Last year the Rams and Bruins had battled to a co-championship in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. Both teams moved up to the Santa Teresa Division for this season and found themselves in a three-way tie for first place with two games remaining in the regular season.

In addition to the incentive of first place being on the line, the Bruins were playing before their home crowd and were intent on avenging an earlier loss to the Rams. The game was intensely contested and marred by numerous turnovers by both teams, but in the end it was the Bruins who managed to hold onto a share of first place with a 42-28 victory. Branham would end up tied with Westmont for first place in the Santa Teresa Division and Willow Glen finished third.

Senior forward Dan White was the man of the hour for the Bruins, leading all scorers with a game-high 17 points while pulling down key rebounds and grabbing a steal here and there to keep the Rams off balance.

Sophomore Derek Fletcher provided solid support from his center position in the paint where he dumped in eight points and made his presence felt with a couple of blocked shots.

The Rams put forth a balanced scoring attack with no one player dominating. Nick Ward led the way, popping in seven points from outside. Steve Rebagliati dumped in six from short range. Justin Ble worked hard under the boards fighting for rebounds and putting shots back up to draw fouls from the Bruins. He contributed six points with a perfect 6 for 6 from the line.

Max Gourd fired in five from the perimeter. It was Gourd and Ward who hit back-to-back three balls for the Rams late in the second quarter to keep the Bruins from pulling away before the half. Hienock Habte and Ahmed Falol hit a bucket each to round out the Rams scoring.

The Bruins came out playing their typical suffocating and aggressive man-to-man defense that has been its key to success this year. It gave the Rams problems as they turned the ball over four times before they got off their first shot of the game.

Willow Glen continued to have difficulty finding its rhythm in the second quarter and Branham was able to increase its lead to 20-14 by intermission.

After an evenly matched third quarter, the Bruins pulled away in the fourth when the constant pressure of their aggressive defense finally began to wear down the Rams.

Although it was disappointing to get knocked out of the race for the division title, it's been a good season for the Rams. Willow Glen (17-7, 11-3) completed the regular season later in the week with a solid 48-33 win.

Ward was red hot from long range, nailing four baskets from beyond the three-point line and finishing with a game-high 15 points. Rebagliati was the only other Ram in double digits with 10 points. Gourd was not too far behind, putting in nine including a three ball, and Ble tossed in seven. Will Robinson added three while Falol and Craig Doleshel chipped in a bucket each.

The win in their final regular season game gave the Rams some momentum as they head into the Central Coast Section Division III playoffs. Willow Glen was seeded No.15 and was to host No.17 Jefferson on Feb 24, 7 p.m., in the first round. If the Rams win, they will move on to visit No. 2 Pioneer on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m.

Girls are co-champs

After opening West Valley Division basketball play in January with a win and then a loss to Prospect, the Willow Glen girls proceeded to put together a 12-game winning streak to gain a tie for the division championship. During the streak, the Rams were able to avenge their earlier loss to Prospect with a 32-26 win, leaving both clubs 13-1 in the division.

Willow Glen completed the streak with a 43-37 win over Yerba Buena and a 41-33 win over James Lick.

In the win over Yerba Buena, Maja Johnson led the Rams with 12 points. Mikka Dixon also scored in double digits, tossing in 10 points. Kiley McKown chipped in eight and Diana Schnabel popped in seven. Candace Gallegos added four and Corina Lopez two.

It was a closely contested game throughout four quarters with the game knotted at 23-23 at halftime. The Rams came out strong in the second half to edge Yerba Buena in each of the third and fourth quarters to pull out the win.

The game against Lick was more of the same with the Rams holding a slim one-point advantage at the half, 12-11. The teams stayed close until Willow Glen pulled away in the fourth to claim the victory.

The Rams played a strong defensive game, pulling down 34 rebounds to dominate the Comets on the boards. Johnson snagged 10 and McKown got eight. Willow Glen also grabbed eight steals with McKnown topping the list with three.

McKown fired in 16 points to lead the Rams while Johnson was busy popping in 14. Schnabel chipped in with nine points and Dixon added two.

Willow Glen has no time to enjoy its co-championship with the CCS playoffs looming on the schedule this week.

The Rams were seeded No. 22 out of 24 teams and face a tough first round contest against No.11 Santa Cruz. Willow Glen must travel to Santa Cruz for the 7 p.m. game on Feb. 24. The winner will visit No.6 St. Ignatius on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. Quarterfinal action is scheduled for Feb. 28.