The win won't come easy. The Mustangs visit powerhouse Leigh on Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m., and they beat the Longhorns by just a point a couple of weeks ago on a last-second free throw by Mark Bundlie on the Pioneer floor.

But even if Pioneer can beat Leigh, the Mustangs need someone to knock off Piedmont Hills. And the chances of that happening in the final two games of league play look slim at best.

The Pirates, who stuck Pioneer 46-40 last week, were to close out the regular season this week at Andrew Hill on Feb. 18 and at home against Gunderson on Feb. 20. The two clubs have just two league wins between them, and the Falcons own both of them.

Piedmont Hills enters the final week of league play leading the Mt. Hamilton Division with a 9-1 record, breaking the first-place tie with the win over Pioneer last week. Pioneer is second at 9-2—not bad for a club in its first season in the rugged division—and Leigh is third at 7-3.

The Mustangs knew what they had to do heading into the final three games of the season. Despite holding a share of the division lead, Pioneer coach Joe Berticevich knew his club would probably have to win all three against Piedmont Hills, Oak Grove and Leigh—especially that first one against the Pirates.

The Mustangs did knock off the Eagles last Friday night, winning 64-59 behind a 32-point effort by Ceylon Elgin-Taylor. But that came two days later the tough 46-40 loss to Piedmont.

Elgin-Taylor pitched in 17 points and 6-foot-3 junior forward Mike Kaufmann had an impressive night with 10 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, but the Mustangs couldn't keep the Pirates from pulling away in the second half.

The clubs were locked in a 21-21 tie at intermission, but Ryan Cooper buried a three-pointer to open the third quarter to give the Pirates a lead they would hold for the entire period.

It was actually the hot hand of Cooper that kept the Bucs on top. The talented senior guard, who had just a point at the half, tossed in 10 of his club's 16 points in the third quarter.

Berticevich called on senior guard Justin Kulish to guard Cooper in the fourth period. The senior guard came off the bench to dog Cooper in the final quarter, and he held the Piedmont shooter scoreless in his five-plus minutes of court time.

Kulish's defensive effort gave the Mustangs the break they needed from Cooper's scoring barrage. Elgin-Taylor had scored at the buzzer to end the third period to cut the Piedmont Hills lead to 37-33, then Kaufmann went to work to start the fourth. He scored two buckets in the first minute of the final period, one off a Bundlie assist, to tie the game 37-37 with 7:01 left to play.

The clubs played through a three-minute scoring drought before the Pirates scored again with 4:03 left to move back in front 39-37, then scored again with 3:25 left to jump in front 41-37.

Elgin-Taylor, whose heroics in the final quarter had helped catapult the Mustangs to the one-point win over Leigh a week earlier, appeared to be at it again. He tossed in two with a fade-away jumper and was fouled. When he dropped the free throw, Pioneer was down just 41-40 with 2:52 left.

But there would be no late heroics for the Mustangs this time around. The Pirates scored five unanswered points to claim the important victory.

Elgin-Taylor finished with a game-high 17 points for the Mustangs, including hitting 5 of 7 from the free-throw line to go with six field goals.

Kaufmann supported with his 10 points, Bundlie had six, Harold Richardson three and Joe Montelongo and Brent Osborn two each.

Kaufmann kept Pioneer in the game with his solid performance on the boards. His 11 rebounds topped the Mustangs. Richardson and Elgin-Taylor grabbed five apiece and Bundlie and Osborn snagged three each. Kaufmann and Bundlie each handed out two assists and Kaufmann, Bundlie and Montelongo each blocked shots.

Pioneer rebounded with a 64-59 win over Oak Grove later in the week. The Mustangs were down 14-11 at the first buzzer but blitzed the Eagles 27-12 in the second quarter to take control of the game.

Elgin-Taylor's 32 points led the Mustangs. He had 11 buckets from the field to go with 10 points at the line.

Bundlie had a pair of threes on his way to 10 points and Kaufmann also hit 10 for the second time in the week. Richardson added six points, Montelongo four and Osborn two.

Bruins top Leland

Over in Santa Teresa Division play, Branham won twice last week to improve to 10-2 in league play and to 15-6 for the year. The Bruins remain in the title hunt with Westmont and Willow Glen heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Bruins, Rams and Warriors were locked in a three-way tie for first place in the division heading into play this week. That tie was sure to be broken when Branham played host to Willow Glen on Feb. 18.

The regular season comes to an end on Feb. 20 when Willow Glen hosts Leland, Westmont entertains Overfelt and Branham visits Mt. Pleasant, all in 7:30 p.m. games.

Westmont created the logjam with a 40-37 win over Willow Glen last week, and Branham moved back into a tie for the lead with wins over Leland and Prospect.

Senior forward Dan White poured in 15 points and Josh Lagod and Denis Lee added nine apiece to lead the Bruins to a 57-47 win over Leland. Zach Garcia and Stan Blekh had five points each, Josh Garcia and Dan Chilcott four apiece and Derek Fletcher and Craig Ryan two each. White, Lagod, Z. Garcia and Lee all buried three-pointers.

David Farsai popped a pair of threes on his way to a 12-point night for the Chargers. Matt Zuvella also had two three-pointers and finished with 10 points.

Gabe Castenada added six points, Doug Proudfoot five, Nate Cheung four, James Kogura and Danny Hamouie three apiece, and Iasias Asfaha and Joe Tang two each.

Branham had opened the week with a tight 56-53 win over Prospect. The Bruins had opened up a big lead early, but the Panthers outscored Branham 25-13 in the fourth quarter to make it close.

Fletcher had the hot hand for the Bruins with 18 points on nine field goals, and White canned a pair of threes on his way to 14 points. Blekh dropped eight points, Z. Garcia six, J. Garcia and Lagod four apiece and Chris Beekman two.

The Chargers, 3-9 in league play and 6-17 for the year, had lost 64-40 to Westmont to open the week. Proudfoot led the Chargers with 13 points and Farsai had seven, including a three. Asfaha had six points, Kogura five (including a three), Castenada four, and Tang and Hamouie two each.