Girls Varsity Basketball - The Bears played in the CCS Semi Finals and Championship games, both intense and thrilling games. On Wednesday the team faced tournament host Piedmont Hills, the #3 seed in CCS DI. In the first 2 minutes the game was tied at 7 and it looked like a shootout. However the Bears defense stiffened and freshman Greer Hoyem made 4 straight shots to give M-A an 8 point lead early in the second quarter. The Pirates closed the gap to 4 points on 3-pointers, but Carly McLanahan answered with back to back 3-pointers giving M-A a 25-13 half-time lead. With the Pirates in foul trouble and the Bears hitting 3s and scoring in the paint, it looked like an easy victory for the Bears. However in the second half the Pirates began chipping away at the lead by hitting more 3s. Naomi Baer and Ofa Sili converted in the paint and drew fouls but Piedmont Hills aggressive play paid off as they took the lead, 44-43 with 15 seconds remaining. With 4 seconds remaining Megan Sparrow drew a foul and converted a free throw to send the game to overtime. 3 starters for Piedmont Hills fouled out in the fourth quarter, but with a minute left in overtime, Piedmont Hills led by 2. With 44 seconds remaining Hoyem scored, drew a foul, and made the free throw to regain the lead. N. Baer had a huge steal to stop the Pirates next offensive series. With seconds remaining the Pirates fouled to preserve the clock, but Ilana Baer and McLanahan converted their free throws to put the game away, 55-52. The Bears extended their winning streak to 14 games. 

With the win the Bears advanced to the CCS D1 Championship game on Saturday at Santa Clara  where they faced North Salinas, the reigning CCS Champions. It was the Bears first appearance in the CCS Championship since 2010 where they lost to North Salinas. The Vikings returned 4 senior starters from the team that knocked M-A out of CCS in last year's quarter finals. In front of a large and loud Sixth Woman cheering section, the first 3 quarters went according to plan - M-A scored in the paint and drew fouls. Hoyem led the Bears with 21 points. N. Baer scored 10 points in the first half before leaving with an injury. However, the Bears could never get more than a single digit lead as the Vikings answered with 9 3-pointers throughout the game. M-A led by 5 at the end of the third quarter, but the fourth was a different matter. The hard pressing North Salinas defense held the Bears to 8 points while their offense exploded for 20 points to win the Championship 60-53. 

Hoyem scored 20 or more points in all 3 CCS Games. The Bears finish CCS with a 24-6 record. By making it to the Championship game, M-A qualifies for the NorCal Tournament and will learn its seating on Sunday, March 8 evening.

Boys Volleyball - The Bears kick off its first-ever season this week with 2 away games. On Tuesday, March 10 the team plays Westmont, with JV starting at 5:30 p.m. and Varsity starting around 6:30 p.m. On Thursday, March 12, the Bears will travel to Cupertino. JV starts at 5 p.m. and Varsity plays at 6 p.m. Come out and cheer on the teams!

 Varsity Softball - The Bears got off to a rough start this week with a 10-0 loss on Tuesday to Palo Alto. A combination of hits and errors helped Paly's offense score, while the Bears offense was largely quiet, with only 2 hits in 6 innings, singles by Emily Katz and Molly Katz.  The rest of the week was much better, however, with wins over Mercy and Castilleja. On Thursday, the Bears played a home game against Mercy, winning 10-3.  E. Katz pitched the first 3 innings, striking out 7, and shutting Mercy out. Victoria Sanie pitched the fourth and fifth innings, striking out 4, and Taylor Conrad pitched the sixth and seventh innings, striking out 5. The Bears combined hits and walks to score 10 runs. Sarah Tiemann led the hitting with 2 singles, and Monika Gutierrez, E. Katz, M. Katz, and Yasmine Pope all hit singles as well.  

 Varsity Baseball - M-A managed a 7-4 victory over South San Francisco in 7 innings on Tuesday. Ryan Klapper started and went 5 innings with 4 runs on 8 hits with 2 strikeouts on 67 pitches. Nick Olson entered the sixth inning in relief and held South San Francisco hitless over 2 innings, with 4 strikeouts on 29 pitches. The Bears jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Tyler Koo got things going for M-A with a single, then advanced on a passed ball and scored from second on a Texas leaguer by Bret Rodrigues. Koo had 2 hits and 2 RBI's for the day. Rodrigues went 2-3 with 2 RBI's. M-A went up for good in the fourth, scoring 2 runs on a sacrifice fly by Nikolai Tarran and an RBI single by Koo. In the fifth, the Bears scored on an RBI double hit down the left field line by Brian Coggins plating Mitch Eisenstat, the courtesy runner for Klapper, and a sacrifice fly by Koo. M-A tacked on another 2 runs in the seventh. The inning looked promising as Rodrigues singled, scoring Max Gardiner to kick things off. Kennedy Ojeda followed with a single, bringing Rodrigues home from second.

The Bears lost 6-3 in 7 innings at Leland on Wednesday. Matthew McGarry was solid at the plate for the Bears. He went 2-3, on a single in the second inning and a huge homer in the fourth inning. McGarry started the game and lasted just 2.1 innings giving up 4 runs while striking out 4. AJ Lemons looked sharp on the mound in relief. Lemons gave up just 2 hits, walked 1, and struck out 5 during his 3 2/3 innings of work. Koo reached home from second on a nice line drive to left field by Nick Prainito in the third inning. Klapper manufactured a run in the seventh starting with a double on a line drive down the right field line. Klapper tagged up on a sacrifice fly by Coggins to get to third and came home on an error at first.

Kodiak Conrad started the game at home on Friday against Westmont and threw 6 solid innings. Conrad had 3 earned runs on 8 hits, with 7 strikeouts allowing only 2 walks. Nick Olson came in to close the game and had 2 strikeouts, allowed 1 walk, and no hits. The Bears had an exciting 5-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the win away from Westmont. Prainito brought home the go-ahead run to give M-A the final lead. Prainito racked up 2 RBIs on 2 hits for the Bears. Koo had 2 hits, 2 runs, and an RBI to contribute to the Bears offense.

Girls Varsity Lacrosse - The Bears opened their season this week with 3 non-league home games. On Tuesday the team faced Gunn under the lights at M-A. Sophomore Lauren McGinnis got the Bears on the board when she drew a foul and converted a free position shot. Annie Payne and Emma Easton scored in the first half and each had 2 goals on the night as the Bears rolled to a 4-1 halftime lead. In the second half, the Bears increased their lead to 8-2 with 10 minutes remaining. However the Titans went on a 5-0 Titans run. With 1 minute remaining, and the Bears a player down, Gunn won the draw and went to goal, but M-A goal keeper Allie Bayne notched her eighth stop to save the game, 8-7. Also scoring for the Bears was Izzy Regonini. Morgan Corona added 2 assists.

On Thursday the Bears hosted Saratoga, a team they tied last year. This year was different as the Bears dominated all aspects of the game and led 13-0 until the final 5 minutes. Payne led the Bears again with 3 goals and an assist. Also scoring for the Bears were Amanda Wiseman, Regonini, Easton, and Grace Tully who had 2 goals each. Cathrine Petersen and Emma Roellig each scored 1 goal. The final score was 13-3.

On Saturday the Bears lost to Palo Alto, 9-4. Paly jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Bear's Wiseman and Regonini scored to bring the Bears back 3-2 midway through the first half. The second half opened with another Wiseman goal. Paly was forced to play the final fourteen minutes one player down after receiving its fifth yellow card. However, the Vikings goalie registered 10 saves to close out the game. 

This week the team plays at home: on Tuesday, March 10 they face Redwood High at 4 p.m. and on Wednesday, March 11 they play Notre Dame at 4 p.m.