Preps of the week: Four one-loss teams in hunt for boys basketball title
The pennant race for the MCAL boys basketball title heated up last week as a trio of head-to-head games featuring the top four teams left all of them with one loss at the midway point of the season.
Marin Catholic and Branson began the week by posting three-point wins against Archie Williams and Redwood, respectively. The Giants kept themselves very much in the title mix by handing MC its first loss on Friday.
In girls soccer, a pair of players notched two game-winning goals in MCAL play while two others found the back of the net four times in a game. Boys soccer saw a recent JV callup keep scoring big goals for Redwood while Tam kept rolling despite losing one of its best players to injury.
In girls basketball, Redwood went 3-0 on the week while Novato stretched its win streak to three games. In wrestling, San Marin topped Redwood in a battle of MCAL unbeatens.
Bentley Morrow, Marin Catholic boys basketball
Morrow came up big with 19 points in a midseason showdown against Archie Williams, crucially providing the game-winning basket with just over a minute to play as the Wildcats claimed a 76-72 victory on Tuesday.
Jake Post, Redwood boys basketball
The Giants went 1-1 across a pair of MCAL showdowns against Branson and MC last week. Post scored a team-high 22 points as Redwood fell 52-49 against the Bulls on Tuesday then scored 14 as the Giants bounced back with a 58-51 win against MC.
NJ Gray, Branson boys basketball
Gray registered game-high scoring totals three times last week to help Branson extend its win streak to four games. Gray averaged almost 25 points per game with 28 against Campolindo, 24 in a huge 52-49 win against Redwood, then 22 in a 81-41 victory against Tam.
Meezy Butler, Archie Williams boys basketball
Butler poured in 30 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists as the Peregrine Falcons secured a 76-57 victory against Terra Linda on Friday night. The win helped Archie Williams get back on track after a tough 76-72 loss against Marin Catholic earlier in the week. Butler scored 17 points against MC.
Arman Salkhi, Tam boys basketball
Salkhi went off with 17 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter as the Red-tailed Hawks secured a crucial 77-44 win against San Marin on Tuesday. Tam trailed by as many as 20 points in the game before Salkhi led the comeback charge. The victory puts the Red-tailed Hawks in excellent shape to claim an MCAL playoff spot with their third league win.
Luke Shapiro, San Rafael boys basketball
The Bulldogs got off to an 0-3 start in league – in part due to a brutal opening schedule that saw them face Archie Williams, Redwood, and MC to start the campaign. Shapiro ensured the Bulldogs wouldn’t slide to 0-4 by scoring 28 of his 42 points in the first half. Shapiro hit five 3-pointers, had a pair of dunks, and added six steals. Shapiro is scoring 24.7 points per game this season.
Wes Harrison, Terra Linda boys basketball
Harrison has stepped up in the absence of top scorer Evan Brewster, scoring 19 or more points three times last week. Harrison scored 22 in a 70-59 loss against Chico on Monday but scored 19 as the Trojans bounced back for a win against Novato on Tuesday. Harrison saved his best for last, tallying 23 of his 24 points in the second half as TL rallied for a 67-62 win against St. Vincent de Paul on Saturday.
Kaia Amir, Redwood girls soccer
Amir scored the opening goal in both games for the Giants then, for good measure, provided the assists on the second goals against Archie Williams and Terra Linda. It turned out the Giants didn’t need the insurance, registering shutouts in both games to give Amir two game-winning goals on the week.
Tatum D’Angelica, San Marin girls soccer
The sophomore striker was involved in five of San Marin’s six goals in a shutout win against Novato, scoring four times and providing an assist to Gianna Grasso, who had the other two goals.
Joselin Romero and Stefani Brandt, San Rafael girls soccer
The Bulldogs reached the midpoint of the MCAL season with just one loss on their ledger, thanks in large part to a late equalizer scored by Romero against Terra Linda and an early goal scored by Brandt in a 1-1 tie against Marin Catholic. Romero’s goal came inside the final 10 minutes as she scored from an acute angle, tucking her shot just inside the far post. As the Bulldogs and Trojans tied both games this season, penalties were needed to decide ownership of the Bell Game trophy. Brandt converted San Rafael’s first PK of the shootout and Romero cashed in the winner in the seventh round of kicks.
Ava McMahon and Lauren Willard, Tam girls soccer
McMahon and Willard combined to score perhaps the most important goal of the first half of the MCAL season with Willard assisting McMahon as Tam defeated Marin Catholic 1-0. The game was the second clash between the MCAL’s traditional top four teams and the first to end with an outright winner. McMahon added another game-winning goal, albeit in a 9-0 victory against Novato. Willard found the back of the net four times against the Hornets.
Cole Guerrero and Nick Vicente, Redwood boys soccer
Guerrero, who was called up from JV less than two weeks ago, scored his third goal in three games as the Giants rallied in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw against Archie Williams – a rematch of the past two MCAL championship games. Guerrero, who also scored against Branson and Marin Academy the prior week, scored following a long throw-in taken by Desmond Cain. Vicente made a slew of impressive saves against the Peregrine Falcons, with about four coming in the final 10 minutes of the game. Vincente’s effort was highlighted by an impressive double save in the 75th minute.
Marco Caruso and Luke Nurney, Tam boys soccer
The Red-tailed Hawks are without one of their top attacking players after Devin Perkins went down with a knee injury two weeks ago against Terra Linda. Caruso and Nurney stepped up in his absence with Caruso netting five goals and two assists in two MCAL games while Nurney added one goal and three assists. Caruso had three goals in a 4-0 win against Marin Catholic then added two more in a 6-0 win against Novato. Nurney had a goal and two assists against the Hornets.
Reese Patton, Archie Williams girls basketball
Patton was remarkably consistent across four games last week to lead the Peregrine Falcons to a 3-1 record. Patton scored 16 points in a win against Terra Linda and in a loss to Marin Catholic. She also scored 15 points in wins against St. Vincent de Paul and Healdsburg.
Maddie Petersmeyer, Redwood girls basketball
Petersmeyer scored a game-high 20 points as the Giants rolled to a 59-32 win against Branson on Wednesday. Redwood went 3-0 on the week with Petersmeyer scoring nine points in a big game against MC then tying for team-high honors with 11 against Justin-Siena.
Savannah Sparks and Nabilah Nijem, Novato girls basketball
Sparks has led the Hornets in scoring twice and Nijem did it once over the course of the team’s three-game winning streak that has put Novato in position to make a legit run at an MCAL playoff spot. The Hornets’ streak actually began 10 days ago with Sparks scoring 23 points in a win against Tam. Sparks added 12 more points in a 38-18 win against TL on Tuesday then 17 more in a 50-29 win against San Rafael on Friday. Nijem scored 11 points against Tam and a game-high 19 against San Rafael.
David Coronado, Levi Manville, and Spencer Cisneros, San Marin wrestling
The Mustangs and Redwood headed into their dual meet on Thursday as the last two remaining unbeaten teams in the MCAL. San Marin kept its perfect record intact with a 49-23 victory, thanks in part to wins by three of its returning all-league wrestlers from last season. Coronado picked up San Marin’s lone pinfall win of the day in the heavyweight match. Manville picked up the win at 152 pounds to give San Marin its first lead at 23-19. Cisneros, the defending 113- pound MCAL champion, also secured a victory at 122 pounds with a 17-1 technical fall.
Dylan Morton, Redwood wrestling
Redwood’s Dylan Morton (134) placed third Saturday at the Puma Classic at Maria Carrillo High School. Morton went 5-1, and pinned Pittsburg’s Mason Ozuna in the second round of their medal bout. Morton pinned San Marin’s Luke Miller in their dual meet on Thursday for one of Redwood’s five mat wins.