/Cupertino

When the Cupertino High School boys basketball team traveled to Palo Alto on Feb. 3, the host Vikings had more in their favor than the home court advantage.

Palo Alto entered the game with an overall record of 17-2, a share of first place in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division and strong bloodlines in top players E.J. Floreal and Aubrey Dawkins, both sons of Stanford University coaches.

But Cupertino, which started the night in fourth place at 4-3, had senior sharpshooter Gokul Natesan. And thanks largely to the 32 points from the talented 6-foot-3 forward, the Pioneers went home with a 54-47 victory.

With the win Cupertino improved its division record to 5-3 and, coupled with Los Gatos' overtime loss to visiting Gunn, moved into third place, just ahead of Los Gatos (5-4). The Pioneers entered a Feb. 8 home game with the Wildcats looking to solidify their position and add to their overall record of 14-6.

After the tussle with Gatos, Cupertino had three more games left on the division schedule, road games at Milpitas (Feb. 10, 7:45 p.m.) and division co-leader Mountain View sandwiched around a home contest, Feb. 15, 7 p.m., against Homestead. The Mustangs were idle last Friday, after losing to Milpitas 56-52 on Feb. 1. Their record dropped to 2-5 in league play and 8-12 overall.

Due to a bye on Feb. 1, Cupertino had a week to prepare for its game at Palo Alto. The extra effort paid off for the Pioneers, who had lost a fourth-quarter lead and the game in their first meeting with the De Anza co-leaders back on Jan. 13.

Cupertino jumped out to a 15-12 lead in the first quarter and went to the locker room at halftime ahead 27-19. Palo Alto started the third quarter with a bang on a dunk by Floreal, the son of Stanford track and field coach Edrick Floreal, and the Vikings closed the period with a 9-0 run to trim 'Tino's lead to 35-34.

Dawkins, the son of Stanford basketball coach Johnny Dawkins, hit a pair of free throws to start the fourth quarter and give Palo Alto its first lead since early in the game.

The lead changed hands a few times, before Natesan put the Pioneers ahead to stay with a four-point play with about three minutes to go.

Natesan finished with seven three-pointers and seven free throws among his game-high 32. He also had eight of the team's 21 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

The four other senior starters provided scoring support, Terence Tse with eight points, Tim Chu and Jomel Bautista with six apiece and Michael Boyle with two. Chu also had seven rebounds, Boyle grabbed two offensive boards and Tse and Bautista each dished out two assists.

Homestead's home loss to Milpitas was a tough one because the result dropped the Mustangs below the Trojans (3-5, 11-9) in the standings.

Junior Justin Shayesteh came through with 15 points in the loss, and senior Ashonti Hunter had 10. Senior Troy Hoffman and sophomore Troy Whitford scored eight apiece, senior Victor Rodrigo added seven and junior Rohan Subramanian tallied four.

El Camino boys

In the El Camino Division, Fremont and Lynbrook finished the week in a tie for third place with 4-4 records, one-half game ahead of Monta Vista (4-5).

Lynbrook earned its fourth division win in its only game of the week, 58-46 over visiting Fremont on Feb. 1. The Firebirds evened their slate at home two nights later with a 52-47 overtime triumph over Los Altos.

In the Lynbrook-Fremont contest, the Vikings pulled away with a 22-13 blitz in the fourth quarter. Seniors Brandon Yamauchi and Austin Ma led the way for the winners with 18 each and sophomore Gary Chen added 10. Junior Connor Smith's 14 paced the Firebirds.

Fremont senior Nathan Quiwa came up big with 23 points against Los Altos, as the Firebirds outscored the Eagles 10-5 in the four-minute extra session. Smith had 10 points and Ronald Bryant, Jr. nine in the win. Junior Michael Burdett and sophomore Alex Bernauer chipped in with four apiece, and senior Arvie Miranda tossed in two.

Like Fremont, Monta Vista also split its games last week, bouncing back from a 46-41 loss at Los Altos by beating second-place Santa Clara 52-45.

Senior George Geha (15 points), sophomore Ramana Keerthi (10) and senior Mihir Chavan (9) were tops in the scoring column for the Matadors, who improved their overall mark to 10-11 and knocked the Bruins (6-3) out of a first-place tie with Saratoga (7-2).

Two nights earlier, senior Thomas Jennings scored 15 and Geha 13 for the Matadors in the loss to Los Altos.

WBAL boys

Brandon White, a 6-foot-11 senior, scored 19 points, and seniors Mark Petiti and Stephen Kmak added 10 apiece to lead The King's Academy to a 53-43 victory at Crystal Springs Uplands on Feb. 3.

The Knights split two games on the week, improving to 3-7 in West Bay Athletic League play and to 9-11 overall.

In a game on Jan. 31, White tallied 13, Kmak 10 and junior Stephen Butelo 10, but TKA fell 56-47 to visiting Sacred Heart Prep.

El Camino girls

Fremont used a 19-point fourth quarter to pull away from host Homestead for a 61-50 victory in a neighborhood rivalry on Jan. 31. Sophomore Alma Sivic's 21 points led the way for the Firebirds, while senior Emma Dugan scored 17 and junior Kheithy Bui had 14. Sophomore Amric Sivic scored five in the win and senior Treasure Rodriguez chipped in with four. Homestead senior guard Nicole Loughran also popped in 21 to share scoring honors with Alma Sivic.

With the win Fremont improved to 3-4 in El Camino Division play, while Homestead dropped to 3-5. The Firebirds fell to 3-5 three nights later, when they dropped a tight 27-26 affair with Los Altos.

Monta Vista improved to 8-1 with a pair of wins last week, keeping pace with division leader Saratoga (9-0, 17-3). The Matadors will host Saratoga on Feb. 10, 6:15 p.m., with a chance to gain a share of first place and potentially a division co-championship.