Saratoga more than doubled Wilcox's score as the Falcons rolled to a very one-sided 76-35 win over the Chargers in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

The win helped the Falcons improve to 3-0 in the division race and to 10-6 for the season. The win also sets the stage for a key game coming up this week when Saratoga travels to face undefeated Cupertino.

The Pioneers, 4-0 in the division and 17-2 for the year, will host the Falcons at 7 p.m. in a key league game. Cupertino and Saratoga remain as the only two unbeaten teams in the division. Every other team in the circuit has at least two league losses.

The clubs set up the crucial clash this week with impressive wins last Friday the 13th. While the Falcons were dismantling Wilcox 76-35, the Pioneers were rolling to a lopsided 69-36 win over Monta Vista.

Saratoga outscored Wilcox in every quarter but the first on the road to the easy victory. The Falcons opened up a solid 19-11 lead in the first period, then pounded the Chargers 23-10 in the second to lead by 21 at the half, 42-21. But it was in the third quarter when Saratoga really pulled away, crushing Wilcox 29-5 to take the commanding lead.

Ryan Matsuura, a 5-foot-5 senior guard who won all-league second team honors last winter, poured in 24 points to lead all scorers in the game against Wilcox. Matsuura bombed three three-point buckets among his eight field goals and he added five points at the free-throw line.

Bo Nielsen, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, supported with 16 points, including a pair of threes. He tossed in four points from the charity stripe.

Scott Newberry, a 6-foot-3 senior center, was solid underneath with nine points, including five charity throws, and 6-foot-2 senior Kia Agahel had nine points, including a three.

Sophomore Keon Ghafouri and junior Nick Valluri added six points apiece, junior P.J. Rezaii hit a three, senior Pete Sclavos had two points and junior Kourosh Agahel hit one.

The Falcons had opened league play with back-to-back wins, beating Santa Clara 73-46 and Monta Vista 48-34. The win over Wilcox pushed them to 3-0--not a bad start for a team hit hard by graduation that head coach Mike Davey thought might have trouble winning this season.

"We'll struggle to finish .500," said Davey in the preseason. "We lost nine seniors, and two upcoming juniors that were projected to start are injured and likely out for the season."

"We drafted people who had never played basketball and two sophomores to fill our the roster," he added.

But the Falcons, defending champions in the El Camino Division, are managing to win. Still, the team that Davey predicts will win the league title this year, Cupertino, is still on the horizon.

The Falcons will visit Cupertino on Wednesday, then return home for a league game on Jan. 20 against Lynbrook. Tip-off is slated for 4:30 p.m.

The boys game precedes a 6:15 p.m. Saratoga-Lynbrook girls game. The Falcons, 0-3 in league and 1-12 overall and off to a rocky start this season, were to open the week at Cupertino on Jan. 17.

Saratoga lost 50-46 to Fremont and 44-22 to Monta Vista to open the league season, then lost 49-18 to Mountain View on Friday night.

Friday the 13th was rather unpleasant for the Falcons, who were outscored in every quarter and never managed to put up double digits in a period.

The Spartans went up 12-5 by the first buzzer and led by 16 at the half, 26-10. Mountain View dominated the Falcons 13-2 in the third to take a commanding 27-point lead into the final stanza.

Senior Tiffany Poon had only six points, but was the leading scorer for Saratoga. Alex Sclavos hit a three, Paige Henry had three points and Katie Reed, Vanessa Guzman and Tamara Schroeder had two each.