The Mustangs' seven-game string to begin the 2004­05 season was cut by Santa Teresa on Dec. 14, but they started anew three nights later in their home opener.

After a sluggish first two quarters against Andrew Hill, the Mustangs went into the locker room at halftime trailing 27-26. But they came out kicking in the third quarter and ran away from the Falcons in the second half. Homestead scored nearly 50 points during the final two periods and won 72-47.

With an impressive 8-1 record to start the season, coach Marc Cadet's Mustangs need just one more win to equal last year's victory total of nine. They can pick that up in a non-league home game Dec. 23, 2:30 p.m., against Evergreen Valley, or in the Granite Hills Tournament Dec. 28­30 in El Cajon.

Seniors Alex Mrozack and Min Park sparked the win against Andrew Hill. Mrozack, a 6-foot-6 center, scored a game-high 19 points. Park, a 5-10 guard, tallied 14.

Homestead's three other starters scored in double figures. Junior guard David Ostrow had 12, while junior post player William Tsai and senior forward Mark McLaughlin netted 10 apiece.

The Mustangs had started slowly in the first half three nights earlier at Santa Teresa, but never completely recovered from a 10-point halftime deficit. Santa Teresa took a 51-39 lead into the fourth quarter and staved off the Mustangs down the stretch.

McLaughlin (15 points) and Mrozack (13) were Homestead's scoring leaders against the Saints. Tsai put in nine points, while Ostrow and Ryan Dedrick both tallied eight. Park added four and Cameron Ott had three.

Knights start strong

Surprising circumstances preceded Mark Taylor's appointment last summer as head coach of the boys' basketball program at The King's Academy. His team's solid play during a 5-3 start to the 2004­05 season is not surprising.

"We should have a strong season, with four returning senior starters," said Taylor, who took over the reins after former coach Hasan Houston suffered a heart attack during the summer.

Those four seniors--guards Paul Marcoux (6-foot-1) and J.T. Martin (5-foot-10), forward Jason Linn (6-foot-2) and center Jacob Monroe (6-foot-5)--along with 6-foot-1 junior forward Tim Biederman have done the bulk of the work thus far for the Knights, who started Private Schools Athletic League play with a bang on Dec. 14.

A 31-point outburst in the second quarter propelled to a 70-51 victory over Valley Christian of Dublin. Martin (19 points), Biederman (18), Linn (16) and Marcoux (11) all scored in double figures. Monroe scored just two, but provided seven rebounds and three blocked shots. Biederman (16 rebounds) and Linn (15) dominated the backboards, and Marcoux passed out eight assists.

In addition to the starting five, senior guards Jordan McDonald (6-foot) and Derek Hum (5-foot-10) also return from last year's squad, which finished with a 9-7 record in league and 13-13 overall. Sophomore guard Steven Lim, junior guard Jarad Bustamante and sophomore forward Colin Foshay were members of the junior varsity team last season.

Senior Joe Choi (6-foot), junior Zach Rouleau (6-foot) and sophomore Sam Sussman (6-foot-1) all are newcomers who will provide depth for the front line. Sophomores Jon McBirney (5-foot-10) and Corbett Clarke (5-foot-5) will bolster the TKA's guard positions.

The Knights followed their league opener with a tough defeat to Argonaut of Jackson in the first round of the Carmel Invitational tournament. Despite 19 points from Biederman and 17 from Marcoux, the Knights lost 66-63. McBirney added 10 points and Martin nine for the Knights.

Marcoux, who sank four three-point shots in the game, passed out seven assists. Linn had a strong all-around effort with six points, a team-high 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals.

TKA whipped Soledad 69-43 in the second round, but lost 58-41 to Menlo of Atherton for the consolation title.

TKA girls hopeful

With nine returning players, including all five starters, coach Ed Nickerson anticipates TKA's girls basketball team to be "much improved" over last season's senior-less team that won just seven of 25 games.

With 5-foot-7 junior guard Lisa Walker and 6-2 senior forward Melissa Junge leading the way and "a much tougher" non-league schedule than a year ago, Nickerson hopes the Knights can make "a good run in league" and attain "the goal of reaching the semi-finals" of the Central Coast Section's Division V playoffs in March.

Still a young team--Junge is the only senior on the roster of 10--the Knights have handled a challenging pre-season schedule quite well. The Knights enter a Dec. 22 date at St. Francis with a 5-4 record.

Juniors Sheila Casey, Jessica Butelo, Nicole Morris, Taylor Scott and Sarah Clansky are among the returners from last season, as are sophomores Kristen Butelo and Corban Fennel. The only new team member is sophomore point guard Hannah Henderson.