From the sports archives: Menlo-Atherton High School's Greer Hoyem takes over in Nor Cal playoffs

While Menlo-Atherton ultimately trounced Heritage-Brentwood 71-46 in the Northern California Division I quarterfinal, the victory didn’t feature the wire-to-wire dominance the final score implies. M-A led by just two points at halftime.

Then came Hoyem-time.

The Bears’ 6-1 sophomore center collected a game-high 25 points, including 11 in the third quarter to change the complexion of the game. Just another day in the life for the Peninsula Athletic League South Division Most Valuable Player, who opened the tournament last Wednesday with a double-double, totaling 22 points and 13 rebounds in a 56-44 win over Washington-SF.

“I think with Greer, when she comes to play she’s really consistent,” M-A head coach Markisha Coleman said. “She’s going to do whatever it takes to help the team. … Her focus is never really to score a lot of points. It’s whatever it is to help the team be successful.”

M-A’s success last week was historic. The win over Washington was the Bears’ first victory in a Nor Cal game since March 9, 1994 when former head coach Pam Wemberly’s squad toppled Shasta 62-57.

For leading M-A such heights, while totaling 47 points through the two games, Hoyem has been named the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week.

“She played her same low post power game; she posted up,” Coleman said. “If she feels she has that advantage, she goes hard to the basket.”

Posting up and backing down defenders has been Hoyem’s calling card for two varsity seasons. During that time, she has come a long way under the mentorship of a couple of good ones — junior power forward Ofa Sili and assistant coach Hayley Grossman.

Hoyem met both upon arriving at M-A last season. And while Sili was initially slated to play center in 2014-15, a knee injury derailed most of her regular season, causing Hoyem to have to take over at the 5.

By the time Sili returned during last season’s stretch drive, it made more sense for her to shift to power forward. And this year, with Sili healthy, the she and Hoyem were cast as the most dominant twin towers throughout the PAL.

Sili has made the transition seamlessly, and makes it work to her advantage. Not only does the 5-11 junior pop out beyond the arc for the occasional 3-pointer, she also has proven a formidable forecourt defender.

Meanwhile, Hoyem is developing into a fierce post player. The operative word is “developing,” as she still has a way to go in finishing shots. Her extraordinary reach forgives a lot of her misses, as she often nabs offensive rebounds off her own shots.

“I guess I can grab rebounds but we always say don’t rely on height,” Hoyem said. “It’s not about height. It’s about being aggressive and wanting it more.”

This is where the expertise of Grossman is key, as the former All-PAL center out of Mills continues to encourage Hoyem to be more aggressive to the hoop. With Hoyem’s most recent results, the encouragement is obviously working.

Through the first half Saturday’s matchup against Heritage, though — M-A’s final home game of the season — it didn’t look like she was going to get much of a chance. The Patriots came out keying on Hoyem with a 2-3 zone defense. And for the opening 16 minutes, the teams traded leads in fighting for control of the floor.

“Our usual game is we go inside-out,” M-A guard Carly McLanahan said. “But it was hard to get our posts involved.”

McLanahan had an answer for that though. The sharpshooting sophomore dropped four 3-pointers in the game, three of them coming in the first half. Freshman guard Mele Kailahi hit two 3s — McLanahan and Kailahi scored 14 points apiece in the game — while Sili and junior forward Megan Sparrow each hit one.

The long-range threat forced Heritage to change up its defense in the second half. When the Patriots went man-to-man, Hoyem exploited the 1-on-1 matchups and took over as M-A outscored Heritage 24-10 in the third quarter and 40-17 in the second half.

“We played really well,” Coleman said. “We played really well both offensively and defensively, so I think that’s the reason we got the win the way we did. Everything was just clicking.”

Now the No. 4-seeded Bears will hit the road for the first time in the Nor Cal tourney to take on top-seed St. Francis-Sacramento Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“They’re super excited,” Coleman said. “They’ve been working hard since November. This is the furthest M-A has gone in a long time, so the girls are super excited.”

To add to the excitement, M-A will be travelling by charter bus for the first time this season. The Bears generally commute to road games via carpooling parents, with three or four players to a vehicle. Tuesday, however, they will be shuttling in style for the biggest game of their varsity careers.

Waiting for them is a fierce St. Francis team led by its own prolific twin towers. Kyra Huffman — a 5-11 senior — averages 13.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. And Hoyem will match up with 6-2 senior center Lauren Craig, who averages a double-double with 17.1 points and 13.7 points per game.

“I just hope no matter how good they are, we’ll do what we can,” Hoyem said. “We’ve done that all year.”