Girls Hoops: For Tam, No More Drama - Just Wins

Tam High girls basketball coach  considers his team's Jan. 6 win at San Marin to be its biggest of the season. But duplicating that feat Thursday at home against the Mustangs might be even more important.

The Red-tailed Hawks already are assured a spot in the Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) tournament. All 10 of the league’s teams are.

And at 14-8, they basically are assured a berth in the North Coast Section Championships.

The question is: How long a drive will the Hawks have to make to play their first NCS game? Evans is hoping for a short one.

“We’re probably the No. 6 team in NCS right now,” Evans said in the aftermath of Tuesday’s 40-24 win over Redwood, a victory that improved the Hawks to 6-4 in league play. “When you play other teams in your (NCS) division, it’s important to beat them. Because if they beat you, they could jump ahead of you in terms of seeding.”

One such team is Thursday’s opponent, San Marin, which also will take a 6-4 league record into the 6 p.m. contest. The Hawks have the aforementioned victory over the Mustangs in their first head-to-head. But if San Marin were to turn the tables Thursday, it would even the season series while also moving one game ahead of the Hawks in the MCAL standings.

The magic number in NCS seeding is eight. If you’re among the first eight seeds, you get to open at home. If not?

“There’s a big difference,” Evans noted, “traveling to Eureka or playing at Tam.”

Evans labels the Hawks’ season “a coach’s dream.” That’s due in part to how the young Hawks – five freshmen are on the varsity team – handled a coach’s nightmare last month.

After a season-opening loss to Redwood, the Hawks battled San Marin down to the wire despite star being hurt, freshman standout suffering a concussion in the game and center fouling out.

“We were able to win that game in overtime. A lot of other girls stepped up,” Evans said. “That was one of our turning points of the season.”

Another concussion and several girls having to miss time because of a drama production only added to the club’s problems last month. But because other players have developed along the way, there is no more drama, just good basketball.

“We’re deeper now and we’re just now getting to know our defensive system,” Evans said. “Now everyone has a role. Because of our defensive system, we need 10-12 to contribute each night. Now the girls are really getting into what we try to do.”

Barriscale has been cleared to play Thursday for the first time since suffering the concussion in the first San Marin game. She now joins a team where May is scoring like crazy, is playing some of the best all-around basketball in the league, Lindberg is holding her own inside, has developed into a key backup and the freshmen are playing like veterans.

“Before we were winning on talent,” Evans said. “Now we still have talent, but we also have a system in place. We’re playing our best basketball.”

San Marin comes to Mill Valley on Thursday night looking for revenge. It’ll see a different band of Hawks. A better one.

Tam's record: 14-8 overall, 6-4 in MCAL (tied for fourth place).

Past week's results: Beat John Swett (Crockett) 43-25, lost to Marin Catholic 41-31, beat Redwood 40-24.

Upcoming games: Thursday at home vs. San Marin, 6 p.m.; Saturday at home vs. Novato, 6 p.m.; Feb. 8 at Terra Linda, 6 p.m.