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 Wrestling - This past week the Bears won their dual meet against Woodside with 8 wins, 7 by pin. Notably, freshman Anthony Gomez and junior Gunnar Jongebloed picked up their first varsity wins, both by pin. Senior Donald "Buster" La Haye, senior Edward "Bingo" La Haye, senior Arrin Skelley, sophomore Nicki Dulmage, and sophomore Chelsea Wilson won their varsity matches with pins. M-A's dual meet record this season is 1-1.

 

On Friday and Saturday, M-A competed at Gilroy in the Mid Cals, one of the most competitive wrestling tournaments in the state. In a field of elite wrestlers, Buster La Haye fought 4 difficult matches to bring home an 8th place medal. Bingo La Haye and Arrin Skelley also won matches. The Bears recorded 3 pins in the tournament.

 

This Thursday, January 29 at 5 p.m. in New Gym, the Beara host both Burlingame and Hillsdale for dual meets. Also at the event, Aragon will dual with Oceana and Burlingame. Come out and support your wrestlers at the only dual meets this season to be held at M-A. Thursday is also Senior Night and the team will recognize its senior wrestlers.

Girls JV Basketball - The Bears added two more wins to their undefeated season in league play. Against Aragon the Bears came out strong from the start. Sophomore Natasha Auer was in great form on the inside scoring 12 points. Jaimie Kirkpatrick and Kyra Sheeper each had 6 and Maddie King added 5 points to the score. Junior Delilah Kline went 7 for 7 at the free throw line and had a total of 17 points. Despite a few offensive mistakes, their usual great teamwork allowed the Bears to stay well in control of the game which ended with a 46-24 win. The Bears dominated both offensively and defensively in the match-up with Woodside. Kline led the team with 20 points, and King had a solid performance scoring 11, including a buzzer beater to end the third period. Kirkpatrick hit 2 three-pointers, Auer added 8 points, and Bailey Lentz capped it off with 2. Emily Roberts helped the offensive effort with good passing and well-executed shots. On defense, Lentz and Angela Langhi had key blocks and steals, Ashley Tiznado had a great save in the fourth period, and Kyra Richardson worked hard on the inside also grabbing a rebound. The Bears put Woodside away with a final score of 49-14. The Bears take on San Mateo at home on Wednesday, January 28 at 4 p.m. and travel to Carlmont on Friday, January 30 for a 3:15 p.m. start.

 

Girls Varsity Basketball - The Bears won both league games this week to remain in first place in the PAL South. Prior to both wins, the Bears were ranked 14th in the latest San Jose Mercury News Poll.

 

On Wednesday at Aragon the Bears won 60-55. The Bears started fast and opened a 19-8 lead mid-way through the first quarter on 7 points from sophomore Megan Sparrow. However the Dons rallied back to lead by 7 midway through the third quarter. The Bears Sarah Howell hit a pair of three-pointers to close the gap. Down by 2 at the start of the fourth quarter Ilana Baer and Greer Hoyem each scored a pair of baskets to push the M-A lead to 6 points. Aragon closed the gap to 3 with a minute remaining, but M-A protected the ball and got a final score from Carly McLanahan to put the game away.

 

On Friday at Woodside the Bears won 58-28. Hoyem had 15 first quarter points as M-A jumped out to a 23-9 lead. From there the game was never in doubt as the Wildcats struggled with the Bears size and stifling defense. Guards Howell and McLanahan each hit 3 three-pointers. Hoyem finished with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and a steal on the night. Naomi Baer had 8 points and 3 assists. Also scoring for the Bears were Sparrow, Maddy Kim and Sally Carlson. 

 

The Bears continue league play this week, hosting San Mateo on Wednesday, January 28 at 5:30 p.m. and traveling to Carlmont for a 6:15 p.m. game on Friday, January 30. 

 

 Boys Varsity Basketball - The Bears had two relatively easy wins this week to run their PAL record to 4-2, 10-8 overall.  In the Wednesday game against Aragon at home, M-A stormed to a 17-3 first quarter lead with a smothering defense to take the mystery out of the game. Tim Andersen hit 2 three-pointers and was among 7 Bears to score that quarter. The Dons made it interesting for a few minutes of the second quarter, but the Bears closed the half strong and led by double-digits the rest of the way. The big lead allowed the entire squad to play significant minutes and 9 Bears scored in the 48-32 victory.  On Friday, the Bears capped a quad-night sweep of host Woodside with a 50-33 win. After a tight first quarter, M-A blew open the game with a 14-2 second quarter advantage to lead by 14 at halftime. The lead ballooned to 21 by the end of the third quarter, led by Ryan Cole's 18 points through three quarters of work. Cole had an outstanding shooting night, 9-11 from close range, getting some terrific feeds from his teammates. Andersen and Eric Norton scored 6 points each. This week, the Bears hit the road, facing the Bearcats of San Mateo on Wednesday, January 28 at 5:30 p.m., and then the Scots of Carlmont on Friday, January 30 at 7:45 p.m., as part of quad-night there.

 Girls JV Soccer - M-A posted a comfortable 3-1 win Tuesday as they hosted the Carlmont Scots. The action started slowly but the Bears were controlling play comfortably in the first half. A perfectly weighted pass from midfield split the defenders and sprang the speedy Mara Cavallero. The Carlmont keeper had no chance as Cavallero buried it in the back of the net to open the scoring 1-0 at the 22nd minute. The Bears continued to dictate the storyline in the second half when a shot by Holly Pounders hit the post and the rebound fell at the feet of Cavallero as she notched her second goal of the night at 44 minutes to make it 2-0. Just 4 minutes later, Sarah Tiemann added to the tally with a shot from close range, assisted by Emily St. John, to make it 3-0. Carlmont redoubled their efforts and battled to salvage something from the remainder of the match. Their persistence paid off when in the 58th minute, the Scots caught the Bears napping and jumped a goal kick, keeper pass-back sequence to wipe out the clean sheet and make it 3-1. With a two-goal cushion remaining, M-A played out the clock and 3-1 stood at the final whistle.

On Thursday, the Bears traveled to Hillsdale and continued their undefeated streak with a 1-0 win over the Knights. The lone goal came late in the first half when Grace Brieger passed from center to Cavallero on the right wing, who dribbled back into range and drove a hard shot past the keeper. M-A held on tight to the one-goal advantage through the second half despite some spirited play from the Knights as they tried to rattle the Bears into making mistakes. Grace Chitouras showed her moxie as she calmly played a ball to safety knowing that she was going to get the raw end of a collision. Late in the game goalkeeper Bailey Schroeder was bumped out of the penalty area while making a routine save but the referee didn't see the unsporting behavior and instead gave the Knights a direct free kick for the observed handling. They failed to capitalize, leaving the final score 1-0 in favor of the Bears.

On Tuesday, January 27, the Bears (5-0-1) will host Woodside (5-0-1) in a showdown between the two teams currently tied for first place.

 

Girls Varsity Soccer - The Bears battled for 80 minutes against a strong Carlmont squad on Tuesday afternoon, but the game ended knotted in a 0-0 tie. The team dominated the stats in the first half, out-shooting the Scots 6-0 with several scoring opportunities that forced the Scots goalkeeper to come up with a few key saves. In the second half, the Bears again started out by controlling possession of the ball and keeping the Carlmont squad on the their heels. The cross bar aided the Scots by saving shots from Sarah McLeod in the 44th minute and Nicole Salz in the 65th minute. Kelsey Reed took 4 corner kicks in the second half - with the best opportunity forcing another save from the Carlmont keeper in the 68th minute. The Scots were kept from getting off a shot until the 60th minute of the game and then managed to fire off a total of seven in the last twenty minutes of the game - forcing 4 saves from goalkeeper Jacqueline Foody. For the match, the Bears outshot the Scots 10-7.