That almost seems like another season.

Since that 1-2 start, the Panthers have reeled off nine straight league victories, and they enter the final week of the regular season locked in a three-way tie for first place with Willow Glen and Evergreen Valley.

The Panthers are not alone in first place in more ways than one. The Prospect girls are also league leaders, heading up the West Valley Division of the BVAL with a perfect 10-0 record and just two games to play.

So it's a big week for the Panthers to say the least. The Prospect boys can clinch no worse than a title tie with two wins this week, and the Prospect girls can clinch with just one win.

The boys, who posted a key win over Evergreen Valley last week, close out the regular season against two clubs with losing league records. The Panthers, 10-2 in the division and 18-7 for the year, were to visit Silver Creek (5-7, 11-9) on Feb. 14 and will host Overfelt (2-10, 7-17) on Feb. 17, 7:30 p.m.

The girls, meanwhile, were to take their 10-0 league record (19-5 overall) up against second-place Lincoln (10-1, 14-10) on Tuesday before wrapping things up on the road at Overfelt (3-7, 7-12) on Feb. 16, 7 p.m.

It's been a remarkable run for the Prospect boys. The Panthers opened the year with a win over Gunderson, but then lost back-to-back games to Willow Glen and Leland. They beat Andrew Hill on Jan. 13, and that started the current string of nine victories.

Prospect tucked away decisions over Evergreen Valley, Silver Creek, Overfelt, Gunderson, Willow Glen and Leland in the win column, then challenged Hill and Evergreen in a couple of home games last week.

The Panthers rolled over the Falcons 81-67 to set up Friday's clash with the Cougars for first place in the division.

Prospect led Evergreen by six points after three periods, then held off a late surge by the Cougars in a high-scoring fourth quarter. The Panthers were up 38-32 before Evergreen outscored them 27-24 in the fourth, only to come up three points short.

Edric Egberuare, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, poured in 18 points and Natnael Taye, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward, added 16 to lead the Panthers to the win. Egberuare had three three-pointers among his six field goals and he added three points at the free-throw line. Taye hit eight buckets from the floor to account for his 18 points.

Elvy Harris joined the two in double figures with 11 points. Zach Stevenson hit eight points, Kendall Hendon had a three among his seven points and Jason Ohlhaver added two.

Earlier in the week, Harris poured in 20 points, including a three, and Egberuare drilled 17 to lead the Panthers to an 81-67 win over Hill. Hendon pitched in 14 points and Stevenson finished in double digits with 10. Taye had nine points, Ohlhaver six and Chris Kim five, including a three.

The Prospect girls had just one game last week, but made the most of it. The Panthers doubled Hill's point total on the way to a 44-22 victory.

Junior guard Shelly Otaguro had a pair of threes among her four field goals and added two points at the line to lead Prospect with 12 points. Freshman Jennifer Jasper added eight points, Corissa Hulick seven, Leah Williams and Zlata Malicevic six apiece, Jen Ton four and Taylor Kikuchi one.

Boys win, girls split

Westmont shook things up in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL last week with a tight 56-53 win over league-leading Oak Grove. The win helped the Warriors improve to 8-3 in the division (18-6 overall) heading into the final week of the regular season. Oak Grove slipped to 8-2 (16-4).

What it means is that Westmont still has a shot at the Mt. Hamilton crown. The Warriors wrap up the league season this week with a home game against Santa Teresa (5-5, 13-10) on Feb. 15, 7 p.m. The Eagles finish up with road games at Leigh (5-5, 13-10) and Piedmont Hills (3-7, 8-13). Westmont needs a Wednesday night win and an Oak Grove loss to force at least a title tie.

The Warriors put themselves into position to vie for the title with the three-point win over the Eagles last week. Westmont was happy to have a healthy 5-foot-11 senior guard Chantz Staden running down the floor and supporting the effort of big scorer Michael Weimer, a 6-foot-5 junior forward.

Weimer pitched in a pair of three-pointers among his 11 field goals and added two points at the free-throw line to lead the Warriors with 26 points in the win. Staden supported with 15 points, including a three.

Westmont finished the night with six buckets from behind the arc. Darrien Broadnax hit seven points, Ryan Kanzaki five and Nick Twitchell three, and all buried three-pointers.

Westmont had a battle earlier in the week but managed to hold off a late surge by Branham to claim another three-point win, this one 54-51.

Weimer had the hot hand with 18 points, including nine free throws. He had a three among his four field goals.

Broadnax had a big night with 17 points, including a three. Staden added seven points, Kanzaki five, Spencer Smith four and Max Schneider three. Smith popped a three in the win.

The clubs were even at 13-13 after a period and still tied at the half, 28-28. Westmont outscored Branham 12-4 in the third to take an eight-point lead into the final period, then held off a late surge by the Bruins to win by three.

In girls action, Westmont knocked off Oak Grove 57-36 on Friday night but lost 46-38 to Leland earlier in the week. The Warriors are 5-6 in the Mt. Hamilton Division and 14-11 for the year heading into the final week of the regular season. They visit Santa Teresa on Feb. 15, 7 p.m.

Westmont outscored winless Oak Grove in every period on the road to the 21-point win on Friday. Senior guard Lynley Takaki buried three threes among her 10 field goals and added two charity throws to finish with 25 points in the win.

Megan Scheibli finished in double digits with 12 points, including six at the line. Krystal Wahl added nine points, Robyn Araujo had eight and Rubina Banwait hit three. Wahl and Banwait each dropped threes.

No Westmont player could find double digits in the 46-38 loss to Leland to open the week. Scheibli and Evelyn Lopez pitched in nine points apiece to lead the Warriors. Lopez hit a three.

Wahl chipped in with seven points, Takaki had six, Banwait, Kelly Gregg and Veronica Medina hit two each and Araujo added one.

Saratoga splits

Bo Nielsen, a 6-foot-2 junior, pitched in 14 points and Ryan Matsuura and Scott Newberry finished in double digits to lead the Saratoga boys basketball team to a tight 41-39 win over Lynbrook last Friday night.

The win, though, came just a couple of days after the Falcons lost a 60-47 decision to Cupertino, the leader in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

The split left the Falcons 8-3 in the division and 15-9 for the year. They finish the regular season against Los Altos at home on Feb. 15,
7 p.m.

Nielsen had a pair of threes among three field goals and added six free throws to lead all Saratoga scorers in the win over the Vikings. Matsuura added 11 points, including a three, and Newberry canned 10. Peter Sclavos had four points and Andy Capek hit two.

Cupertino improved to 10-0 in the division and to 23-2 for the year with the win over the Falcons earlier in the week. Matsuura had the hot hand for Saratoga with 23 points, including three threes among six field goals and eight free throws.

Nielsen supported with eight points, six of them at the line, and Newberry had five. Keon Ghafouri added four, Kourosh Agahdel hit a three, Sclavos had three and Sean Casserly popped one.

The Saratoga girls, 3-8 in the El Camino Division and 4-18 for the year, were to close out their season at home against Los Altos on Feb. 14. The Falcons split a couple of decisions last week, beating Cupertino 49-37 before losing 42-38 to Lynbrook.

Senior Paige Henry tossed in 12 points, including a couple of threes, to lead all Saratoga scorers in the win over the Pioneers. Katie Reed and Tiffany Poon had nine points apiece, Lisa Ruddy hit seven and Mika Lewis, Alex Sclavos and Vanessa Guzman had four each. Reed and Ruddy each buried a couple of threes and Poon hit seven free throws.

Sclavos popped a pair of threes on her way to a 13-point night, but the Falcons lost by four to the Pioneers. Reed and Henry added nine apiece, Ruddy had four, Poon two and Guzman one.