Westmont upset Pioneer 71-65 in overtime last Thursday night to knock the Mustangs right out of the title picture in the division.

Pioneer had entered the final week of the league play with a 9-0 record, but lost on Monday night to Independence to slip into a first-place tie with the 76ers.

Then Westmont knocked the Mustangs right out of that tie with the Thursday night upset. Pioneer defeated Prospect 64-52 a night later, but it was for naught since Independence beat Overfelt 66-52 the same night to finish the league season at 11-1. The Mustangs were second at 10-2 with Westmont third at 8-4.

Pioneer's Junior Elgin-Taylor poured in 36 points, but Westmont countered with a balanced scoring attack to turn back the Mustangs by six in overtime.

Michael Bottenberg pitched in 20 points, Joel Lopez canned 19 and Danny Sisemore added 17 to lead the Mustangs to the victory. Bottenberg tossed in seven buckets from the field and added six points at the free-throw line and Lopez had a three-pointer among his seven field goals and added four charity throws.

Mike Gorski tossed in a three and ended up with six points in the win. John Baumgardner had four points, Allen Iida hit a three and Michael Johnson added two points.

Westmont finished the regular season with a 21-7 record thanks to a 48-37 win over Del Mar on Friday night. Sisemore was the only Warrior in double digits on another balanced scoring night for Westmont.

Sisemore had a three among his 11 points to lead all Westmont scorers in the win. Lopez and Iida chipped in with eight points apiece and Bottenberg had seven, including a three. Iida hit a pair of threes. John Murray added four points.

Westmont had opened play last week with a tight 44-42 win over rival Prospect.

Bottenberg jammed eight buckets to lead the Warriors with 16 points. Lopez and Iida canned eight points apiece and Sisemore had four.

Ryan Najima led the Panthers with 14 points, including a three, and Kyle Bonvechio had a couple of threes among his eight points. Steven Vidal and Fermen Smith finished with seven points apiece, Brooks Elliott had a three among his four points and Andrew Garduque added two points.

The Panthers finished the year 6-19 overall and 2-10 in league play after their 64-52 loss to Pioneer on Friday.

Bonvechio had the hot hand for the Panthers with 22 points, including three threes. Smith joined him in twin figures with 12 points.

Najima finished with seven points, including a three, Vidal had six and Garduque hit five.


Nielsen hits 12

Bryte Nielsen tossed in 12 points to lead the Saratoga girls basketball team to a lopsided 55-31 win over Gunn last week in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The Falcons improved to 18-6 for the year and to 8-2 in league play with the win.

Nielsen scored all of her points on four three-point buckets. She was joined in double digits by teammates Julia Anderson and Jordan Henry, who popped 11 points apiece.

Tiffany Tan supported with eight points, including a pair of threes. Victoria Liu had a three among her five points, and Katie Levinson and Amy Yee hit four points each.

The Falcons close out the league season this week with home games against Monta Vista on Feb. 19, 7 p.m., and Los Gatos on Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.

The Saratoga boys, meanwhile, rolled over Cupertino 53-37 in El Camino play in their only game last week.

Ashburn had the hot hand for the Falcons, drilling three threes among his five field goals on the way to a 13-point night.

Greg Van Hoesen supported with 11 points, including five points at the free-throw line. Dan Wallace canned seven points and Lawrence Hui, Nima Rad and Aron Mitsunaga had five each. Frank Wallace added four points and Irving Chien drilled a three. Rad and Mitsunaga also popped threes for the Falcons.


Hemati stars

Maziar Hemati came through with a goal and an assist to lead the Saratoga boys soccer team to a 2-1 De Anza Division win over Homestead. It was Saratoga's first win of the league season.

Hemati scored a first-half goal off an assist from Scott Elfving, then assisted Mark Weiner on a goal later in the half to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead at intermission. Homestead scored in the second half, but Saratoga held off the Mustangs to clinch the win.

The Falcons improved to 1-9-2 in league play with the victory. Homestead slipped to 1-11.

In girls soccer action, the Falcons lost a 1-0 decision to Homestead to drop to 3-8-1 in the De Anza Division.


Walter a champ

Brent Walter of Saratoga won a championship at 191 pounds at the SCVAL wrestling finals and Dean Antolin of Westmont finished second at 191 at the BVAL finals. Each one will now advance to the Central Coast Section wrestling tournament set for Feb. 21­22 at Independence High School.

Walter, just a sophomore, won three straight matches to take the league title at the SCVAL tournament at Fremont. Walter won by injury default over Ben Reynolds of Cupertino in the finals. Saratoga's Greg Van Hoesen was fourth at 217 pounds and he, too, will advance to CCS.

Antolin won three straight matches at the BVAL tourney at Leigh to advance to the 191-pound finals before losing to Andrew Hill's Xavier Aranda.

Joining Antolin for the trip to CCS will be teammates Heip Dinh, fifth at 154 pounds, and Tyler Porras, fifth at 277. Just missing a CCS berth were Westmont's Brad Turner, eighth at 147, and Ryan Kennedy, eighth at 162. Only the top seven finishers in each weight class at the league tournament qualified for CCS.


Westmont wins

Rachel Gellman pumped in 17 points to lead the Westmont girls basketball team to a 47-39 win over Del Mar last week in Mt. Hamilton Division play.

Jennifer Chaney supported with eight points for the Warriors and Ann Baumgardner and Ashley Vierra added six apiece.