Sports Updates

Welcome back to the Bears Report during the famous Crab Feed Weekend! Our three basketball teams are full force into the North Bay League season. All three teams were well prepared for the NBL thanks to very challenging pre-season schedules set-up by varsity coach Jeff Paul. Great job Jeff!

 

Let’s get to the summary of December basketball and the first half of league.

 

 

Two partners in the Bay Area Catholic High School community highlighted the tough pre-season for Jeff Paul and Asst. Coach Tom Corriveau’s Bears. The girls had hard losses to St. Mary’s (Berkeley) and Justin Siena. Both are ranked amongst the strongest in the Bay Area. An odd game followed those two: the NBL started before Christmas! A unique schedule this year in the NBL caused a Xmas vacation league game so the Bears played Elsie Allen and defeated the Lobos in a well played game. After Christmas the girls went down to Novato to play in the famous Beade-Meaney Tournament. The girls had a preview of league with a game against Ukiah. It was an extremely fast paced game with Ukiah coming out on top but it led to an appetizer of at least two more exciting games to come between the two NBL rivals. The Bears split their remaining two games in the tournament.

 

NBL play continued as the 2^nd Semester began after Xmas Break. The girls started with two high scoring wins against Santa Rosa and Rancho Cotate which allowed all the girls to play quality minutes preparing for an amazing three game stretch against Montgomery, Ukiah and Maria Carrillo. On top of it being against the three favorites in the NBL, all three games would be played on the road! The girls would do themselves and any team around proud. On the road in front of a hostile crowd the underdog Bears started the “stretch from heck” by beating the Vikings 51-49! Good timing as the Press Democrat had a reporter on site. On to Ukiah. This time the infamous 1 hour trip was on a Saturday night as the girls had their re-match with the Wildcats. The girls played very well and lost by just 3. The Bingo Night road game followed against undefeated Maria Carrillo. Our girls once again played very well and lost by just 3. This time though, it was in Double Overtime!! An incredible performance by our girls in all three games and amazing attendance by Bears fans for those three re-matches would be very appropriate. Check the website for correct days and times. The Ukiah game times have been moved up in the day and have been moved to Cardinal Newman. The girls finished up the 1^st half of league season with a win against Piner. Their 5-2 record puts them in 2^nd place. Matching the excitement of the 1^st half would be tough but the girls will continue to work extremely hard under the guidance of coaches Paul and Corriveau.

 

 

Exciting news leads off the Bears Report for the JV Bears. Just before Christmas the girls gave themselves an early present as they went down to Kentfield and won the very difficult Marin Catholic tournament! Way to go girls! Head Coach Tom Corriveau and his assistant Don Jensen did a great job getting their girls prepared as they had to play three games in two days to win the tournament. Look for pictures of the girls with their game winning medals on the website very soon.

 

An extremely tough Casa Crande team finished up 2007 for the Bears as the girls squeaked by with a 36-30 win. Haily McDonald was a key defender and playmaker as she contributed with 11 points for the Bears.

 

The post-Christmas NBL season began with a strong win over Santa Rosa leading up to a game with a very competitive Rancho Cotate team. Our girls played well resulting in a 49-41 win but the highlight of the game was a “Michael Jordan-esque” performance by Jordan Henry as she poured in 31 points. Hopefully she replaced the nets she burned down! A very strong Montgomery team got one past our girls in the following game in the lead-off of the “stretch from heck”. The girls went on a two game win streak with wins against Ukiah and Maria Carrillo. The girls even poured in 73 points against the Wildcats. Not bad for a JV girls team! Our girls finished their non-league schedule with an impressive 9-2 record as Fortuna came down for a Saturday non-league game last week. It was worth the trip for all three of their teams as they’ve got an impressive program and swept the tripleheader including a well played JV game. We wish Fortuna the best of luck in what should be a great season for them.

 

 

The girls continue to have fun on the court to go along with some success on the scoreboard this season. They finished off their pre-season with a win against Foothill to go along with a tough loss against a very strong Justin Siena team. A three game win streak opened the NBL season for the Bears with wins against Elsie Allen, Santa Rosa, and Rancho Cotate. What a great way for the girls to see the results of the hard work they’re putting in at practice every night! More great effort and improvement came in the “stretch from heck”. The results on the scoreboard weren’t with us but Monty, Ukiah, and Carrillo’s frosh teams are extremely strong. The team is excited to play them on our home court in the 2^nd half of the season. The girls finished up the NBL with a win against Piner giving them a 4-3 league record. It’s a great group that’s really paying attention to their Head Coach Paul Hansen and his new Assistant Kristy Le. By the way….Welcome Kristy! The girls are really taking to her and she’s doing a great job.

 

It was a successful 1^st half of the NBL season for all three of our teams. Each team is getting better but most importantly they’re working extremely hard and getting very good, supportive coaching from our staff.

 

A couple of things about the 2^nd half of the season; 1) let’s see some big crowds for our home games! We’ve always had good support for our girls and Rebecca and I are always happy with the crowds but how about filling the stands for our remaining 4 home league games and any playoff games for the Varsity? 2) as mentioned earlier, we’ll have some pictures of the JV team on the website soon but we’d like many more so please continue to send along digital photos to me. They can be forwarded on a CD or, even better, sent to my e-mail address –

 

On a note separate from basketball; we’re well prepared for the Spring season with one exception. Rebecca and I are still looking for a JV Softball coach. If there is any interest out there we could use some phone calls. Whether it is direct interest or a lead, the season begins on February 4, so time is short.

 

See you next week!

 

Dan Knight, co-Athletic Director

 

GO BEARS!!