Last week, with the final league game facing them, Davey and his Falcons found themselves right where they wanted to be—in control of their destiny. The Falcons were on top of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division with a 10-1 division mark. That put them one game ahead of Cupertino (9-2), which just happened to be the last team on Saratoga's regular season schedule.

"Throughout the season, we thought the team to beat in league was Cupertino," Saratoga coach Mike Davey said. "And we were happy to be in the position to win or tie for the league title in the last game of the season."

Unfortunately for the Falcons, Cupertino was able to avenge an earlier loss to Saratoga and edge the Falcons 39-36 in a low-scoring affair as the teams were declared co-champions of the SCVAL El Camino Division.

Saratoga (22-5) earned a No. 5 seed in the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs and a first-round bye. The Falcons will open with a quarterfinal game in the playoffs against No. 4 St. Ignatius (13-12) of the West Catholic Athletic League on Feb. 26 at Piedmont Hills High School.

Saratoga and Cupertino were evenly matched squads and traded punches for three quarters with neither one gaining much of an advantage. Headed into the final stanza, Saratoga had a slim 29-25 edge.

"I'm very proud of the way our guys played well throughout the game," Davey said. "We did what we needed to do to win. We played hard and put forth the effort. We just did not shoot well and missed our shots. We were 22 percent from the field."

That miserable night of shooting finally caught up with the Falcons in the fourth quarter as Cupertino outscored them 14-7. In spite of that, Saratoga had a final chance to send the game into overtime.

"We even executed our last play well and got the good look we wanted on a three, but it just didn't fall," the coach added.

Guards Chris Etterman and Bo Nielsen led the offensive effort, popping in eight points each. They did it from long range with each of them connecting on a pair of three balls. Guard Nima Rad also nailed a three and finished with seven points. Danny Wallace did his typical yeoman's job in the paint, working the boards and also dumped in five points. Ryan Matsuura and Justin Kemp added four each.

"Etterman has been our team leader all year," Davey said. "He took that job upon himself. Of course with nine seniors on the team, we have a lot of leadership."

"Wallace works harder than anybody in every game and averages close to 14 or 15 rebounds a game," added the coach.

Saratoga completed the season at 22-5 overall and ran off nine consecutive wins to open division play. However, the Falcons hit a bump in their road to the title and dropped two of their final three, including Cupertino. The other loss came at the hands of Los Altos in a game where the Falcons were whistled for 18 fouls to only four for Los Altos.

So, what was the second goal that Davey and his Falcons had on their short list? It's still on the list and reachable—to make it to the CCS finals. That journey begins this week against St. Ignatius.

Panthers advance

It was one of those "everything to play for, do or die" types of games when Prospect's boys basketball team tipped off against Willow Glen last Friday night. Both teams needed a win to qualify for the Central Coast Section playoffs but only one would get there.

Willow Glen had a little extra incentive since it was senior night in front of an enthusiastic home crowd. But Prospect was too much for the Rams to handle as they suffered a disappointing 53-45 Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division loss.

The win catapulted the Panthers into the postseason. Prospect will open the CCS Division IV playoffs on the road at San Lorenzo Valley (14-11) in a first-round game on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.

Prospect needed to finish .500 or better in either league play or overall for the season. As it turns out, the Panthers did both. They take a 14-13 record into the playoffs, and they ended up 7-7 in the division.

It actually took the Panthers two wins in the final week of league play to get to CCS. Prospect opened the week with a 63-55 win over Andrew Hill to set up the game against Willow Glen as a playoff decider.

Kevin Haynes starred for the Panthers. He had a pair of three-pointers among his nine field goals and he added three points at the free-throw line to finish with a team-high 23 points.

Troy Holan supported with 12 points, Kenny Strickland had eight, Zach Stevenson and Nathanial Taye hit six apiece, and Danny Okazaki and Eric Chang had four each.

The Prospect boys won't be alone in their trip to the CCS Division IV playoffs. The Panthers have also qualified in girls play.

Prospect finished second in the BVAL's West Valley Division at 10-2 and will take a 15-9 season record into the playoffs this week. The Panthers open at Robert Louis Stevenson (12-11) on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.

The girls wrapped up the regular season with a 44-39 win over Lincoln. Shelly Otaguro pitched in 15 points to lead the Panthers and Randeep Dhaliwal had a three among her 11 points. Zlata Malicevic supported with 10 points.

Warriors are in

Westmont will also send two teams to the CCS playoffs. The Westmont boys (16-11) will open CCS Division I play at St. Francis (13-12) on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. and the girls (18-8) will open Division II play at St. Francis (16-9) on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Division III berth with a 9-3 finish in the West Valley Division and a 13-10 season record. The Dons will visit Seaside (13-12) on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.