The girls’ varsity basketball team narrowly claimed the MCAL championship title for the second year in a row on February 18 after beating rival Redwood 39-36.

“They felt [the pressure] but they came through,” head coach Mike Evans said. “I thought we had a really good game plan.”

“After the MCAL win, it was great. It was like we made history again,” senior Jaiana Harris said.

Despite the excitement, it was the last win of the season for the team. They lost the next game, in the first round of the  NCS playoffs to Newark Memorial. “It just seemed like we all were worn out,” Harris said. “We came out real soft against Newark.”

Last year’s win against Marin Catholic during the MCAL championship game made school history as Tam’s first MCAL girls’ basketball title. “Our goal was to win back to back MCAL [championships]….we felt like we had to continue to improve,” Evans said.

The Hawks came through again in another close match, beating Redwood just 39-36, making use of their intimidating defense down the stretch.

The game was a tough fight throughout. Redwood and Tam were tied 10-10 after the first quarter, but Tam went ahead by seven points leading after half time. Redwood came back to outscore Tam in the final quarter, but it was not enough to break Tam’s hold on the win.

Senior guard Jaiana Harris led scoring with 18 points, followed by senior Megan Lee with seven, including two three-pointers and a free throw with six seconds left in the game that put the Hawks up by three until the end of the game. Senior Katie Sowerby and junior Ruby Bowser both tallied six points each.

“This game, we pretty much controlled them,” Evans said. “We played really good defense down the stretch.” He described the prior playoff game against Marin Catholic, a 52-40 victory, as a key moment for the team’s path to the MCAL title. Evans said it was a turning point for the team, due to Tams prior loss to Marin Catholic 47-45 earlier in the season.