While the rest of the Blossom Valley Athletic League's most valuable players won special honors in their respective divisions after leading their teams to either championships or co-championships in the 2004 basketball season, Elgin-Taylor won his league MVP award on a second-place club.

Pioneer finished second to Piedmont Hills in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL, yet the coaches in the division still determined that the Mustangs' senior guard was deserving of the league's top award.

Elgin-Taylor was joined as a BVAL MVP by Dan White of Branham in the Santa Teresa Division. Girls winning top league honors included Liz Widgren of Leland in the Mt. Hamilton Division, Gina Biviano of Pioneer in the Santa Teresa Division and Maja Johnson of Willow Glen the West Valley Division. The boys West Valley Division all-league team was not available.

Elgin-Taylor led the Mustangs to a 9-3 finish in the Mt. Hamilton Division, second to Piedmont Hills' 11-1. Pioneer posted a 22-7 season record, and Elgin-Taylor led the division in scoring with 662 points, a 22.8 points per game average. Leigh's Marcus Morgan, a senior all-leaguer, was a distant second with 478 points (15.9 points per game).

Along with leading the division in scoring, Elgin-Taylor was tops in both assists (173) and steals (87) and third in both rebounds (164) and three-pointers (36).

Mt. Hamilton girls

Widgren was named the MVP in the BVAL's Mt. Hamilton Division after leading Leland to a league championship. The senior forward helped the Chargers to an 11-1 finish in league play and a 20-6 record overall.

Widgren led the league in scoring with 412 points (15.8 per game) and she also topped the circuit in rebounds (251).

Joining Widgren on the league's special honors list were teammates Jackie George and Kristen Yoshioka, Del Mar's Ali Mollet, Westmont's Rachel Gellman, Leigh's Laura McLellan and Santa Teresa coach C.J. Howard.

Earning all-league first team spots were McLellan of Leigh, Yoshioka and George of Leland, Gellman of Westmont, Mollet of Del Mar, Brianca Russel of Piedmont Hills and Kristen Lebherz of Santa Teresa.

Santa Teresa boys

White was picked the MVP in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL after leading the Bruins to a co-championship with Westmont. The two clubs each finished 12-2 in league play, and the Bruins were 18-7 for the year.

White, a senior forward, was a top scorer for the Bruins, and he was joined on the special honors list by Senior of the Year Nick Ward of Willow Glen, Junior of the Year Chris Bushnell of Overfelt, Sophomore of the Year Chantz Staden of Westmont and Coach of the Year Leo Hermosa of Independence.

Nailing all-league first team slots in the division were seniors Max Gourd and Justin Ble of Willow Glen, senior Josh Lagod of Branham, Staden of Westmont, sophomore David Farsai of Leland, junior Kevin Haynes of Prospect and senior Erwin Tadios of Mt. Pleasant.

Winning all-league second team positions were junior Michael Johnson and senior Rick Meinhold of Westmont, senior Steve Rebagliati and junior Will Robinson of Willow Glen, senior Josh Garcia of Branham, senior Joseph Castillo of Independence and senior Harvir Purewall of Overfelt.

Santa Teresa girls

Biviano was tabbed the MVP in the BVAL's Santa Teresa Division after leading the Pioneer girls to a league championship with a 12-0 record. The Mustangs were 24-4 for the season.

Biviano, a senior forward, led the division in scoring with 393 points (14.0 per game).

Pioneer's Camille Brown was selected the division's Junior of the Year and Blaine Hashimoto was picked the Coach of the Year.

N'Kechi Okorie of Independence won the league's Senior of the Year, and Branham's Paulina Kotula the Sophomore of the Year and Oly Larkin the Freshman of the Year.

Making up the all-league first team were Kotula of Branham, senior Brenae Perkins of Pioneer, junior Jennifer Rivera and sophomore Anna Harp of Gunderson, senior Bever-Leigh Magsanay of Silver Creek, senior Liezl Dacuycuy of Andrew Hill and senior Janet Hiroshima of Mt Pleasant.

Earning all-league second team honors were Larkin and senior Renee Kawar of Branham, seniors Shawn Killin and Noelle Quiriba of Pioneer, sophomore Amy Mendez of Silver Creek, senior Be'Anka Macey of Gunderson and senior Amanda Fienos of Andrew Hill.

West Valley girls

Johnson was named the MVP of the BVAL's West Valley Division after leading the Rams to a co-championship with Prospect. The two clubs finished league play with matching 13-1 records.

Johnson was the division leader in rebounds with 181 and she was second in scoring (313 points, 12.5 per game) and steals (33).

Amy Gannon of Willow Glen won the league's Coach of the Year award with Jade Miyakusa of James Lick and Kura Rodriguez the co-Seniors of the Year, Kathleen Roboton of Evergreen Valley the Junior of the Year and Shelly Otaguro of Prospect the Sophomore of the Year. Otaguro was third in the league in scoring (284 points) and second in three-pointers (16).

Seniors Katie Barnes of Prospect and Kiley McKown of Willow Glen were joined on the all-league first team by seniors Angela Nieto and Chloe Dorvilias of Yerba Buena, sophomores Courtney Taku and Jennifer Gines of Evergreen and senior Tamika Vaughn of Overfelt.

Winning all-league second team spots were senior Mikka Dixon of Willow Glen, Otaguro of Prospect, sophomore Jamelle Jones and senior Kimberly Carrasco of San Jose, junior Elizabeth Humphers of Evergreen, senior Daneisha Ward of Lick and freshman Alex Scoffone and senior Alycia Hurtado of Lincoln.

Panthers fall

The Presentation girls basketball team lost in the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals last week, falling 49-39 to Soquel. The Panthers finished the season 19-11 overall after posting an 8-5 record to finish third in the West Catholic Athletic League.

Leading the effort for the Panthers this season was junior sensation Kirian Ishizaki, who won a place on the all-league first team in the WCAL.

Junior Arianna Corona was an all-league second team pick for the Panthers and seniors Kelly Bertoldo and Hayley Farb and junior Cassie French won honorable mention credits.