M-A redemption

Gray was in the starting lineup Saturday to close out M-A’s redemption arc, as the No. 1-seed Bears (21-5) rallied back to claim a 51-32 win over No. 2 Los Gatos in the CCS Division I girls’ basketball championship game at Santa Clara High School. It marks the program’s sixth all-time CCS title, and its first since 2019-20.

“It was definitely more personal, especially because we lost last year and I didn’t get to finish that last fourth quarter,” Gray said. “It was really exciting to go out there and win this one.”

The Bears, though, had to right the ship after Los Gatos (20-7) went on an 11-0 first-quarter run.

M-A opened the night with back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Lita Fakapelea and Gray, who wear uniform Nos. 10 and 2, respectively, to go up 6-0. But the Wildcats responded in kind, as sophomore Jenna Webb and senior Lola Cuevas, Nos. 10 and 2, respectively, went back-to-back from long range to tie it. After a transition layup from senior Hanna Behnami, Los Gatos junior Sophie Riese drilled a 3 to up the advantage to 11-6.

“We hit those first 6 and I was feeling good, and they came back,” M-A head coach Steve Yob said. “They’re obviously a great team, and they’re going to make a comeback ... (but) you can’t hold our offense down for too long.”

It’s been impossible to hold M-A sharpshooter Luisa Tava down throughout the CCS tournament. Through the Bears’ first two wins in the Division I tournament, Tava totaled 15 3-pointers. She added three more Saturday to finish with a game-high 15 points, totaling 18 3s in the tourney.

“Super locked in,” Tava said. “This win was super important for me. It’s my last year, it’s my last run ... and being able to win it all for my team for my last year is just super important to me. So, I was just super locked in.”

With the Bears trailing 17-12 early in the second quarter, Tava drilled her first 3 of the night from deep on the wing. The rip through the net sparked quite a comeback, as M-A went on a 16-0 run that carried into the second half.

“We just kind of build off each other’s energy,” Gray said. “Focus on defense first, because that’s where you get turnovers you can convert on offense. And, yeah, just hyped each other up. We knew we wanted it more. We lost last year and we knew what we came here to do.”

Tava capped the run early in the third quarter with a give-and-go layup on a bounce pass from senior center Apé Ulukivaiola to up the lead to 28-17. But then the Bears took a personnel hit when Fakapelea — they’re most versatile weapon on the court — picked up two rapid-fire fouls, her third and fourth of the game, less than a minute and a half into the third quarter and had to sit until the fourth.

With Fakapelea off the court, the Wildcats went on a quick 9-2 run to cut M-A’s lead to 28-23.

“It was tough,” Yob said. “I wanted to get her in so bad, but we kept the lead up. And then, fourth quarter, we got her back in there, and she just played great.”

Fakapelea finished with six points, five rebounds and a blocked shot, but helped open the lanes for M-A’s bigs down the stretch. Ulukivaiola finished with nine points, all in the fourth quarter, while adding three steals and two assists. Sophomore post Mary Tava totaled four points, two steals and a block in the fourth quarter, and finished with eight points and five rebounds.

“I keep saying it — we’ve got 10 girls that can play on any given night,” Yob said. “And tonight, it was the seniors that kind of just dominated.”

Webb scored a team-high 11 points for the Wildcats, while Behnami finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

All healed up

It took Gray a month to return to athletic activity after her injury in last year’s CCS Division I finals. When she joined the M-A girls’ lacrosse team in the spring, however, she wasn’t too happy about one of the precautions she had to take.

“It took me like a month,” Gray said. “And then I had to wear a helmet for a while.”

The injury occurred March 1, 2025, in a 42-30 loss to Los Gatos, while Gray was attempting a rebound in the fourth quarter at Mission College. She and a Wildcats player smacked heads, and Gray immediately fell to the floor, screaming and clasping both hands to her eye, as blood-splatter sprayed all around her.

Gray was taken to the emergency room after the game and given stitches, though she wasn’t told how many.

“I don’t know,” Gray said. “A lot. They didn’t tell me the exact number, but it took a while for them to fall out.”

The stitches did their job. Any scarring above the right eye isn’t immediately apparent.

“It pretty much healed,” Gray said. “You can kind of see a little red mark right there.”

Gray’s injury and the loss to Los Gatos were big motivation for this year’s rematch — M-A’s 14th all-time CCS finals appearance.

“Obviously, it was sad for our seniors, because they really wanted to win it,” Tava said. “But I think, for me last year as a junior, losing that game, I knew next year we needed to come back and win. It was definitely a big motivation.”