Preps of the week: Marin Catholic triumphs at De La Salle tourney

The Marin Catholic boys basketball team made one of the more impressive statements during tournament time by going 3-0 to win the Spartan Classic with victories over both host De La Salle and Serra.

The Archie Williams boys, San Marin girls, and Branson girls also picked up tournament wins last week. Redwood’s Kitty White had a big week, setting the program record for career points.

Elsewhere, Branson’s Farah Allen qualified for Nationals in cross country. Archie Williams’ Sofia De Jesus and Novato’s Braeden Carroll had tournament wins in wrestling. A number of soccer players also put up big stat lines last week.

Joe Hammond, Bentley Morrow, Oliver Meyers, and Henry Dibble, Marin Catholic boys basketball

Hammond scored 15 of his 16 points in the second half as the Wildcats took down defending North Coast Section Open Division champion De La Salle en route to winning the Spartan Classic. Hammond also scored 10 points and had five assists in the title game en route to tournament MVP honors. Morrow (12 points, eight rebounds in the final), Meyers, and Dibble (13 points, six rebounds in the first game) were all named to the all-tournament team.

Brian Wright, Meezy Butler, and Ephraim Sohn, Archie Williams boys basketball

Wright scored at least 20 points in every game while Butler and Sohn both starred in two of three games to lead the Peregrine Falcons to the championship in the Piedmont tournament. Wright scored 20 points against El Cerrito, 28 more against San Lorenzo, then 20 more against the hosts in Saturday’s 58-48 title game victory. Butler produced 21 points in the semifinal and 19 in the championship game. Sohn scored 19 points in the first game and 15 more in the semifinal. Archie Williams (5-0) will have a chance to add another championship to its resume this week when it hosts the Red Brown Tournament Thursday through Saturday.

Oskar Valiauga and Omar Williams, San Domenico boys basketball

Valiauga was named to the Russ Peterich all-tournament team as the Panthers went 2-1 at Montgomery High, including a 55-36 victory against Tam on Saturday. Valiauga had a pair of monster games at the tournament, putting together a 12-point, 12-rebound, six-block stat line against Woodside then adding nine points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks against Tam. Williams hit a trio of 3-pointers and scored a game-high 16 points against Tam.

Kitty White, Redwood girls basketball

White scored 25 points against host Marin Catholic in the third-place game at the Lady Cat Classic on Saturday to lead the Giants to a 55-41 victory. White also made history earlier in the tournament while scoring 15 points in a semifinal loss to Riordan. White became the program’s all-time leading scorer during the game passing Kylie Horstmeyer, who went on to star at the University of San Diego.

Eleanna Schram and Abby Bartholo, San Marin girls basketball

Schram scored 18 points en route to tournament MVP honors and Bartholo added 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Mustangs defeated Miramonte 48-43 on Saturday to win the Peyo Classic Championship. San Marin won all three tournament games with Schram leading the team in scoring in all three games with 16 points against Monte Vista and 15 against Del Oro. Bartholo added 15 points against Monte Vista and seven against Del Oro.

Kate Spaulding, Branson girls basketball

The Bulls’ high-scoring sophomore averaged 23.5 points per game across the first two games at the St. Vincent de Paul tournament, leading Branson to a pair of wins against John Swett and Novato. Spaulding had 23 against Swett and 24 against the Hornets. Branson went on to win the tournament, taking down the hosts 46-32 on Saturday. Spaulding added 14 more points and was named tournament MVP. The Bulls are set to host Marin Academy in a showdown of unbeaten teams at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Penelope Lee, Marin Academy girls basketball

Lee led a strong defensive effort and led the way with 17 points as the Wildcats improved to 5-0 with a 38-32 win against Lincoln (San Francisco) on Saturday. Lee also scored 11 points in a 54-30 win against Albany earlier in the week.

Farah Allen, Branson girls cross country

Allen took ninth in the girls championship race at the Brooks West Championships on the Mt. SAC course in Walnut in Saturday. Allen ran the 5K course in 18 minutes, 3.1 seconds to qualify for the National Meet in San Diego next Saturday.

Sofia De Jesus, Archie Williams girls wrestling

De Jesus picked up four pinfall victories at 110 pounds en route to a first-place finish and tournament MVP honors at the Albany tournament on Saturday.

Braeden Carroll, Novato boys wrestling

Carroll picked up his second tournament title in two weeks, picking up three wins at 285 pounds to finish first at the Jim Lanterman Classic at Vintage High on Saturday.

Tatum D’Angelica, San Marin girls soccer

D’Angelica scored six goals and registered three assists across three games as the Mustangs went 2-0-1 last week. D’Angelica scored all four of her team’s goals in a  4-1 win against El Camino on Saturday. The sophomore had one goal and three assists in a 6-0 win against St. Helena on Thursday and scored San Marin’s only goal in a 1-1 draw against Petaluma on Tuesday.

Jaela Brown and Ryder Higgins Jones, San Rafael girls soccer

Brown scored three goals and had three assists during three games at the Costa Mesa Invitational over the weekend. Brown had a goal and an assist in each game as the Bulldogs went 1-0-2 at the tournament. Higgins Jones scored a goal in Tuesday’s game against San Lorenzo then found the back of the net in her first two tournament games to stretch her streak of consecutive games with a goal to start the season to six games. Costa Mesa managed to keep Higgins Jones off the scoresheet in San Rafael’s seventh game.

Reese Goodenough and Isabel Meckler, Marin Academy girls soccer

Both players had braces for MA last week with Goodenough scoring twice in a 4-0 victory against Alameda on Thursday and Meckler finding the back of the net twice in a 3-0 win against Archie Williams on Tuesday. Goodenough, who also had an assist against Archie Williams, scored twice on direct free kicks from outside the 18-yard box.

Rhys Jones, Marin Catholic boys soccer

Jones accounted for all three of MC’s goals this past week as the Wildcats started the campaign with back-to-back wins – 1-0 against Terra Linda on Wednesday and 2-1 against Stuart Hall on Friday.

Marco Caruso and David Keane, Tam boys soccer

Caruso and Keane stepped up with crucial plays within a minute of each other to lift Tam to a 1-0 victory against Archie Williams on Friday. Keane made a point-blank save following a corner kick by the Peregrine Falcons early in the second half to keep the game scoreless. Moments later, Caruso intercepted a pass between Archie Williams’ players, got in on goal, then scored to put the Red-tailed Hawks in front. Keane made two more big saves in the final 10 minutes to preserve the shutout. Caruso also provided an assist to Kenneth Frost on Tuesday as Tam battled Casa Grande to a 1-1 draw.

Cooper Little, Branson boys soccer

Little scored the game-winning goal off an assist by Chris Mao in the 62nd minute as the Bulls defeated Stuart Hall 1-0 on Tuesday. Little also scored from the penalty spot as Branson tied Sonoma Valley 1-1 on Friday.