opened up a 24-17 lead by intermission and a 37-25 lead by the end of the third quarter. They coasted from there to the win.

Saratoga will try to maintain its winning ways this week with just a single game. The Falcons will host Gunn on Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Saratoga boys battled from behind to pull out a 42-40 win over the Bruins.

Unlike the girls, the Saratoga boys finished the night with just one free throw—they did most of their damage from the field.

Greg Van Hoesen and Lawrence Hui jammed 10 points apiece to lead the scoring attack for the Falcons.

Matt Ashburn supported with six points, Aron Mitsunaga had five points, Frank Wallace and Dan Wallace hit four apiece and Nima Rad drilled a three-pointer.

The Falcons led 12-5 after a period and
18-13 at the half, but Santa Clara outscored Saratoga 19-12 in the third quarter to take a
32-30 lead into the final stanza. The Falcons managed to top the Bruins 12-8 in the fourth quarter to win by two.


Boys soccer

Daniel Vajdic knocked in a second-half goal, but the Saratoga boys soccer team dropped a tough 3-1 decision to Los Altos last week in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.

The Falcons, who were blanked by Mountain View 2-0 later in the week, trailed the Eagles just 1-0 at the half, but they were outscored 2-1 in the second half to lose by two.

The two losses dropped the Falcons to 0-4-1 in league play and to 3-9-1 for the year.


Girls soccer

Annie McAllister drilled a pair of goals and Alicia Follmar and Samantha York each had a goal and an assist to lead the Saratoga girls soccer team to a 6-3 win over Monta Vista in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL.

Amanda Van Hoesen and Danielle Franchi also scored goals for the Falcons, and Ashley Louderbeck had two assists.

The win helped Saratoga improve to 1-4 in the division and to 5-6-2 for the year.

The Falcons had dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Los Gatos to open the week. Franchi scored off a Van Hoesen assist, and Allison Tung also scored for Saratoga.