Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: M-A’s Luisa Tava

“I actually did attempt a couple 2s,” Tava said. “They weren’t falling, but the 3 was falling. I was shooting it, it felt good. I trust in my shot a lot. I put a lot of practice into it. So, just having that confidence coming into the first game was just crazy.”

While Tava’s nine 3s accounted for all of her 27 points against Cupertino, she didn’t stop there. The senior added six 3s in a 58-46 semifinal win over Los Altos. Then, she and the Bears brought it home in the CCS finals, earning a rematch with a Los Gatos team that spoiled their trip to the Division I championship game last year, and saw it through this time around with a 51-32 championship victory.

“She’s amazing,” M-A head coach Steve Yob said. “When she’s hitting the 3-ball, she’s amazing. She doesn’t need much room. I don’t need to call a play for her. She just fires it up, and she’s been lights out.”

Tava has been named Daily Journal Athlete of the Week after capping her amazing playoff run with three 3s in the finals to net a game-high 15 points.

In her most recent outburst, it wasn’t necessarily the quantity of 3-pointers that stood out, but the quality of them. With M-A trailing 17-12 in the second quarter, Tava took aim from deep on the wing and crushed a trey that sparked a 16-0 run that extended into the second half, and all but put the CCS trophy in the Bears’ back pocket.

“I think being down by 5, it’s like: ‘Oh, dang! We really need to come back,’” Tava said. “But I was just really locked in, and I had a lot of trust in myself for us to comeback.”

Tava has been shooting a basketball since not long after she learned how to walk and talk. Her father Leon grew up in Southern California, and was something of a street basketball legend, known as a sharpshooting sniper, she said. He’s the one who put the ball in Tava’s crib, so to speak, and taught her not only the fundamentals and mechanics of a consistent jump shot, but the work ethic needed to develop it as a reliable skill.

“My dad’s been teaching me to shoot since I was very young,” Tava said. “I just let it fly. I have so much confidence in it. I put so much time and effort into perfecting my shot.”

Tava has spent so many countless hours at the gyms of the YMCA and 24 Hour Fitness, these courts have become something of second homes to her. During the season, she frequents them in the morning hours before returning home and leaving for school. But that’s nothing compared to the offseason, when she relies on a daily routine, without fail, of morning shooting drills.

“Definitely during the offseason, it’s like every day,” Tava said. “There’s no off-days. Every single day.”

A transfer from Pinewood after her freshman year, Tava and her deep contingent of returning senior teammates — seniors Lita Fakapelea, Apé Ulukivaiola and Molly Gray — have led the Bears to back-to-back CCS finals for the first time since the program went to three straight from 1992-94.

“I’m just so happy for these guys,” Yob said.

It was smiles all around Saturday night at Santa Clara High School after M-A’s first CCS title win since 2019-20. In Tava’s case, it’s a smile born from 5:30 a.m. wakeup calls and hourlong morning shooting sessions, dialing it in so she could dial it up on the CCS stage with 18 3s through three games.

“Definitely the main thing being a great shooter is the amount of reps you put up,” Tava said.