From the sports archives: M-A holds off Carlmont in Central Coast Section playoffs

M-A faced the daunting task of slowing down Carlmont shooting guard James Testa, who came into the game averaging nearly 20 points per game this season. While the Bears did an excellent job of containing Testa, that was not all they did. The Bears shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the first half as they built a 13-point halftime lead. In the second half, the Bears cooled off but still had enough to hold off the Scots, 46-38.

"The character of a team is really shown with a lead," said M-A coach Senque Carey. "We have to do better closing games."

Knowing to stop Testa and actually doing it are two different things. Carlmont coach Dave Low said he told Testa at the beginning of the season that he would be a marked man and that the more he got his teammates involved, the easier the game would be for him.

Menlo-Atherton (13-13 overall) simply didn't allow Testa to get into a rhythm. The Bears had a hand in his face on every shot attempt, tried to deny him the ball as much as possible and just made his life miserable in general. Testa finished with just 10 points -- and no field goals in the second half.

Carey said the goal was to just make Testa worry about the defense against him, rather than trying to get into the flow of the game.

"We kind of neutralized (Testa)," Carey said. "A guy like that, once he gets a rhythm, (can be tough to stop)."

Taylor Crawford led Carlmont with a game-high 14 points and Robyn Todd added eight. M-A was paced by Marquise Tolson's 12.

With the defense locking down Testa, the M-A offense was in high gear -- in the first half at least. The Bears shot 48 percent from the field in the first half. They threatened to turn the game into a rout early as they opened the game with a 10-2 run. Carlmont responded, however, by scoring six straight. The Scots trailed 12-8 at the end of the first quarter when M-A's Myles Brewer grabbed a defensive rebound and went the length of the court for a layup as time expired in the first quarter.

The Bears were even better in the second quarter, scoring 18 points. They scored the first eight points of the period as they built a 20-8 lead with 6:34 to play in the first half. They eventually took a 30-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"In the first half, they shot the ball awfully well," Low said of M-A. "M-A was able to get what they wanted. ... You want to make them work harder."

Low didn't even bother taking his team into the dressing room. He was not pleased with the effort his starters gave him in the first half, so he kept everyone on the floor and had the reserves warm up. At the start of the third quarter, Low ran out a lineup consisting of two sophomores, two juniors and a senior.

"My message to start the second half was ... you better play hard because you might not get another chance," Low said.

Carlmont's team of reserves remained within shouting distance of the Bears and when Low sent his starters back out with just under two minutes to play in the half, the Scots were down 11, 32-21. The Scots made a bit of a run at the end of the quarter, getting a putback layup from Crawford and another layup from Todd. The Bears, however, took some of the wind out of the Scots' sails when Royce Branning drained a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to put the Bears up 35-27 going into the final eight minutes.

Carlmont nearly completed the comeback in the fourth quarter as the Bears went 4:02 without scoring a point. During that span, Carlmont outscored M-A 5-0 to close to 39-35 with 3:16 left to play.

M-A, however, ended the game on a 7-3 run as the Bears iced the game from the free throw line.

"(Defense) was big for us," Carey said. "From the beginning of the season to now, it's been 110 percent better.

"When we defend first ... we can beat anybody."