8th grade clinches playoff spot

The 8th grade boys officially clinched a playoff spot after this weekend's games. Who they play in the post-season will be determined by the outcomes of the final games next weekend.

This marks the fourth straight season this team will be going to the post-season.

"It's a great accomplishment considering they went up divisions twice in the last three years," said coach Ronnie Leung. "They lost two key pieces (Tom and Zachary). It just shows their dedication and work ethic."

3rd/4th grade drops heartbreaker, 6th grade downed in second half

**HIGHLIGHTS UPDATED**

The 3rd/4th grade played the same team they played in their season opener and were a good shot away from forcing an overtime.

Tied at 4-4 going into the fourth, they gave up an easy shot off an out of bounds play and found themselves down a bucket. They had several opportunities but couldn't convert on some wide open putbacks by the basket.

With less than 10 seconds left, Raymond stole a ball in the backcourt but was unable to finish on his lay-up. On an out of bounds play with 5.1 seconds left, they had the ball, however not enough good passes were there to set up a good shot.

Raymond and Jonathan accounted for both of the 3rd/4th graders baskets. They are now (2-5) on the year.

6th graders fall in the second half
The 6th graders also played a team they played in the first game of the year. In that game, they were manhandled. However, today was a different story.

They trailed by only two at halftime, 4-2 and were a bounce or two away from tying the game in the second half. The ball movement on offense is much better and they are getting off some pretty good shots. Defensively, they seem to have a better idea of what is going on and are rebounding pretty well.

But the bottom line is to score points, and they still struggle from time to time in that category. Their opponent went on a 12-0 run, before Hartman answered with what the refs called a three-pointer. By the time that happened, it was 16-5 and the game was over.

Nonetheless, it was a valiant effort and you can see the huge improvements in their games as the season has progressed.

8th grade shakes off slow start, dominates in the second

**HIGHLIGHTS UPDATED**

The 8th grade stalled through the first half and missed lay-up after lay-up after lay-up and only had a six point lead at halftime.

They woke up in the second half and played some incredible defense, and ran the other team out of the gym, collecting win number five on the season 32-7. They are now (5-2) and could lock off a playoff berth with a loss by another team this weekend.

Everyone got into the scoring in the second half, including Kelvin and Kevin who both were absent from the score sheet the last few games. Elliot continued to contribute and had another 5 points. Tommmy hit a three for his second consecutive game.

Their defense kept them in the game as their first half as their offense was just offensive. They had opportunity after opportunity, and proceeded to miss easy shot after easy shot. But their defense and press locked down the other team as they yielded only 3 points the entire first half, and only 7 the entire game. Any time you shut down the opponent to single digits, especially in 8th grade, is a great feat.

Derek had probably his best game passing the ball, as he set up several easy shots in the second half, showing that he can contribute even when he doesn't shoot the ball.

Huge Sharks game tonight, Poll Results, Happy Birthday

POLL RESULTS
The 7th grade red team won the poll for the week with just a little over 50% of the vote. Brandon took second with 42%.

The best of the west meet tonight in San Jose at the Shark Tank. The Chicago Blackhawks, the #2 team in the Western conference visit the San Jose Sharks.

If you are done with homework, be sure to tune in on CSN-CA, Ch. 89 on most cable systems and Ch. 698 on Direct Tv. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMMY!

Top selling NBA jerseys

Here is a cool quiz I came across online -- the top selling NBA jerseys currently. Take this quiz and see how many you can get.

Top Selling NBA Jerseys

San Francisco Audi Service Technician Places Third in National Challenge

Courtesy: RoyalMotorSales.Com

Royal Motors in San Francisco is pleased to announce that Damian Yu (Marissa's father), an Audi service technician with Royal Motors Audi, has placed third in the Audi National Tech Challenge. Yu is now recognized as one of the best Audi techs in the world and will represent the US in the Audi International Challenge in Germany.

Yu has been with Royal Motors for the past 14 years and is a vital element of success for their premier Audi service department. Representing the integrity of the Audi brand and commitment to excellence is paramount for Royal Motors. Yu has proven his skill and dedication to go far above the standard technician’s ability.

According to Andy Hansen, General Manager of Royal Motor Sales, “Damian has helped give Royal Motor Sales a reputation for excellence in customer service. His intelligence, hard work and dedication to Royal Motor Sales and the Audi brand have made him into an incredible technician.”

The entire team at Royal Motors is proud to be represented by Yu, and his opportunity to represent the US at this year’s Audi International Challenge in Germany. “We are very lucky to have a top talent like Damian Yu on the team at Royal. It really is a great feeling to know that our customers are getting their repair work done by one of the best Audi technicians in the world,” added Hansen.

The Audi Tech Challenge was introduced to help identify the top Audi techs in North America and reward them for their knowledge of Audi products. This involves not only testing their diagnostic and technical knowledge of Audi automobiles, but also Audi’s 100 year history.

Not only did he rank 3rd but he is believed to be the first Asian to represent the US Audi team in this competition.

6th grade knockout!!!

Our new weekly tradition, the Knockout Game of the Week, 6th grade edition.

Red team makes remarkable comeback

I arrived at the gym and it was already 12-2, the 7th grade Red Team was the 2.

Maybe it was sluggishness from not practicing all week, but for whatever reason, the five boys on the court wearing St. Mary's were not ready to play.

At one point it was 15-2, but they picked it up a little bit in the middle of the second quarter and cut the deficit to 21-11 at halftime.

Then the third quarter comeback started. They were quick, they were active, playing good defense, making easy and tough shots. Slowly and slowly they were chipping away. Finally, a great outlet pass by Miles found Jeremy who laid it in and the 7th grade took the lead.

From there, they didn't look back and won 39-31. Michael Ng hit two huge three-pointers and had 8 points. Jeremy was absolute money on his lay-ups and had a game-high 12. Miles, 8 points, once again grabbed tough rebound after tough rebound inside, and his outlet passes were so crucial in the run.

It was the biggest comeback of any St. Mary's team in the last three years. They fought and clawed their way back and they now sit at (4-3) with a good shot at making the playoffs.

What an amazing game to witness, as the five started out as bad as you can get, but never gave up.

Justin hit some tough runners and outside jumpers and had 7 points on the afternoon, while Michael F. played some stingy defense and made some key put-backs down the stretch for his 4 points.

White team goes out with a bang

Calson had his much anticipated break-out game and scored 16 points, and Mark had another huge game with 21 points, as the White Team closed out their regular season with a dominating performance, 41-12.

At (3-5), they will be on the outside of the playoff picture, but this team is on the brink of breaking through. They were in most of their games this season and could have six wins.

With a year playing together, the team should be ready for a playoff push next season.

Saturday Results: 5th graders can't hold lead, 3rd/4th and 6th both handed losses

The 5th graders played a pretty good game on the offensive side of the ball. However, their sluggish defense is the main reason that they now sit at (4-2).

After breaking out to an 8 point lead in the third quarter, the 5th graders took their foot off the gas and let the other team back into the game. The other team slowly chipped away on some easy shots, when the defense just couldn't move in front of anybody down low.

The 5th grade just had trouble breaking this game open and they let the other team hang around. Closing out quarters were especially problematic.

At the end of the second quarter, they were up five and had so much momentum heading into the break. But failure to box out resulted in an offensive rebound for the other team and an and one. In the third, they surrendered six points in the last two minutes of the quarter after being up eight.

With the game tied with less than a minute left, Justin hit one of two from the line to give the 5th graders a 27-26 lead.

The 5th graders made a stop on the defensive end, got the ball back, and had some pretty good looks. Instead of trying to run some clock, they took some shots that just wouldn't go in, and the other team ended up taking the ball the other way. They hit an outside shot and the 5th grade was now down by one.

Then it was chaos as the ball was bouncing all over the place until with less than 20 seconds in the game, Justin was wide open in the front court, but he appeared to stumble a little bit and could not get off a smooth shot. If he was balanced, he would've put the 5th graders ahead. Instead the ball hit off the backboard, and found Brandon T. who could not bank in the put back.

The ball went down the court and that was the ball game.

This difficult loss will overshadow the great things they did on offense as Justin had 14 points, while Brandon T. was absolutely on fire, and had a career-high 10 points.

But their defense and rebounding were lacking and that ultimately cost them the ball game.

6TH GRADERS FALL
Jason hit a buzzer beating three right before the half to close the 6th grade's deficit to 11-5. But that was as close as they got, as the second half just was not theirs. They put up only 4 more points the rest of the way and lost.

Jason had a game-high 8 points, while Hartman made a free-throw.

3rd/4th graders drop second straight
The 3rd/4th graders lost 18-5, the first time all season they have lost two in a row. Jonathan had a nice jumper in the first half and Raymond made three free-throws in the loss.

8th grade finds way to win

***HIGHLIGHTS UPDATED***

A win is a win.

Sluggish and rugged they were, but the 8th grade managed to pull out a 22-17 victory tonight and positioned themselves nicely for a playoff berth. Their record now stands at (4-2) with two games to play.

Derek and Tommy both had 8 points each, while Elliot played a strong game as well chipping in 4 points off the bench.

The 8th graders built a 20-12 lead going into the third quarter on some timely scoring. The game really had no flow and the 8th graders were unable to generate much on the fast break or anything inside as the other team's center was too big. They tried to pound it inside, but the big tree stood in the way, blocking numerous shots and altering a bunch of others.

They had their typical hiccups, not boxing out and turnovers, but for the most part, they held their ground. With the offense not clicking, the class of 2010 did just enough other things to maintain their lead.

With less than a minute left, the 8th graders had the ball and a five point lead, yet the other team didn't foul. By the time they got fouled, there was 3.7 seconds left on the clock and the game was as good as over.

The first two points of the game were off of a nice strip by Brandon, who then banked in his shot.

And the winner is..., Sunday practices

Winning 48% of the vote was Timmy whose shot ranks as the most impressive feat over the weekend. Michael F. trailed in second with 38%.

A reminder to please get in the Warriors money as soon as possible. And we need more girls in the 6th and 7th grade to play. PLEASE, BE HUMAN...PLEASE BE HUMAN.

SUNDAY PRACTICE SCHEDULE
3rd/4th grade: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
7th grade RED: 12:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
5th grade: 1:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
8th grade girls: 3 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
6th grade: 4 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.
8th grade: 5:30 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.

Warriors -- Thunder by the Bay

If you have been following the Warriors this year, they have been through the whole Stephen Jackson mess, Monta Ellis didn't want to play with Stephen Curry, and then all the injuries.

I do not watch many Warriors games, but do read up and follow what happens to them, and I must say, that I am impressed with how Ellis, Curry and Corey Maggette have played. The three have been the only three healthy bodies the entire season and each of them play almost the entire game. Monta is going to break down sooner or later, and he is having an All-Star season. Since he is a Warrior and they don't get much attention, it's likely he won't get selected. I hope he does though.

Great piece I came across yesterday from a friend of mine, it was Stephen Curry, writing about his first game against Shaq. So take a read...

COURTESY: GQ



My Rookie Season: What Happens When Shaq Stomps On Your Hand... by Stephen Curry

Two nights ago, against the Cavs, I was going down the middle and threw a pass to our center, and then I fell on the floor in the paint. Shaq was right there, but he had his back turned to me. He took a couple steps, and his last step was directly on my right hand. I didn't know what to do. I kind of went into shock 'cause I knew he was like 400 pounds. Ha. All of the weight was on my hand, pinned to the floor pretty cleanly, so I tried to stay as still as possible and not move, 'cause I knew if I tried to get out from under him I might break my hand.

It stung when I got up, but it took me a few possessions to realize that I had a couple gashes on my hand. I got some treatment on it, but it felt fine and I shot pretty well the rest of the game.

[The Warriors took the Cavs down to the final possession, but ultimately lost, 117-114, when Curry's last-ditch three-point attempt missed.]

Take a look at the damage!:

Alumni Update, Gal vs Lincoln

Four of the graduates of the class of 2009 are on the Galileo Girls JV Basketball team. Shari Wong, Vivian Leung, Michelle Chiu and Priscilla Yu.

Last Friday, they played Lincoln and we were there for the exclusives. The rematch is Friday, this time at Galileo.

Cameron House Update

Cameron House is still under construction and it has been slowed by the rain. They are using cement for some of the foundation and they need a day without precipitation in order for it to complete. So we will have to stand by until further notice.

For the time being, we will need to make the best of our time at NDV and other outdoor courts.

Stay tuned to the blog to see when your team practices.

New Poll and New Videos

We have a new poll up above so please vote for that.

One of the bad things about shooting games is that you don't get every shot you want. I've put down my camera so many times this year, only to miss something great that happened. Saturday was one of the instances.

I missed Timmy's first basket. However, even if I was shooting, I recall that the referee was in my way of the shot to begin with, so maybe this just means Timmy's scoring has just begun.

So yesterday we caught up with Timmy about his big shot.



And yesterday, the 8th grade ended their practice with a game of knockout. This video can't be a YouTube because they won't let me use the same music. Hopefully this will do. I am looking for a better video player to embed in here...

Saturday Recap: 5th graders collect another win, Timmy gets on the scoreboard

***ALL HIGHLIGHTS UP***

Another great team effort by the 5th graders propelled them to their fourth victory of the season, as they broke away in the second half and won convincingly 22-11.

Justin had a game-high 10 points, while Brandon K., 6 points and Brendan, 4 points, both contributed on the offensive side of the ball.

It was a complete game for the most part as their defense forced a lot of bad shots by the other team. They also capitalized on their lay-ups and hit open shots to stretch out their halftime lead of 10-7.

They now sit at (4-1) on the season.



TIMOTHY'S BUCKET SPARKS COMEBACK
Trailing by 12 in the third quarter, Timothy scored his first career points off of a rebound and that sparked an 8-0 red for the 7th grade White Team.

They cut the deficit to 18-14, but were unable to get any closer. The effort from the players was definitely there, but the execution was not as they dropped their penultimate game 26-21.

What hurt them in this game was nothing new, turnovers. They constantly traveled or threw the ball away as the other team feasted on St. Mary's mistakes. With only six players, they seemed to wear down towards the end as well and didn't get back on defense. At (2-5), they have one game left and will look to end their season on a winning note.

Turnovers and rebounding dooms 8th grade
The 8th grade fell to (3-2) on the season after a 30-19 loss against the top team in their division.

Self-inflicted wounds was the theme of this game as well. Way too many turnovers and the lack of rebounding on both sides of the ball were costly. The one bright spot was Brandon who had a career-high 6 points.

Offensively, they were unable to get it going as everyone looked out of sync. The shots weren't falling and their defense wasn't strong enough to compensate for their offensive deficiencies.

Derek was held to only 11 points and Tommy, 2 points.

Winning night for the 7th grade

***UPDATED - HIGHLIGHTS BELOW***

Both 7th grade teams won their games, one way too close and then the other a double digit comfortable victory.

The Red Team almost blew a game that was a must-win, due to turnovers again, but they gave themselves enough cushion and win 41-37.

The White Team had control of their game from start to finish and they won convincingly 28-13. Mark had a game-high 12 points, following his 22 point performance a week ago.

3rd/4th graders struggle on offense
After scoring 20 points the last game, the 3rd and 4th graders did not generate much offense tonight as they scored only 4 points on the evening. They lost 16-4.

Raymond, who had 18 points a game ago was held to only 4 points tonight. What was troubling about tonight's game was that they simply do not look up and pass the ball. There are too many players on the team who look to shoot every single time. It's too much isolation and not enough team work. It's definitely something they will need to work on for the rest of the season.

Poll Results...Warriors Date Moving?

Raymond, with 62% of the vote was the most impressive feat of last weekend. Raymond scored 18 points, a St. Mary's modern day record for a 4th grader. Congratulations to him.



WARRIORS GAME MOVING?

So due to a school conflict, the Warriors game date may now be moved to February 27th. This is not confirmed, but a distinct possibility. We shall see and know more within the next few days.

Both games would start at 7:30 p.m.

PS - Someone bring me High School Musical.

BLOG EXCLUSIVE: Meet a Warriors player

Something to look forward to either tomorrow or Thursday. Official information on this year's Warriors game and meeting a Warrior following the game.

What if you could only meet a Warrior if you told me you saw this on the blog? Hmmm...something to ponder. It could happen.

And also, can anyone let me borrow High School Musical on DVD? If so, please bring it to me at school this week.

Idol returns tonight!

Happy Birthdays

***MASSIVE DUNK***


We celebrate two birthdays today, both award winners from last year. First, Shari, who took home the Defensive Player of the Year and currently plays on Galileo's JV girls basketball team and Cynthia, who won the Rookie of the Year last season.

Happy Birthday to them both!

And the winner is...

The top moment of 2009 is the 6th grade girls winning the championship with 40% of your votes. In second place, the votes tallied say the 6th grade boys playoff comeback was their top moment of 2009. They had 23% of the vote. Click on the picture below to see official results.

Thanks for voting -- 100 votes in all were tallied. How many by the same people? I don't know. A new poll is up, so please vote on that as well.

3rd/4th grade nets second win, Saturday results

***3 highlight videos today, 3rd/4th, 7th grade red and the rest of them***

Raymond leads 3rd graders to victory
Raymond scored 18 of his team's 20 points, and the 3rd/4th graders erased a 15-9 second half deficit and turned it into a 20-17 victory.

What was most impressive about Raymond's day is that he is starting to incorporate his right hand. He is left handed and naturally likes to go left, but he has been working hard in practice to use his right. Today, he used his right hand to set up two of his 18 points.

It was 18-17 with less than 30 seconds left in the game when Grant picked up a loose ball and banked in the game's final basket to give the 3rd/4th graders a cushion. Leading 20-17, it would've taken two buckets for the other team to come back, but they do not count threes in 3rd-5th grade.

Coach Tim Lam returned to the place he called home for nine years, as he attended West Portal (insert boo here). His team is now (2-2) on the season.




Red team comeback falls short

Total team effort in 5th grade's victory
The 5th graders played one of those games where you couldn't single out an individual and say "he" led them to the win. Five out of the six players on the team scored, and the 5th graders played strong defense throughout, as they improve to (3-1) on the season with a 15-5 victory.

Brandon K. led the team with 6 points and Brendan scored his first two points of the season.

The best sequence of the game came when Justin led a fast break and zipped a beautiful pass right into the hands of Brandon K. for a nice lay-up off glass. Aaron added 2 points and Brandon T. scored his first regular season point on a free-throw.

6th grade dealt fourth loss
The 6th graders were a little outmatched today and were handed loss number four on the season. Hartman, Jason and Gerrick scored in the game.

With several new players, the team is still struggling to find its identity. A lot of times their players are afraid to take shots, and then at other times, they take bad shots. The little things of the game that can only be learned through experience are hurting them. They have three games left to go in the season and will look to try and build for the future.

8th grade hangs on for win number three
Derek and Tommy carried the load once again for the 8th graders and the class of 2010 won 34-28 to improve to (3-1) on the season.

Derek, 19 points and Tommy, 13 points, supplied the scoring for the 8th graders. Elliot added the other two points on a beautiful hanging in the air putback off of a miss.

Gary, who is undersized at post, played a really strong defensive game and grabbed some really tough rebounds underneath. The team they beat was previously undefeated.

Heartbreaking loss for the 7th grade red team

**HIGHLIGHTS BELOW**

The 7th grade red team made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, but their efforts fell just short as they lost a heart-breaker 32-30. They had three golden opportunities to tie the game, but each time the ball did not roll their way.

Justin found himself with a lane to the basket and he took it in strong only to see the ball go off glass and just barely roll off the rim. Michael F. corralled an offense rebound and fed Miles who was right in front of the basket for an easy shot, but he couldn't get that one to fall either.

Down by two, Miles went to the free-throw line with less than 10 seconds in the game and had a chance to tie the game. After hitting the first shot, he missed the second one and the ball found Jeremy on the wing. Jeremy's shot did not go in and the 7th graders were forced to foul.

The other team hit one out of two from the free-throw line to extend the lead back to two. And with four seconds left, Miles had to go the length of the court for a desperation three-pointer which went over the backboard. It was arguably one of the toughest losses of the season for any St. Mary's team to endure.

They were down 10 points at the end of three quarters, and chipped away little by little. What hurt them more than the missed shots at the end were the turnovers in the game.

The Red Team actually led at half-time by 4 points, but gave their lead away in a forgettable third when they were outscored 15-1. Most of the points came off of some atrocious passes leading to easy scores by the other team.

At (2-3), it will be a tough road to climb for the five boys, as they are in a very difficult division. It was not for a lack of effort today, as they gave it their all, but sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way.

Career-game by Mark not enough for White Team

**HIGHLIGHTS BELOW**

Mark was not even close to 100% and yet played probably the best game of his career, scoring 22 points, including two three-pointers in the fourth quarter, one that gave the 7th grade White Team a 30-28 lead.

Unfortunately, a collapse of epic proportion took place in the last minute of the game. A terrible inbounds pass and the inability to take care of the ball, resulted in the White Team's fourth loss of the season.

The other team scored 4 straight points off of St. Mary's turnovers in the last 30 seconds of the game and got a win gift wrapped for them. The White Team loses 32-30 in a see-saw affair and now find themselves (1-4) with only three games left in the regular season.

Mark started the game off with a beautiful steal and lay-up and hit outside jumpers all night long. Both of the Gavins scored 4 points each as well.

Their interior defense was non-existent again, as the rebounding was mediocre at best. The few times they got rebounds, they were unable to cleanly outlet the ball. Their post players need to play better and are the reason this team is struggling right now.

Earlier this week, Mark was fighting a cold and he also landed on his tailbone at practice. He wasn't even supposed to play the entire game, but gutted it out in one of the more courageous efforts in recent memory.

Robert added a basket in the first half, his second straight game with a bucket. He has scored in 3 of the 5 games this season.

Weekend schedule

FRIDAY
7th grade white team @ CYO Serramonte, 8 p.m.
Address: 699 Serramonte Del Ray Blvd

SATURDAY
3rd/4th grade, 9 a.m. @ West Portal
Address: 200 Sloat Bld

6th grade, 10 a.m. @ Town
Address: 2750 Jackson - 3rd Floor

5th grade, 11 a.m. @ Town
Address:2750 Jackson - 3rd Floor

7th grade red team, 1 p.m. @ St. Brendan
Address: 201 Ulloa St

8th grade, 3 p.m. @ St. Cecilia
Address: 18th and Vicente Avenue

SUNDAY NDV PRACTICE SCHEDULE (CHANGED)
3rd/4th grade: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
5th grade: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
7th grade RED: 12:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
7th grade WHITE: 2:15 p.m. - 4 p.m.
6th grade: 3:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
8th grade: 5:15 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Where are they now?

Part of the joy of coaching and working with you little kiddies is when you grow up and play on a high school team. Last year, I had the pleasure of watching Susan vs Clarissa and this past weekend I went and saw my first boys contest, Michael Chan vs John Wang, Kevin Chan and Calvin Ng. The game was followed by Andrew Chuong who plays on Varsity.

Later on this year, we will see a lot of our graduates from the past few years go up against each other.

Washington - Jamie Zhao
Galileo - Vivian Leung, Shari Wong, Priscilla Yu, Michelle Chiu
Lowell - Susan Yao (Varsity)
Lowell - Perry Phan (JV)

Hope I didn't forget anybody. Here's some highlights from this past weekend.

Jeremy Lin returns to the Bay Area

Nope, that's not Jeremy Lin -- that's Thanh, who celebrates a birthday today. Happy Birthday to him.

Last night, Jeremy Lin, probably the top Asian-American basketball player in college basketball today, returned to the Bay Area, representing his current school Harvard as they played Santa Clara.

Lin is a cult hero for a lot of Asian people -- this guy can dunk. CBS-5 was there and covered this game and also below the video is a nice write-up from the Chronicle on Jeremy.


Playing hard and smart goes a long way for Lin
By Steve Kroner, San Francisco Chronicle

How does a 6-foot-3 guard put together a line of 17 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists, the stat-sheet-stuffing performance Jeremy Lin had in Harvard's 66-53 win over George Washington on Wednesday?

"I just try to play as hard as I can every possession," Lin said in a phone interview Thursday. "If you're aware and you're high-energy, the ball will eventually bounce your way and you'll be able to make plays."

Santa Clara has the tough task of trying to limit Lin's playmaking when the Broncos host the Crimson on Monday night. Santa Clara head coach Kerry Keating said someone with Lin's do-a-bit-of-everything success needs talent and motivation.

"It wouldn't matter if it were Jeremy Lin or Player X from any school," Keating said. "If you play harder than anyone on the floor all the time, good things are usually going to happen.

"If you're a smart player as well, good things are going to happen in addition to that."

If Keating had contacted Lin a little earlier four years ago, Keating's former and current schools might be reaping the benefits today. Lin led Palo Alto High to the CIF Division II state title in his senior season of 2005-06. During that season, he had hoped one of three schools - Cal, Stanford or UCLA - would give him a scholarship.

Lin got no scholarship offers - from those three schools or any others - and then committed to Harvard. At the time, Keating was an assistant coach for the Bruins' Ben Howland.

After one of Palo Alto's postseason games, Keating talked with Lin, offering him a recruited walk-on opportunity in Westwood. Lin chose to stick with Harvard.

"It's not like I didn't know he wasn't good four or five years ago," Keating said. "I watched him win a championship. ... In hindsight now, given UCLA's current state, he'd probably be starting for UCLA at point guard."

And if Lin were starting for UCLA at point guard, he wouldn't be playing at the Leavey Center on Monday night and he wouldn't have scored 17 points and had nine assists in the Crimson's 73-68 victory over Santa Clara at Harvard last season.

As an Asian American, Lin has endured more than his share of taunts. "Everything you can think of - I've pretty much heard it all," he said.

When he went to the free-throw line during his 30-point performance in a 79-73 loss at Connecticut last month, someone in the stands reportedly blurted, "wonton soup."

Some players who get heckled - for whatever reasons - say they use those barbs as inspiration. Lin takes a different approach.

"I'm not very good in terms of using stuff for fuel," he said. "When I get angry, I play out of character. I'm more of a tune-it-out guy."

Lin has thrived at Harvard, but to project him as an NBA player might be a stretch. A scout who had nothing but good things to say about Lin as a college player believes it's highly unlikely Lin can make it in the league.

Though Lin acknowledged he'd like to play basketball for a living, whether in the NBA, the NBA Development League or overseas, he said, "I'm not focused on that at all. I don't want to sell my teammates short, be worrying about the wrong things, playing for the wrong reasons.

"The coaches and I aren't talking about any of that stuff at all until after the season."

One topic head coach Tommy Amaker, Lin and his teammates do discuss is winning the Ivy League championship. Believe it or not, Harvard has no Ivy League titles in men's basketball.

"We get a nice reminder every day at practice when we see all the girls' Ivy League championship banners and we have zero on our side," Lin said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/03/SPA31BCKUC.DTL#ixzz0bnjm9a7W

Cameron House closed

We were just informed in the last half-hour that Cameron House is closed for repairs until the week of January 17th. I apologize for the two teams that showed up today to be turned away.

Currently, the coaches are figuring out when to have practice before the games this weekend. Count on a practice after school Friday (half-day). Your coaches will inform you of what is going on and check back on the blog for further updates.

Oh John Wang

Saturday, I went to watch John Wang play on his high school team for the very first time. Here are his highlights...



HAPPY BIRTHDAY
And today we'd like to wish Calson a very Happy Birthday!

Bye Bye Beverlyn

Tomorrow school will resume and something will be different, Beverlyn will not be there. As she stood on the hill on the last day before break, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and started tearing up as her classmates and other students from St. Mary’s gave her hugs to say so long, farewell.

In my two years plus as Athletic Director, Beverlyn will be one of the students that will stick out to me for several reasons. Granted it’s a short sample size, but athletically, I haven’t seen anybody improve in such a short time ever. Not that she wasn’t good to begin with her first year of basketball, but her second year, she stepped up and was arguably the key, if not one of the biggest reasons why the 6th grade girls won the championship.

But besides that, what will stick out to me more than anything else is her speech at Awards Night. It’s not easy and I go around the classrooms joking around saying everybody should have a speech prepared. Yes, I’d love to see everyone give a little talk in front of everyone, because we want to know how you feel after you win an award.

So Beverlyn stood up there, accepting her Most Improved Player Award. She went down the list of pretty much every single person that helped her along the way. She thanked her coaches, teammates, myself, James and her family – most notably her father. If memory serves me correct, he wasn’t able to make it and it was unfortunate because this was Beverlyn’s shining moment.

Even before she was announced the winner, her classmates were chanting “Beaver,” her nickname. Her gratitude was sincere and that will be a moment that I personally will never forget.

Below are also some thoughts here classmates have shared about her leaving.

We will still see Beverlyn around at practices and games, but her presence will be sorely missed at school.

Miles: She always giggles when anyone says something. Bye and good luck.

Erica: I’ll miss her giggles and herself, of course. She has a really nice personality. We used to always fight, but then make up a few days later. Good luck at her new school and I’ll miss her a lot. I hope she'll visit more often.

Catharine: I will miss Beverlyn’s everything. She was cool and helps people. I will miss her.

Marissa: So the thing I’ll miss most bout Beverlyn are the good times we’ve had together as best friends. I hope she doesn’t forget me in the future cause true best friends stay together forever even if they are apart.

What makes her different from any other friend I’ve had in my whole entire lifetime, she always finds a way to make things work out between everyone. She’s always been a peacemaker if any of the other girls got in a fight with one another. She just makes this easier and better for everyone. I think she’s the person that changes us all. My most memorable story with Beverlyn is winning our first championship last year cause without her, our best player, we wouldn’t have gone to that very special game that might happen once in our lifetime. Beverlyn is thee closest best friend to me cause I always have that feeling that I can tell her anything and she wont judge me.

She mite laugh, but never totally judge me. I hope she doesn’t get a better friend than me and forget me. I'm sure I wouldn’t ever forget her. She’s a one of a kind friend that will catch you if you fall, never leave your side, and will always be apart of my life. I hope we still communicate after she leaves either by email, calling or even aim. Many memories we’ve had will stay with me for life. Once a SAINT, ALWAYS A SAINT! Seeing Beverlyn just walk out that door and never coming back, will rip my heart rite out of my chest. It’s going to hurt a lot and I don’t no if I can heal without her. When Beverlyn is gone, I’m sure I’m going to feel this empty part in my heart just having a cold breeze rush through it. Having to lose a best friend like this is just like fire burning your skin away. I'LL MISS YOU BEVERLYN! YOUR ALWAYS GONNA BE MY BEST FRIEND FOR LIFE!! A&F (aLWAYS AND fOREVER). HAVE FUN IN YOUR NEW SCHOOL!

Sunday practices tomorrow, Happy Birthday

We resume Sunday practices at NDV tomorrow. Check the link on the sidebar or scroll down a bit on the blog to see your time.

Also, don't forget to vote for your top moment of 2009.

And we wish a very special Happy Birthday to Emily.

The Top 10 Moments of 2009

I gathered up the Top 10 moments of St. Mary's Athletics of the year 2009. Of course, this is just my opinion and feel free to leave a comment at the bottom as to what should be higher or lower on the list. Nobody ever really leaves comments though...

I've also set up a poll on the side here for YOU to vote for what you think should be the number one moment.

And a quick note -- for example. The 6th graders are now 7th graders, but at the time of the event, they were in 6th grade. So please note that.




10. Vivian wins the pentathlon (May 30, 2009)

Vivian Leung kept the St. Mary’s pentathlon streak alive by winning the pentathlon at the annual CYO Track and Field meet. This was the third straight year someone from St. Mary’s had won the event.

Vivian took first in three of the five events, winning the high jump, long jump and 100 meter dash — the first three events of the competition to build a healthy lead. She finished her winning performance placing second in the 400 meters, an entire lap around the track.



9. Baseball wins their first game (April 22, 2009)

In only year two, the 7th and 8th grade baseball team won their first game 12-8, with some timely hitting and pitching.

Trailing 7-3, St. Mary’s put together an inning for the ages. They drew five walks, stole more than 10 bases and strung together some clutch hitting and put an 8 spot on the scoreboard – the maximum amount of runs allowed in an inning due to the mercy rule.

After Derek struck out the final batter of the game, the players sprinted off the field and didn't even know they won. 12-8 was the final.



8. Soccer team gets in the win column (October 10, 2009)

Double ten proved lucky as the 7th and 8th grade boys soccer team decided to join the party with a win of their own. After being shut-out for their entire rookie season, they got on the board quick in their first game of the year and scored two goals.

Even though they lost the season opener, it was a sign of things to come. In their big game, they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a Derek penalty kick, and then Derek sent a beautiful corner kick that Tommy basically walked into the net.

Up a goal, they played as conservative of a defense as they could and hung on for the 2-1 victory.




7. 6th grade boys win their first game (December 11, 2009)

The 6th grade finally got enough players out for a basketball team and their results came a lot quicker than expected. In game number two on the season, the 6th graders, resilient as ever, matched the other team point for point, before going on an 8-0 run to end the game.

Their 14-6 victory was clutch shot after clutch shot, with Hartman leading the way with 6 points. They iced it when Anthony hit a bank shot for the first points in his career.




6. Olivia wins MVP, plays baseball, basketball and volleyball

Olivia Chan played all three sports in her 8th grade year and had as good of as year as you can hope for. Olivia served the 8th grade girls volleyball team to a win in their first year. She pitched and batted fifth in the lineup for baseball. And she took home the Girls Most Valuable Player Award for basketball, cementing her legacy at St. Mary’s.




5. 6th grade boys playoff run (February 15, 2009)

Down 15-6 in their playoff game, the 6th grade boys made a furious comeback. They went on an 8-0 run and the 6th graders were rolling. The St. Mary's crowd was "jacked up," in one of the most incredible few minutes of St. Mary's basketball I have ever seen in my lifetime. Fans were standing, screaming and chanting defense.

I've watched a good amount of games, basketball, baseball, volleyball and soccer and never have I felt the rush I did when the 6th grade went on that run.

Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but that 8-0 the 6th graders had, storming back to make it a one point game, was as into a basketball game I've been since the Warriors playoff run of 2007.

They ended up losing the game, but that incredible few minutes will be hard to top for years to come.



4. 4th/5th graders volleyball win (October 25, 2009)

They were a point away from winning a set, only to lose on three straight points. But their next game proved that that one set wasn’t a fluke.

They went to Pacifica and won decisively, including a furious comeback in the second set. A dominating first set 25-15 win, and a come from behind 25-23 win for the set and match. They were serving the ball over consistently, returning the ball over, talking to each other.

It was a wonderful scene as all the girls jumped up and down after the game, celebrating their first victory ever. The look on their faces were priceless and an image that they will be able to carry on for the rest of their lives.




3. 8th grade girls go out with a bang

Following their first tournament game, coaches Alex Kawashima, Matt Chung and James Chiu all felt that this year was different.

And so it was, as the 8th grade girls went (7-1) in the regular season, and won a tension filled playoff game where Sophia Nguyen hit free-throws with less than a minute left to send the girls to the championship.

The season featured so many memorable moments with Jessica Wong hitting her three-pointers, Shari Wong and her monster blocks, as well as Vivian Leung making a lay-up with less than 10 seconds left for a win.

The class of 2009 played remarkable in their final year at St. Mary’s and set a standard for years to come.



2. 8th grade girls volleyball championship run

The 8th grade girls had as rough of a rookie season as you could imagine, as they didn’t even hit 20 points a single time in their games last year.

But they had to figure there was nowhere to go but up. But this far up was something that even they had a hard time believing.

Game two of the Flame Tournament set a precedent for the rest of the season. They led in the first set only to give up a huge lead. Yet, they come back and won the second set for their first set victory. They won another set in the third round and kept that momentum into the regular season, winning their first four games to start off the year (4-0).

They struggled in the second half of the regular season and ended with a .500 record, (4-4) backpedaling into the playoffs. In their playoff game, everyone was at their best. Bump, serve, spike – ticket punched to the championship. 25-15, 25-17. The girls dominated.



1. Team of five wins the championship, the 6th grade girls story

Winning a championship with only five players is difficult, so how would you characterize winning it with only four?

Beverlyn had just fouled out of the game and had to watch the final seconds of the game from the bench, hoping her teammates could make the 13-12 St. Mary’s lead stand.

And was the buzzer sounded, the five girls and their coaches celebrating like there was no tomorrow. They were champions.

This team lost three straight to start the year, but got it together and made their run at the right time. They beat the number one team in the division in convincing fashion on their home floor, and saw improvements from each and every girl on the team.

It was an incredible run all season as this team has only 5 girls on the team. They don't have the luxury of rest like most teams, but yet they pulled through.

This wasn’t a championship where one or two players carried the load. Every girl pitched in on the offensive and defensive end and they have a first place trophy to show for it.

Sunday NDV Practice Schedule

3rd/4th grade: 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
7th grade RED: 12:15 p.m. - 2 p.m.
7th grade WHITE: 1:15 p.m. - 3 p.m.
5th grade: 2:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
6th grade: 3:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
8th grade: 5:15 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Weekday practices will also resume this week at Cameron House.