The San Marin High varsity football team’s NCS Championship hopes came up just short as Justin-Siena claimed the Division 4 Title. The girls’ and boys’ basketball teams opened up non-league play this past week.
Varsity Football
The end of a five-game winning streak came to an end and the chances of claiming a championship came up just short on Friday night. The Mustangs fought valiantly in a rain soaked NCS Title Game at Justin Siena against the top seeded Braves. After losing the first battle 42-15, the Braves barely escaped with a 27-13 win which stood much closer than the score shows.
The first half saw heavy rain and a strong wind force both offenses to a conservative start. The defenses dominated early play as neither team could muster much in the early going. QB Manny Wilkins helped keep the Braves off the board with over a 50 yard average on his first 3 punts in the first quarter. The Braves however broke through twice in the 2nd quarter to setup two field goals to give what seemed like a 6-0 lead at the half. The Mustangs had other ideas though and took advantage of good field position on a poor kickoff by the Braves with just 30 seconds left in the half. Wilkins took a shot for WR Jason Shannon who got behind the defense and completed a 50 yard pass with under 20 seconds to go. The Braves defense came up with a big sack as time expired and the chance was thwarted.
The Braves took the ball the length of the field in the opening drive of the second half and scored to put the Braves up 13-0. With the rain picking back up, it appeared chances to recover were dimming for the Mustangs and their fans in the stands. Nobody on the sidelines felt that way though, and they responded immediately with a great drive culminating in a Chris Gorman 1 yard plunge to make it 13-7. It would stay that way going into the 4th quarter.
The teams traded scores as Justin Siena scored on a 30 yard pass play, and the Mustangs scored on another Gorman run after a huge completion to Shannon from Wilkins. At 20-13, the Mustangs needed stops but could not find them. The Braves put together another big drive ending in a 20 TD run all but closing the door on San Marin’s chance to win the title. The Mustangs rallied to setup some scoring opportunities late but could not cash in, and as the clock ran out their hopes went along with it.
On the night, Wilkins threw for 227 yards with 158 of them going to Shannon. The game brought an end to the season and the four year tenure of Coach Dan Hickey. It seemed hard to think at 2-6 with just two weeks left in MCAL play that the Mustangs could make the run they did. It was an impressive five game run to the title game, and with a break here or there perhaps the championship pennant could have come back home to San Marin. Congrats to the boys on a great season!
BASKETBALL – GIRLS & BOYS
Varsity Boys – The boys played three games last week despite still missing some key football players. They opened on Tuesday up at Casa Grande and found themselves on the wrong end of a big offensive night for both teams losing 72-66. While down 11 at the half, the Mustangs played an outstanding 3rd quarter outscoring the Gauchos 18-6 giving them a 48-47 lead after three. They couldn’t stop Cetrick Yeanay though who went for 32 on the night including 14 in the final period. Shay Stubblefield had 18 points and Jason Reyff led the team in rebounds with 9.
On Thursday, the Mustangs got their first win of the year with a 63-47 win over Lincoln (SF). Jason Reyff led the way with a great game in the paint scoring 15 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and blocking 5 shots.
Finally on Saturday, South Bay Division 1 power Piedmont Hills came up to San Marin. The Mustangs struggled on the boards all night and a hot shooting Pirates team dropped 13 three pointers down. Four players scored in double figures on the night Shay Stubblefield (12 pts), Noah Everly (12), Nick Baxter (11) and Calvin Geraci (10).
JV Boys- The JV boys lost to a solid Casa Grande team on Tuesday 57-41. Mason Varner provided great hustle plays and scored 8 points on the night. Kenny Cottrell led the Mustangs inside with 5 rebounds. On Saturday, the Mustangs responded with a 52-31 win over Sonoma Valley. Taylor Myers led the way with 19 points, while Grant Shepardson pulled down 6 rebounds.
Frosh Boys- This past week the Frosh boys’ team played their first game at Casa Grande. The boys worked out a hard fought 47-43 win. They were led by Nick Corbani with 22 points, followed by Dante Restivo with 9. Ryan Uluilakepa led the team with 12 rebounds followed by Jacob Pullen with 7.
Varsity Girls- The girls competed this week in the Sonoma Valley Classic running from Thursday-Satuday.
In Game 1, the Mustangs opened with a 48- 26 win over Vintage. Kaleah Williams lead the way with 14 points and Hayley Nicolini poured in 13. Paige McIntosh, Maya Stevens and Jenna Sudlow dominated both ends on the boards. Overall the Mustangs had solid play from all players.
In Game 2, the Mustangs took out the host team 41-40. A close and physical game throughout, the girls held out to advance to the Championship Game. Coach Lucia commented how very pleased he was that his young team stayed very composed in a tight game. Hayley Nicolini lead all scorers with 14 and Kaleah Williams had 10. Paige McIntosh and Jenna Sudlow followed up with 7 and 6 points. Solid play also came from Megan Franz and Hailey Baker.
Saturday brought about the Championship Game. A close game in the first half was blown open by Montgomery en route to a 55-32 win. Playing one of the North Bay’s top teams, Coach Lucia commented “that in the 2nd half their experience and talent took over and they ran away with the championship. All 11 girls played hard for us though and competed like I would expect.” Hayley Nicolini and Kaleah Williams were named to the All Tournament team.
WRESTLING – Wrestling hosts the prestigious Green and Gold Tournament this weekend at San Marin to start the season. The meet runs all day and consists of over 20 schools from the Bay Area. Please come out to support the Mustangs and see some great wrestlers from the Redwood Empire.
SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Tuesday, December 4
4:00 PM
Frosh Boys Basketball
@ El Molino
5:30 PM
JV Boys Basketball
@ El Molino
Thursday, December 6
3:30 PM
Varsity Boys Basketball
Windsor @ Cardinal Newman Tourney
5:00 PM
JV Boys Basketball
San Ramon Valley @ Acalanes Tourney
5:30 PM
Frosh Boys Basketball
Cardinal Newman @ Novato Tourney
4:30 PM
Frosh Girls Basketball
St Pats @ SM
6:00 PM
JV Girls Basketball
St Pats @ SM
7:30 PM
Varsity Girls Basketball
St Pats @ SM
Friday, December 7
TBA
Varsity Boys Basketball
TBA @ Cardinal Newman Tourney
TBA
JV Boys Basketball
TBA @ Acalanes Tourney
TBA
Frosh Boys Basketball
TBA @ Novato Tourney
Saturday, December 8
TBA
Varsity Boys Basketball
TBA @ Cardinal Newman Tourney
TBA
JV Boys Basketball
TBA @ Acalanes Tourney
TBA
Frosh Boys Basketball
TBA @ Novato Tourney
8:00 AM
WRESTLING
Green & Gold Tourney @ SM
