In a packed home game against Marin Catholic on January 25, the boys’ varsity basketball team was unable to pull out the win, losing 46-38.

The story of the game was the textbook defense by both teams. The first quarter started off incredibly tight. After a 6-2 lead by MC, junior Eric Nogueiro hit a nice shot to narrow the margin. By the end of the quarter, both teams were tied 8-8. At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, Tam was neck and neck with MC, thanks to some key shots by seniors Austin Arnold and Tam News reporter Joe Laland. Marin Catholic finished off the half with quick scores, making it 21-14. The start the third quarter, Tam cut into MC’s defence with a layup by senior Jackson Floum, making the score 29-21.

Both teams began to exchange points, but despite a great offensive possession by Tam, finished off by a score from senior Michael Thomas, MC finished off the quarter with four unanswered points and a score of 27-31.

In the fourth, Marin Catholic’s defense really clamped down on Tam. However, in the last two minutes, junior Dominic Bynum and senior Darien Miller scored a quick seven points to make the score 42-34. Despite this, any further attempt at a comeback by the Hawks was countered by scores from MC.

In spite of the outcome, Coach Michael Coffino was still impressed with his team. “I thought the kids played really hard [and] I thought they played with courage. Our shots didn’t fall, but we were right there. But for a really bad two minute period in the 2nd quarter when we gave up two threes, we played this game even, and we feel like we could’ve won this game.”

Bynum believes the team can be more aggressive heading into the 2nd half of MCAL play. “Don’t be scared to shoot,” he said. “Every team is pretty tough in MCAL so you just got to be ready to play.”