Girls Basketball: Depleted Albany High Falls in NCS First Round

Coming into the season the girls basketball team's eyes were on Deanna Calhoun. The nationally ranked star to play for University of Southern California next year and was ready for dominant season to cap her high school career.

But as the Cougars headed to Mill Valley Tuesday night for a North Coast Section first round playoff battle with Tamalpais High, Calhoun was in street clothes on the sideline, where she’s been for two months with a knee injury. The Albany team that took the floor was also without its starting point guard, its top shooter and a key reserve.

Despite being undermanned, the Cougars pushed the Red-Tailed Hawks to the limit, surging to an early lead and giving Tam a late scare before falling 57-53 to end its season.

"We just didn’t have enough bodies to keep our press fresh," Albany coach Ray Newsome said. "We started getting tired and we couldn’t work it the way we wanted to."

That press knocked Tam on its heels early, as the Cougars pulled to a 19-9 lead midway through the second quarter. The press flummoxed Tam early, but the fresh legs of a trio of frosh helped Tam power past the weary legs of the undermanned Cougars.

“We didn’t want to just break the press, we wanted to attack it,” Tam coach Mike Evans said of the Albany press. “And to be honest, that’s why you saw more of our freshman on the court, because they play with no fear. They don’t know that they’re supposed to be afraid.”

One of those freshmen waited for the biggest stage to have her breakout performance of the season. Forward Amanda Barriscale had 19 points and 11 rebounds, dominating the paint during a stretch that saw the Hawks battle back from a 19-8 deficit in the second quarter to a commanding 46-31 lead early in the fourth.

“They key was breaking their pressure,” Tam coach Mike Evans said. “Albany shot the ball well.”

That they did. Although Tam enjoyed a 46-31 lead early in the fourth quarter, Albany kept it from getting out of hand on some nice buckets from sophomore Whitney Tamaki and junior Alice Timken. With Tam up 55-42 with under two minutes to play, Tamaki showed she had satellite range, hitting a pair of jumpers from way beyond the three-point line. Tamaki, who finished with 18 points, then a third jumper from behind the arc to cut the lead to 55-51 and send a nervous chill throughout the Tam gym.

“She’s a deadly shooter,” Newsome said. “She grew up tonight and had her best game so far. And they weren’t luck – that’s her range.

But time was not on the Cougars’ side, as Tam junior forward Jenna May hit a pair of late free throws to seal the win.

“It’s been a tough season for us,” Newsome said. “But we played hard and I’m proud of their effort tonight.”