From the archives: Bearcats dominate Dons

Over the past three years, a six-point performance from Ujihara would have spelled doom for the Bearcats. This year, however, Ujihara has plenty of help and it was on display during San Mateo’s 61-34 beatdown of visiting Aragon Tuesday night.

San Mateo’s senior post player Melasani Hafoka scored a game-high 24 points and sophomore shooting guard Alana Simon added 21 in a game in which Aragon could not compete with San Mateo’s height. The Bearcats’ height advantage allowed them to enjoy a 45-23 advantage on the boards, with 22 of those coming on the offensive end.

“We knew we could take advantage in the post,” said San Mateo coach Nancy Dinges. “If I tell my posts to focus on rebounding, their offense and defense will come.”

In addition to her 24 points, Hafoka also pulled down nine rebounds. Frontcourt mate Alexis Okisinski also had a good game with six points and eight boards.

“It was a rough one,” said Aragon coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble. “Their height killed us tonight.”

Hafoka has always had the size and will to dominate — her skills just weren’t refined. But after her fourth year of playing club basketball, she’s finally putting her abilities together.

She was virtually unstoppable against the Dons. After missing her first couple of shots, she got in a groove. She scored 14 in the first half and added 10 more in limited action in the second half.

Aragon (0-1 PAL Bay, 5-9 overall) tried everything to stop her: They tried fronting her, but the San Mateo guards would lob the ball over the defenders’ heads. They tried playing behind Hafoka, but she is too big to be denied. Once she caught the ball, very seldom did she miss.

And that has been the missing ingredient in Hafoka’s game: soft hands.

“That’s how I hope to play,” Hafoka said. “At the beginning (of the game), I didn’t have it.”

Dinges said she spends a lot of time in practice working with her post players on their ball-catching abilities and that work is paying off.

“[Hafoka has] definitely improved on that,” Dinges said. “Right now, she has the mindset that she knows she can dominate.”

Simon is showing she has the game to take over the Bearcats once Ujihara graduates. Simon can do it all: knock down the outside jumper, slash to the basket, handle the ball as well as rebound. She finished with nine boards.

Add in Ujihara, who had an off-night shooting, and the Bearcats are a team with which to be reckoned.

“We have a lot of people that can score,” Dinges said.

Both teams got off to a slow, sloppy start to the game. After eight minutes, San Mateo (1-0, 7-6) led just 8-5 as the Bearcats converted just four of their 21 first-quarter shots.

In the second quarter, Hafoka and Simon took over. The duo combined to score all 20 second-quarter points for the Bearcats, with Hafoka leading the way with 12 points as they held a 28-11 lead at halftime.

In the third quarter, Hafoka scored the first three buckets of the period to open up a 36-13 San Mateo lead and the Bearcats coasted home.

Aragon was led by Felicia Dito’s nine points. Justine Kubo added seven while Nichole Kwee and Corie Stocker had six points apiece.

“We’re re-building. We knew it was going to be a tough year,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “(We’ll just keep) plugging away. Just show up every night and play the best we can.”