Honor roll: the week’s best performances

Kiely Tabaldo and Alexia Bensoussan, Menlo-Atherton girls’ wrestling. M-A earned a four-peat at the Central Coast Section girls’ wrestling championships Saturday at Independence High School in San Jose, and needed every last point to do so. Tabaldo and Bensoussan were the individual champs to lead the way. Tabaldo opened the night with a third-round pin of Fremont-Sunnyvale in the 101-pound title match. Bensoussan went on to earn a third-round pin against Evergreen Valley in the 121s finals. The Bears ultimately totaled 162 team points, topping second-place Gilroy’s score of 160.5.

Will Uhrich, Burlingame boys’ basketball. The sophomore guard scored a team-high 17 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, to help lead the Panthers past El Camino in the second round of the CCS Division III bracket.

Will Demirkol, Menlo-Atherton boys’ soccer. The junior striker had a monster game in the Bears’ stunning penalty-kicks win over top-seeded Sacred Heart Cathedral in the first round of the CCS Open Division bracket. Demirkol scored three goals during regulation time, added a fourth in overtime and added a fifth during the Bears’ 5-4 win in penalty kicks.

David Shields, Nueva School boys’ basketball. The Mavericks opened the CCS Division V bracket with a 67-49 upset at No. 8-seed Crystal Springs Uplands, backed by a double-double performance by Shields. The senior captain totaled 18 points and 16 rebounds, both season-highs, to propel Nueva into the CCS quarterfinals for the fourth straight year.

Sam Sellers and Alya Seddinghnezhad, Menlo School girls’ soccer. The goalkeeper tandem combined for a shut out in the top-seeded Knights’ 3-0 win over Gilroy in the first round of the CCS Division III bracket.

Kyle Botelho, Burlingame boys’ wrestling. The senior was the best San Mateo County placer at the CCS boys’ wrestling championships, taking second place at 138s. Botelho went 4-1 on the tournament — held Friday and Saturday at Independence High School in San Jose — earning an 8-5 decision in the semifinals over Los Gatos to advance to the title match. This marks the fourth straight year Botelho has reached the CCS podium. As a freshman, he took fifth place at 106s; in 2018, he took third place at 126s; and last year took second place at 132s.

Erica Mendiola, Carlmont girls’ basketball. The Lady Scots scuffled mightily heading into the playoffs, losing their last six regular-season games in PAL South Division play. Still, Carlmont earned a home game against a Homestead team with a 21-2 overall record, and won a 51-45 thriller in overtime. Mendiola went for a game-high 17 points, leading the Scots back from a 7-point fourth-quarter deficit, with Ava Bruckner-Kockel forcing overtime with the game-tying shot — her only points of the night — to tie it with 10 seconds to go. Mendiola and Donya Khonsari (15 points) went on to combine for 10 of Carlmont’s 11 points in overtime.

J.D. Carson, Menlo-Atherton boys’ basketball. The Bears earned an opening-game win in the CCS Open Division bracket over Serra for the second straight year, but they couldn’t have done it without the shooting exploits of their dynamic sixth-man. At the midway point of the fourth quarter, M-A had totaled just one 3-pointer on the night, and trailed 37-30 until Carson erupted, knocking down back-to-back 3s to close the deficit to 1. Then after Serra upped the lead to 39-36 on a transition layup by Antonio Abeyta, the Bears nearly caved at the other end. Earning a baseline inbound, M-A relying on a long inbound pass that would have gotten away for a backcourt violation if not for a remarkable leaping grab by Carson, who then earned an assist by passing to a wide-open Nick Tripaldi for a game-tying 3. The Bears went on to win it 45-43 in overtime.