Sports Briefs: Tam, Novato, Redwood on target for title showdown on mat
Tamalpais High earned a solid 46-35 victory Wednesday over San Marin on Senior Night to remain undefeated heading into the final week of MCAL wrestling duals.
San Marin’s Jason Gurrola started with a fall against Tam freshman George Landsness at 128 pounds. San Marin’s Akio Suzuki (147) pinned the Hawks’ first-year junior wrestler Luke Lundgren in the first period. San Marin’s Nicolas Oceqeda (154) pinned Tam freshman Elias Lukawatt, who was wrestling his first official match. Zack Brownstone (172) and Jordan Gardner (184) both won by pin.
Tamalpais senior Marco Spallas went up a weight class to wrestle at 140s against Gideon Jacob and won by decision, 6-4. Hawks’ senior Liam Ludin wrestled (160) won by pinfall in the second period against one of San Marin’s best, senior Zack Danzinger. Tam’s Alexander Spallas (115) finished the dual with a pin in the first period against Jason Gurrola.
Tam (4-0) is scheduled to face the MCAL’s two other undefeated teams, Redwood and Novato, for the regular-season league title on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at Novato.
• Novato High didn’t need two of its more celebrated wrestlers to compete as the Hornets (4-0) still had the advantage in strength and numbers to earn wins over Terra Linda and host San Rafael in a tri-meet Wednesday. The evening marked Senior Night for San Rafael, which has only three wrestlers on its roster.
Already staked to a 30-0 advantage by forfeits, Novato defeated Terra Linda 52-16. Novato’s Diego Ramos (113), John Gramajo (126) and Joshua Peña (285) all won by pinfall, while Jacob Davis (152) earned a 10-0 decision. The Trojans’ Arthur Sepan (138) and Tristan Collins (170) won by pin, while Amrit Cheema (160) scored a 15-6 victory.
In a 78-0 win over the Bulldogs, Novato’s Anthony Valverde (132), Jacob Davis (152) and Charles Onorato (220) all won by pinfall in the three matches decided on the mat.
Chema, wrestling at 152, won by pinfall in the only contested match as Terra Linda defeated crosstown rival San Rafael 48-12. The other matches were all forfeits.
Girls basketball
Long-range shooting in the first quarter gave Marin Catholic a huge lead en route to a 68-39 victory Thursday over a Branson girls squad which was riding high entering the contest.
The Wildcats (14-4, 9-0 MCAL) outscored the Bulls 22-10 in the first quarter, and never let Branson really get into the game. Branson (10-8, 7-2 MCAL) was on a four-game win streak and looking to tighten the race for the regular-season title. The Wildcats remain in first place, a game ahead of San Marin (16-4, 9-1) and two games ahead of Branson.
Madie Dayton led the Wildcats with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. The Wildcats hit four from beyond the arc in the first quarter and nine total. Gracyn Lovette added 15 points and Alyssa Spagnuolo finished with 10 points..
Branson’s Hannah Golan led all scorers with 20 points and Avery Myerberg chipped in 11 points with three 3-pointers, but three other players combined for only eight points.
Girls soccer
Hana Leach, Sabine Szylko and Julia Costle as Tam cruised to a 3-0 win against Terra Linda in a makeup game that originally got rained out in mid-December. Emily McMahon picked up her second shutout of the week in goal. Ellery Barnes, Addie Covey and Stella Espinasse provided the assists.
In a scheduling quirk, Tam (8-3-2, 7-2-2) faces Terra Linda (2-8-2, 1-7-2) again on Saturday. The result pulled Tam level with Archie Williams on 23 points apiece with the same number of games played.
• Sarah Farese scored the lone goal as Redwood pulled out a 1-0 road win against San Rafael in a game made up from mid-December. Farese’s goal came midway through the first half and was assisted by Collete Boyden.
Redwood (8-1-4, 6-0-4) sits one point behind Archie Williams and Tam for second place but does have a game in hand from already having their second-half bye.
San Rafael (0-13-1, 0-11-0), despite still being winless on the season, continues to battle and make it tough for opposing teams. Redwood and San Rafael face off again on Saturday in Larkspur.
Women’s basketball
Dominican University of California (12-7, 10-2) earned its ninth straight victory beating Point Loma University (8-12. 6-6).
Freshman Keyonee Neal and sophomore Alaiyah San Juan paired for 18 points apiece, adding eight rebounds and three rebounds, respectively. Redshirt senior Brittney Cedeno added a 16-point, six rebound, five assist and four steal performance to her resume while senior Maiya Flores rounded out the double-digit scorers with a 13-point evening.