The Saratoga girls basketball squad played two such teams last week—and after beating them both, the Falcons remain as title contenders in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL).

Saratoga went to Monta Vista on Tuesday to face the lowly Matadors, and the Falcons came out with a 51-41 victory. Two days later, the Falcons played host to last-place Los Altos, and again it was Saratoga coming out on top with a lopsided 72-40 victory.

The two wins helped the Falcons improve to 6-1 in the division and to 16-5 for the year. Monta Vista is 1-5 in league, and Los Altos is 0-6.

The road gets a little tougher for the Falcons this week, though. Saratoga will visit first-place Palo Alto (7-0) on Feb. 5, 7 p.m., before heading to Milpitas on Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m.

Sophomore center Julia Anderson is coming off of a solid effort, pouring in a team-high 19 points in the 72-40 win over Los Altos on Thursday. Anderson canned nine field goals in the game.

Bryte Nielsen supported with 13 points. The sophomore forward had a pair of three-point buckets among her five field goals.

Tiffany Tan joined the two in double digits with 10 points, including a couple of threes. Victoria Liu, Jordan Henry and Heather Gladwell added eight points each, Sarah Yee had four and Amy Yee hit two. Liu had a three among her eight points.

Earlier in the week, Liu hit three threes and three free throws to finish with a team-high 12 points in the win over Monta Vista.

Nielsen finished with 11 points, including a three, and S. Yee hit three threes to finish with nine points. Anderson added seven points, Tan six, Henry four and Katie Levinson two.


Boys basketball

The Saratoga boys basketball team seemed to hit a wall last week. The Falcons had rolled to four wins in their first five games in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, but Saratoga lost twice last week.

The Falcons dropped a 74-50 decision to Monta Vista, then fell 60-54 to Los Altos. The two losses left the Falcons 4-3 in the division and 12-7 for the season.

Matt Ashburn tossed in 30 points and Greg Van Hoesen jammed 24, but it didn't keep the Falcons from stumbling twice in league play.

Ashburn went for 16 points to lead all Saratoga scorers in the loss to Monta Vista. He had a couple of three-pointers among his six field goals, and he added a pair of free throws. Van Hoesen joined him in double figures with 10 points.

Dan Wallace supported with nine points, Frank Wallace had six, Lawrence Hui hit four, Nima Rad drilled a three and Irving Chien had two points.

Saratoga fell behind early and never did catch up later in the week in the 60-54 loss to Los Altos. The Eagles opened up a 19-8 first-quarter lead and held the advantage the rest of the way.

Ashburn and Van Hoesen shared game-high honors for the Falcons with 14 points apiece. Ashburn popped a pair of threes.

Hui chipped in with eight points, D. Wallace had seven, Aron Mitsunaga added four, F. Wallace canned a three and Chien and Calvin Lin had two apiece.


Boys soccer

The Saratoga boys lost twice and tied a game in De Anza Division play last week.

The Falcons were blanked 2-0 by Homestead, then lost a tough 4-3 decision to powerhouse Gunn. Saratoga capped the week by battling Santa Clara to a scoreless tie.

Saratoga is now 0-7-2 in league play and 3-12-2 for the year.

Despite sitting in last place in the division, the Falcons gave title-contending Gunn all it could handle last week.

Senior forward Scott Elfving knocked in three goals to keep Saratoga close and give the Titans a real scare. Daniel Vajdic, Sam Quicke and Eric Low each had assists in the game.

The Titans scored three goals in the first half, but Elfving scored twice to keep the Falcons in the game. Elfving scored again in the second half, but so did Gunn, and the Titans were able to pull out the tight 4-3 win.

Gunn is now 7-1 in the division and 14-2-1 for the year.


Girls soccer

The Saratoga girls capped play last week with a 2-0 win over Cupertino in De Anza Division action, but the Falcons lost 1-0 to Gunn and 2-1 to Homestead to open the week.

The Falcons are now 2-7 in league play and 6-9-2 for the year.