The league openers didn't go as well as the Falcons would have hoped, though. The Saratoga boys lost 61-55 to Cupertino in the first game of the El Camino Division season, and the girls lost a 35-33 heartbreaker to Homestead in the De Anza Division lidlifter.

Still, the week was not a total loss for the Falcons. Both Saratoga teams battled back with wins on Friday night to even the league ledgers at 1-1 in the earliest stage of the SCVAL season.

Rad stars for boys

Nima Rad, a 5-foot-10 junior guard, starred for the Falcons in Friday night's 70-38 league win over Monta Vista.

Rad poured in six three-pointers on his way to a 22-point night to drive Saratoga to the lopsided victory over the Matadors. He finished with eight field goals, six of them coming from behind the three-point stripe.

Aron Mitsunaga, a 5-foot-8 senior guard, supported with 11 points and Irving Chien, another 5-foot-8 senior guard, tossed in 10 points, including three threes.

Adam Sato, a 6-foot-2 junior forward, fired in nine points for the Falcons, and Chris Etterman, yet another 5-foot-8 guard, buried seven points. The junior also popped a three.

Danny Wallace, Saratoga's 6-foot-3 senior center, tossed in five points, Matt Russell had four and David Kao hit two.

The Falcons, 1-1 in division play and 11-6 for the year, opened up a 26-17 lead in a high-scoring first period, but then put the Mats away 19-8 in the second quarter to take the lead for good.

Things didn't got as well earlier in the week at Cupertino. The Falcons led by a point at the first buzzer, 13-12. But Cupertino grabbed a six-point lead by the half and never looked back.

Chien drilled a pair of threes on his way to a 15-point night for Saratoga, and Mitsunaga, Rad and Sato supported with eight points each. Rad also popped a couple of threes.

Wallace chipped in with six points and Etterman, Russell, Ben Coggins and David Orasin added two each.

Nielsen gets hot

Junior forward Bryte Nielsen got hot last Friday, and it was enough to lead the Saratoga girls basketball team to a convincing 68-45 De Anza Division win over Monta Vista.

Nielsen poured in 19 points to lead the Falcons to the win. The 5-foot-10 junior had a three-pointer among her seven field goals and she added four points at the free-throw line.

Senior guard Victoria Liu supported with 14 points, including three threes, and Julia Anderson joined the two in double digits with 11 points.

Jordana Dreyfuss and Tiffany Tan chipped in with seven points apiece in the win, Hannah Gladwell had six, and Tiffany Poon and Amy Yee hit two apiece. Tan had a three-pointer.

The Falcons, 1-1 in the division and 10-4 for the year, jumped out to a quick 23-6 first-period lead against the Mats and upped that 40-16 by intermission as they coasted to the win.

Only three Falcons could get into the scoring column earlier in the week in a tough 35-33 loss to powerhouse Homestead. Liu led Saratoga with 14 points, Anderson had 10 and Nielsen hit nine. Liu canned three threes and Nielsen hit two.

The Falcons actually led 9-8 at the first buzzer, but trailed by two at the half and by three heading into the fourth quarter. Saratoga could pick up just one of the three points in the last period and ended up losing by a bucket.