Throwback Thursday

One of the biggest nights tomorrow, but we take a quick look back at last year.

These are the intro videos played to begin Awards Night, not many of you have seen them more than once, so enjoy.

Awards Nominations for 2013

Quick All-Star Sunday Results

Cynthia won the 3 point shootout over Jamie in the final round.

James/Cynthia take 2-Ball over Zerena and Jamie.

Thomas beats Moises in the final round of the schoolwide knockout.

Girls All-Star Game
The team of Cynthia, Victoria, Adrianna and Fiona defeated the team of Jamie, Rebecca, Lily and Kelly 30-24 in the Girls All-Star Game.

Larry Wong Coaches Game
Team of Justin Lee, John Wang, Brandon Lim, Nick Ly and Tommy Lin beat a team of Larry Wong, Leslie Truong, James Chiu, Zerena Shaw, Tomas Mendez, and Derek Kwong 42-40.

Points: Derek 4, Leslie 15, Zerena 3, Larry 4, Tomas 2, James 12, Justin 2, John 18, Nick 13, Brandon 4, Tommy 5

Girls Alumni Game
Team of Leslie Truong, Susan Yao, Precious Listana, Amanda Li and Gavrielle Thompson beat a team of Sophia Nguyen, Shari Wong, Serina Leung, Catharine Chiu and Pamela Azurin 43-22.

Points: Leslie 18, Susan 2, Precious 15, Amanda 6, Gavy 6, Sophia 13, Shari 5, Serina 2, Pamela 2

Girls All-Star Sunday Schedule

Sunday, May 26th, 2013 @ NDV

12:30 p.m. - Girls 3 Point Shootout

1:15 p.m. –  The Larry Wong Coaches Game

 2 p.m. – Tournament of Champions without Champions  (((BOYS AND GIRLS)))

3:15 p.m. – Coach/Player 2-Ball

4 p.m. – Schoolwide Knockout   (((BOYS AND GIRLS)))

4:15 p.m. – Girls Alumni Game

5 p.m. – Girls All-Star Game

3 Point Shootout

Kelly, Fiona, Jamie, Michaela, Cynthia, Melina

Coach/Player 2-Ball

Tommy – Veronica

Derek – Justina

Zerena – Ivanna

Leslie – Serra

Nick – Rebecca

James - Amy

Girls All-Star Game

All girls grades 6-8

See you there!!!

Championship Game Highlights

6th grade repeats and wins the championship

For the first time since 2010, a St. Mary's team has won back to back championships.

Sunday afternoon at St. Emydius, the 6th graders made it two straight titles in a 20-13 win over St. Thomas More.

Kaela, who was sidelined for three games during the regular season, led the way with a game high 15 points. The other team had no answer for the team's best player.

Strangely, it was a year ago when the girls won the championship and Kaela didn't score a single point.

But in this game, she wasn't going to be denied.

She got off pretty much any shot she wanted to the entire game and could've dropped 30 had she been really feeling it.

Up 14-10 heading into the 4th quarter, Michaela scored two of her four points on a nice runner to the basket. Kaela then extended the lead to eight with a lay-up, which took the wind out of the other team's sails.

Lily added a free throw in the 1st quarter to account for the other point.

Defensively, the girls played really well from top to bottom. Christine, Cecilia, Adrianna and Jacqueline all came up with some crucial steals while Becky and especially Lily cleared the glass.

Down low, nobody the other team could get a clean shot off with Lily roaming the paint. She plays like a poor woman's Britney Griner.

After going (5-3) in the regular season, the girls scored 20 points in both of their games en route to a repeat.

During the regular season, the 6th graders lost both games to St. Thomas More and were the slight underdog coming into the game.

But the bulk of the team didn't have the jitters that the other team looked to have because they have that championship game experience.

Even Lily said after the game she didn't have the nerves because she played in the exact same game a year ago.

Leading 18-13, Kaela finished her career in a St. Mary's uniform with a basket, never looking back, as in the two years she's played for the Saints, she's come away with a first place trophy.

PREVIOUS BACK TO BACK WINNERS: The only team to previously win a back to back championship in the St. Mary's Athletics era is the class of 2011, Marissa's team, which won the title in 2009 and 2010 when they were in 6th and 7th grade.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS: The Great Gavin, Cynthia, Isabella, Sofia, Mrs. Mayfield, Vivianna, Karina, Marissa and Jonathan were among those in the St. Mary's crowd.

6th Grade Championship Today

Championship Sunday as the 6th grade goes for their second straight title.

Tipoff: 5 p.m.
Location: St. Emydius
Address: 255 Jules Ave

8th grade comes up short and takes second place

The 8th grade girls battled hard in the championship game Thursday night at St. Emydius, but ultimately fell 27-17 in their final game in a St. Mary's uniform.

In the end, the effort was there, the execution was not.

Trailing only 8-5 after one, the girls were outscored 8-0 and were down 16-5 at halftime. They never recovered.

Offensively, they got off some good shots, but none of them were falling. They were whistled for three five second inbounds violations in the first half alone.

Defensively, they forced the other team to stay on the outside, but they could not rebound. This team, that has so much size and fight in them down low, gave up so many second, third, fourth, fifth and even sixth opportunities for the other team.

None more symbolic than a possession in the 2nd quarter when they failed to grab a rebound, and the other team basically had shooting practice, launching before they finally hit a shot to make it 10-5.

Julia was the fastest girl on the court, coming up with steal after steal, but she was unable to turn those turnovers into points.

In general, the girls had trouble taking care of the ball.

Cynthia was held scoreless in the first half before coming alive in the second half. She had 11 points for a team high but it wasn't enough to overcome their mistakes.

To win this game, the girls needed to take their game to that next level, but unfortunately couldn't. Not practicing as a team consistently or practicing in general, focusing on fundamentals and basics of the game definitely hurt them in the biggest game of their careers.

Melina hit a 3 pointer in the 3rd quarter and ended the night with 5 points while Julia added a free throw.

For the sixth time in seven years, a St. Mary's 8th grade team has taken second place. It's great to make it this far but always bittersweet when coming up short.

But you could never tell from the girls' faces following the game as they posed for pictures, as they were grateful to have come this far.

Would it have been nice to have gone out as first place champions? Sure.

But in life, everything's relative.

The girls felt like they did their best, and that's all that matters.

Girls Playoffs Highlights for 2013

4th grade post mortem

The 4th grade girls saw their season come to an end Saturday at the hands of the number one team in the division.

That team lost only once all year, and it was the 4th grade girls that beat them a few weeks ago.

Final score for that game, also 4-0, except in favor of St. Mary's.

Now what went wrong on Saturday. Let's revisit the three keys to the game.

• The game cannot be a shootout

And it wasn't, two baskets the entire game. They did a good job on defense to make it hard for the other team to get off clean shots.

• Be mentally there

Hard to say if they were completely on board, but their focus and effort wasn't bad.

• Own the paint

That they did not do, and it was hard with the other team's tallest girl controlling everything inside. Sofia needed to score a few buckets close to the basket, but she hardly was able to get off any shots.

All in all, they played a pretty good game but could not hit the big shots.

Some things the girls need to get better at is to limit their turnovers. Even the team's best ball handlers, relatively speaking, always dribble into traffic and then a jump ball is called.

Ball movement as a whole isn't very good. The other team was able to pass the ball around, evident by the final minute plus when the 4th grade could not get the ball back when they needed it the most.

A lot of this has to do with young age, as well as having two 3rd graders on the team. Physically, some of the girls just aren't strong enough yet to make power moves or even hit the rim consistently on shots.

The basketball experience and IQ is not there yet, and that's okay, because it takes a lot of time to develop.

The good news is, that they are already ahead in terms of development, compared to the rest of the teams in the school right now and those who have graduated in the last several years -- simply because they've had some success in the early stages of their careers.

Cynthia, Victoria and Fiona, who have all played since 3rd and 4th grade, never won a single game when they were 3rd or 4th graders. In fact, Cynthia never won a game until she was in 7th grade.

So for these girls to go (5-3) and come a few points away from a championship game is a fantastic start to their life on the hardwood, as unfulfilled as Saturday's game felt.

Happy Mother's Day

Gather around the campfire for story time...

In high school, my english class had a theme called "Music Fridays" where students were told to bring in a CD...do you kids know what a CD is?

Anyways, I chose to bring in a rap song, because I was all about hip-hop in high school, and still am. But the song I chose was "Dear Mama" by Tupac, because at the end of the day, my Mom and most moms all over the world do so much and we really don't appreciate them as much as we should.

Sometimes, we should all recognize our parents, not only our moms, for the hard work and sacrifice that they do, every day, instead of just one day a year. And I'm just as guilty as everybody else.

So...Happy Mother's Day!

Cynthia's career high paves road to the championship

Cynthia's performance Saturday in the 8th grade playoff game was set to the soundtrack of the Alicia Keys song, "Girl on Fire," because that's exactly what happened.

She scored a career high 21 points as the 8th grade punched their ticket to the championship with a 35-19 win over St. Philip's.

The girls actually trailed 6-2 early in the game, but the deficit was closed quickly. '

Early in the 2nd quarter, Cynthia drove hard to the basket for an "And 1", one of three she had during the game.

Battling a cold, Cynthia seemed unphased as she pretty much took it down the other team's throat the entire game.

She looked a bit tired to start the 2nd half but shook it off and continued to dominate.

Not only was she scoring, but she set up several of her teammates for good looks at the basket.

Wendy, Julia and Melina all scored for the 8th grade.

The 8th grade is not a fun team to play against as they are scrappy and have size. They may not be the most fundamentally sound, but they will get after you and play a pretty physical style of basketball, which could frustrate many teams.

However, they'll still need to clean up parts of their game, like outlet passes, getting rid of lobs and also making lay-ups.

All those key ingredients will be needed against St. Thomas More, a team they lost to in overtime 38-32, Thursday night in the championship.

Last year, the girls lost in the playoffs and only had five girls on the team.

This year, they have seven and the girls look a lot more energized and quicker.

They played their best game as a team and will need to duplicate this performance, and perhaps play even better if they want to make their final St. Mary's game one that will go down in the history books.

Tables turn on the 4th grade as they get ousted

The 4th graders locked up with SVDP once again, and for the second straight game, the final score was 4-0.

Except this time it was SVDP with the 4.

Both teams were very stingy on defense and inefficient on offense, which made for a very low scoring game. It seemed like the team that hit the first basket would win the game. To hit a second pretty much would put the game away.

Off a lazy lob pass, SVDP took advantage of the turnover and turned it into a lay-up the other way to open the scoring midway through the 3rd quarter. They then hit a shot just inside the free throw line a few minutes later, which iced the game.

In the second half, the 4th graders probably had less than five shots attempted. And that's not the recipe to win playoff games.

Defensively, they held SVDP in check, but they just couldn't score.

Even on fast breaks, Veronica was unable to generate the magic from last weekend and Sofia struggled to get to the rim and was stopped before getting close to the basket.

As time expired on the clock, the girls could not get the ball back as SVDP stalled and just passed the ball around securing the win.

Despite the loss, it was a nice step forward for a team that didn't collect a single win in their rookie year.

At (5-3), they were pretty close to making it to the championship.

Now they'll need to take this experience and hopefully have some confidence for several years to come.

6th graders going back to the championship

For the second straight year, the 6th grade girls are going to play for the championship.

After a 20-10 over Star of the Sea Saturday, they will meet St. Thomas More next Sunday night at St. Emydius for their second title in as many years.

Kaela started for the first time in over a month and had a game high 11 points.

After being held scoreless the entire year, Adrianna finally got into the scorebook hitting her first shot of the year. Lily also hit a free throw.

Defensively the girls played pretty well and they rebounded, which are two keys for their championship.

The 6th grade girls dropped both meetings to St. Thomas More.

They lost the first one in overtime and the second one by 10, which was played without Kaela.

Michaela added 6 points in the victory.

Saturday Recap: 6th and 8th grade in, 4th grade out

The 6th grade is going back to the championship with a 20-10 win Saturday afternoon.

Cynthia had a career high 21 points as the 8th grade punched their ticket to the finals with a 35-19 win.

The 4th graders were shutout 4-0 as their season concludes.

Full recaps tonight.

7th grade girls cold and ousted from the playoffs

The 7th grade girls reverted to their old habits in the biggest game of the year.

On a night where nothing seemed to go right, the girls were disposed of 23-9, ending their season.

Plain and simple, the girls could not score, and generate any momentum. The times they had clear looks at the basket from point blank range, they faltered.

After they were unable to grab a rebound, the other team opened the scoring with an easy put back lay-up. Then they hit a 3 pointer a few possessions later and the girls looked defeated minutes into the game.

Fiona answered with a pair of free throws, but the other team responded with yet another 3 pointer to make it 8-2.

That lead stood the rest of the way.

Sloppy passes, missed assignments on defense and not even being able to hit the rim on several shots led to a 16-6 halftime deficit.

The other team only scored 7 points in the final 14 minutes, but the 7th grade mustered only a Kelly free throw and Victoria bucket in the 4th quarter.

This team is not built to come from behind so for them to trail double digits for pretty much the entire game made it nearly impossible for them to amount any type of comeback.

Two of their top scorers Fiona and Jamie did not make a field goal the entire game. 

Kelly had her share of looks by the hoop and from the outside but was only able to hit two shots.

As poor as their defense, decision making and rebounding was, the bottom line was they could not score.

After their best regular season to date at (6-2), the girls had high hopes of making it back to the championship.

But the other team looked like the better team and crushed that hope and dream early in the game.

The road to gold won't get any easier as a playoff appearance likely signifies a moving up in the divisions. They'll have an entire off-season to get better and try to make their final year at St. Mary's a most memorable one.

SHOUTOUT: Big shoutout to Raymond for being the only boy in the 7th grade who came and watched Friday night's playoff game.

Girls Basketball Playoff Preview

Ok, about 24 hours away from the beginning of the girls basketball playoffs. As we mentioned before, all 4 teams made it to the post-season, a first for St. Mary's - at least to my knowledge - and for sure in the modern day era of St. Mary's Athletics.

Let's look at the keys to victory for each team.

4th Grade (Previous Game vs SVDP: Won 4-0)
The game cannot be a shootout
The 4th graders are not built to score point for point with other teams. The game needs to remain in single digits or in the low teens. If the other team gets into the 15-20 point range, it will be tough for the girls to keep up.

Be mentally there

For young girls, this could be tough. Even though they beat SVDP the last time they played, it was only a 4-0 game. They cannot count on shutting them out once again and will need to score more points.

Own the paint

One huge key will be Sofia, who gets off a tons of shots from inside the paint. If she can hit even half her shots, the 4th grade most likely wins this game. 

6th Grade (Vs Star of the Sea: Split season series)

Bigs need to play big

Lily and Becky need to capitalize on their chances by the basket. They haven't been consistent this year and will need to in the playoff game.

No lobs and catch the ball

This team loves to lob their passes and other players can't catch the ball. Both of these elements need to be better.

Don't get over-confident

The girls won big their first time against this team but lost without Kaela playing. They need to play to their full potential and can't automatically give themselves a victory just cause Kaela is in the lineup.

7th Grade (Previous Game vs OLV: Lost by 2 in OT)

No jitters

The 7th grade when confident, can beat anybody in their division. They've played big games before so there is no reason to be nervous.

Create Turnovers

Their defense will create more offense. They will need steals to trigger the fast break. 

No Droughts

The girls press if they go through stretches where they don't score. When this happens, they get tight and are more prone to turn the ball over. So they'll need to make sure they limit their spells when nothing goes in the basket. Even hitting a free throw will be better than coming away with nothing for several minutes.

8th Grade (Previous Game vs St. Philip's: Won 29-10)

Show up to practice

Sadly, the girls have had only a handful of team practices. They need to all show up on Friday to practice.

Jump

This is a big team. If they actually jump on their shots, rebounds and defense, it will create havoc for the other team. But a lot of them are still glued to the ground.

Which Cynthia shows up?

Cynthia has played strong down the stretch and will need to continue that trend. She played a little timid to start the year, but has surged as of late. We hope that continues.

PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Friday, May 10

7th grade vs OLV, 6 p.m. @ Mission Dolores

Saturday, May 11
4th grade vs SVDP, 3 p.m. @ Salesian

Saturday, May 11
6th grade vs Star of the Sea, 2 p.m. @ St. Emydius

Saturday, May 11
8th grade vs St. Philip, 11:30 a.m. @ St. Thomas More

See you all at the games!

Final Week of Girls Regular Season Highlights

Girls Playoff Schedules

PLAYOFF SCHEDULES

Saturday, May 11
4th grade vs SVDP, 3 p.m. @ Salesian


Saturday, May 11
6th grade vs Star of the Sea, 2 p.m. @ St. Emydius


Friday, May 10
7th grade vs OLV, 6 p.m. @ Mission Dolores


Saturday, May 11
8th grade vs St. Philip, 11:30 a.m. @ St. Thomas More


POTENTIAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULES

Sunday, May 19
4th grade - 1:15 p.m. @ St. Emydius


Sunday, May 19
6th grade - 5 p.m. @ St. Emydius


Tuesday, May 14
7th grade - 6:15 p.m. @ St. Emydius


Thursday, May 16
8th grade - 6:15 p.m. @ St. Emydius

A Special to the Blog

Written by Donald Lee, St. Mary's Class of 1988

Imagine if St. Mary's did not have a sports program. What would some of the kids do after school and on weekends? If you were attending St. Mary's in the mid 1980's, then that was exactly the situation.

I attended St. Mary's from 1985 to 1988 (6th to 8th grade) after going to Commodore Stockton (now Gordon J. Lau) Elementary School. In 6th and 7th grade, much of the athletic activities many St. Mary's kids had centered around recess / lunch, PE and after school. During recess and lunch, we would play a lot of NERF touch ball and maybe some dodge ball. During PE, we would do various activities per what the teacher wanted. Lastly, after school, we might play some football or basketball at Chinese Playground. I don't think too many of my classmates (nor the rest of the school) were aware of the bigger world that existed out there.

During my 8th grade year (1987-1988), St. Mary's hired a new Vice Principal and Science teacher in Mr. Jim O'Grady. Mr. O'Grady had originally worked at Epiphany and around November of 1987, he asked an interesting question to our class. He noticed that St. Mary's had no sports teams and asked the boys if we wanted to form a team.

There was a lot of interest and not too long later, the St. Mary's Saints were reborn. We held some practices at the school playground and Chinese Playground. After a few weeks of practice, we were thrust into our first game against St. Brigid and then two SFFD Flame Tournament games. We lost all three games though we were pretty competitive.

Though I would not know this until recently, our team was placed in the the 8B2 Middle Division by the San Francisco CYO. If our team had gotten a few breaks, we might have made the playoffs. But we lost our first six games including several by 1 to 3 points which hurt us. We did win our last two games to finish 2-6 (2-9 overall). If there was any consolation, one of two wins was against the team that ultimately won the LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP (St. Vincent De Paul).

After boys basketball ended, we formed a boys baseball team and a girls basketball team as well. Neither team did particularly well but it was fun being out there.

As someone who remained involved with St. Mary's sports after graduation, I've seen the sports program go through it's up and downs. From 1988 until around 1996, the program was small as only 6th to 8th graders played. It wasn't until 1997 that St. Mary's allowed 3rd to 5th grade teams to be formed.

Since then, the program has thrived and remained a big part of the St. Mary's community. I don't think any of us (Mr. O'Grady or my classmates) would realize how big a deal it was for our class to form some basketball and baseball teams.

As I look back, I know the Class of 1988 didn't do anything special athletically. Yet, I am personally proud to have been part of the sports revival at St. Mary's. I'm happy that the kids through the past 25 years (and into the future) have gotten an opportunity to play sports if they wanted to. This was not always true for my class and some other previous classes.

I do want to note that the program would not exist without the hard work of many people. Lots of thanks to:

1. The parents who let their kids participate.
2. The coaches who spend a lot of volunteer time working with the kids.
3. The athletic directors that have managed the program through the years.

Thanks for a great 25 years. With St. Mary's working on finishing the gym in the new school building, I see a very bright future for the sports program.

Surprise return by Kaela sparks the 6th grade

Midway through the 2nd quarter, Kaela put on her new goggles and checked into the 6th grade game.

And in her first action since injuring herself more than a month ago, Kaela scored 14 of her team's 18 points as the 6th graders clinched the second seed with a 18-14 victory.

The game was sloppy before, and even after Kaela checked into the game, it remained that way.

Neither team had a high priority of taking care of the ball as the two squads traded turnovers for the duration of the game.

The 6th grade built a cushion heading into the 4th quarter, but the other team stormed back and took a 13-12 lead for the better part of the final six minutes.

With under two minutes left, Kaela hit an And-1 and the 6th grade never looked back.

Michaela hit a jump shot in the second half, and was 2-for-4 from the free throw line.

Even with the win, their turnovers from top to bottom cannot continue if this team is serious about a repeat. There were countless lob passes, balls thrown at feet and dribbling into defenders.

It also didn't help that the girls' had trouble with so many shots right by the basket.

But the girls now begin their third part of the season, in what looks like a playoffs with Kaela.

In last year's championship game, Kaela was held scoreless while others on the team paved the way to the title.

That will be the key if the 6th grade wants to capture the gold once more.

Veronica oh so clutch as the 4th graders head to the playoffs

The odds were not good.

With 3 minutes left in the game and perhaps their season, the 4th grade girls were down 10-5 and had only scored one point the entire second half.

But that's when Veronica happened.

In one of the most amazing displays from a 4th grader, she single handedly scored 6 points down the stretch, and carried her team into the post-season for the very first time in team history.

After Sofia hit a basket to trim the lead to three, Veronica hit a layup and then was fouled. She had a chance to tie the game but missed her free throw.

Then with the clock ticking down, Veronica drove hard to the basket and again, converted on another lay-up putting the 4th graders ahead 11-10.

With less than 10 seconds to go in the game, Veronica stole an inbounds pass and capped off the incredible 13-10 win with another lay-up.

She was on fire and could not be stopped.

Someone needed to step up since Justina left the game early in the 4th quarter with an injury. Normally, Justina handles the duties as point guard so with her out, the team had one less ball handler on the court.

So there was Veronica, who played the best quarter of her life.

She finished with a career high 9 points, and scored all but four points for the 4th graders.

At (5-3), the girls are playoff bound and will likely face SVDP, a team they beat last week 4-0.

Sofia scored the only other points of the game.

Head swap, 6th grade wins by forfeit

The 6th grade baseball team has a win.

It came via the forfeit this afternoon when their opponent had only a handful of players at game time.

Oh the irony, as the 6th graders themselves have forfeited already twice this season.

They have one more game left, which will be played Tuesday.

Their regular season record now sits at (1-6).

Throwback Thursday

Very fitting that today is a Throwback Thursday because...EXACTLY two years ago on this date we moved into our new school on Kearny. If you haven't seen this before, or you want to relive that very special day...A look back at the first day of 838 Kearny at St. Mary's.



And...of course, today is the birthday of Marissa...Happy Birthday to her...

Highlights from this weekend...YES! YES! YES!