Johnson went for 24 points last week to lead the Rams to a 67-51 win over James Lick, and Howsman tossed in 20 points two days later to lead the Rams to an 83-59 win over Silver Creek.

The two wins helped the Rams improve to 8-1 in league play and move into first place in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League (BVAL).

Johnson was on fire against Lick. The 6-foot senior guard buried six three-pointers on his way to a 24-point night for the Rams. Howsman supported with 13 points, and Steve Rebagliati joined the two in double digits with 11.

Keith Doleshel tossed in nine points for the winners, and Max Courd pitched in a pair of threes to finish with six. Justin Ble rounded out the scoring with four points.

The Rams actually trailed 18-15 after a quarter and led by just two at intermission, 33-31. But Willow Glen outscored Lick 15-9 in the third quarter and 19-11 in the fourth to claim the 16-point victory.

It was Howsman snatching the spotlight two days later when he canned nine field goals and a couple of free throws to finish with 20 in the win over the Raiders.

Rebagliati supported with 17 points, including five at the free-throw line, and Johnson, Doleshel and Courd canned 12 each, Courd with a pair of threes.

Willow Glen outscored Silver Creek in every quarter on the road to the easy win.


Dixon stars

Mikka Dixon poured in a team-high 17 points to lead the Willow Glen girls to a 53-41 West Valley Division win over James Lick last week. But the Rams lost 50-47 to unbeaten Andrew Hill (9-0) a couple of days later to fall to 7-2 in division play.

Dixon pitched in seven field goals and added three free throws to lead the Rams to the victory.

Maja Johnson supported with nine points, Kiley McKown hit seven, Sequeena Holmes had six, Diana Schnabel and Candace Gallegos added five apiece and Crystal Salazar had four. Gallegos buried a three-pointer.

Willow Glen opened up a 14-point lead against first-place Hill later in the week, but the Falcons outscored the Rams 26-9 in the final quarter to pull out the three-point win.

Edna Sison led the Rams with 13 points, including a three-point bucket and eight free throws. Schnabel chipped in with 10 points, Johnson had nine, Salazar eight, Gallegos a three-pointer and Dixon and McKown two apiece.


Panthers split

The Presentation girls basketball team pulled out a tight 52-50 win over Valley Christian last week, then lost 57-49 to Sacred Heart Cathedral in West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL) play.

Center Nicole Yarwasky poured in 26 points to lead the Panthers to the win over the Warriors. The 6-foot-2 senior jammed 11 buckets from the field and added four points at the free-throw line.

Kirian Ishizaki supported with eight points, Katie Mello had seven, Kelly Bertoldo hit six, Arianna Corona added four and Hayley Farb popped one.

The Panthers led most of the way, then had to hold off a late run by Valley. Presentation led 11-10 after a period, 23-18 at the half and 40-28 heading into the fourth before the Warriors fought back to cut the lead to two.

The Panthers fell behind early and couldn't catch Sacred Heart Cathedral later in the week.

Yarwasky had a three among her nine field goals and finished with a team-high 20 points. Mello joined her in double digits with 11 points.

Ishizaki and Bertoldo supported with seven points apiece and Farb had four. Ishizaki and Farb each hit a three.

The split left the Panthers 7-2 in the division and 17-4 for the year. They'll be home for a couple of 7:30 p.m. games this week, hosting Mitty on Feb. 4 and St. Ignatius on Feb. 7.


Win, lose, draw

The Presentation girls soccer team experienced it all last week when they finished with a win, a loss and a tie in three games in the WCAL.

The Panthers were blanked 4-0 by St. Francis to open the week, then fought Mitty to a scoreless tie. But Presentation pulled out a win in the final game of the week when the Panthers shut out Sacred Heart Prep 3-0.

Jennifer Tuttle ended a string of four scoreless halves for the Panthers when she knocked in a first-half goal off a Sara Hines assist to give her club a 1-0 lead.

Nicole Moyen scored off an assist from Aubrey Ellzey, and Samantha Kountz-Edwards knocked in a goal to close out the scoring for the Panthers.

The three different decisions left the Panthers 7-2-4 in league play and 9-3-4 for the year. St. Francis leads the league at 9-1-3, and Mitty is in second place at 8-2-3.


Bruni scores

Staci Bruni had two goals and an assist, but the Willow Glen girls soccer team dropped a tough 4-3 decision to Lincoln in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.


Rams lose two

The Willow Glen boys soccer team lost twice last week in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL. The Rams dropped a tight 3-2 nod to Leland, then lost 3-1 to Leigh.

Alex Peña scored a second-half goal before Jairo Arreola drilled home a penalty kick. But the Rams came up a goal short against the first-place Chargers (6-0, 20-0-1). The Rams dropped to 2-4 in the division and to 5-6 for the year.