New era starts, end of another

A whirlwind of events led the 2010 Carlmont graduate back home. John Schrup was getting set for his second season as Scots’ head coach after leading the Scots to a 19-11 record and the Central Coast Section Division championship and a run to the Nor Cal Division III semifinals. Schrup and the Scots had gone through summer training and off-season conditioning.

The same could be said of Mohammadi and the M-A program, as he was prepping for his second season working with head coach Craig Carson.

But Carlmont athletic director Pat Smith said Schrup had to step down in mid-September for family considerations. About a month later, Smith settled on the 33-year-old Mohammadi to lead the Scots going forward.

“I was doing all the summer training, off-season training (with M-A) all the way up until October, until I heard about John stepping down and found out the position was open at my old high school,” Mohammadi said. “It has been one of my own, personal goals (to be a high school head coach). I’ve been an assistant at the varsity and [community college] levels. I wanted to take the next step and lead a program.

“I think I had about two weeks of practice and then our first (scrimmage).”

Mohammadi starred as a slick point guard for the Scots, playing four years of varsity, winning the Peninsula Athletic League South Division title in 2009 and 2010. He was twice named South Division Player of the Year honors and was part of 20-win teams his freshman, junior and senior years under former head coach Dave Low.

“I gotta show the banner, the Carlmont hall of fame, with my name on it,” Mohammadi said. “Let the kids know I could play.”

After high school, Mohammadi played at Foothill College for two seasons before earning a scholarship and spending three years at Fresno Pacific University, a Division II school where he made 24 starts.

He said he first thought about getting into coaching while on summer break from Fresno Pacific.

“For any basketball player, after they’re done playing, they have this moment of, ‘What’s next?’” Mohammadi said. “I would come back (to the Peninsula) and work summer camps and realized I enjoyed working with youth. ... Any young kid is in need of support and guidance. I think basketball is a way to do that.”

Mohammadi spent two seasons as the Carlmont JV head coach before before joining Justin Piergrossi’s staff at Skyline College two seasons before joining the M-A program last season. He also has spent the last two summers as the U17 coach for Team Esface Basketball Academy in North Fair Oaks.

With a junior-heavy roster with a number of first-year varsity players, coupled with a coaching change weeks before the start of the season, Carlmont, has nonetheless, had a solid start to the season.

The Scots went 5-5 in non-league play, but have opened PAL Bay Division play with back-to-back losses.

Last Friday was a special game for Mohammadi, as he faced his former team when Carlmont hosted M-A. The Scots trailed by one, 14-13, after the first quarter before M-A outscored them by seven in the second, to lead 32-24 at halftime.

Carlmont could not get over the hump in the second half.

“Friday was really fun. It was a weird, but fun, moment. A game I won’t forget. I’ve always coached against players, one or two at a time, but never coached against a team I just coached,” said Mohammadi, who added he had never coached against younger brother, Masie, who is an assistant at M-A and former Serra standout.

“I think I caught myself clapping for the wrong team (a couple times).”

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While the Mohammadi Era is just getting started at Carlmont, another era has ended at Sequoia. School athletic director Melissa Schmidt said longtime boys’ basketball head coach Fine Lauese stepped down from the position last Tuesday.

Schmidt said Lauese is still employed by the Sequoia Union High School District as Sequoia’s plant manager.

Two coaches from the boys’ freshman team, Sha Crockett and Mary Gil, took over the varsity coaching role in Wednesday’s Sequoia’s 63-41 loss to Half Moon Bay and the Ravens’ 54-52 win over Terra Nova this past Friday.

Schmidt said Lauese will be replaced by Ola Dean, who was most recently the Burlingame junior varsity coach.

“He’s got a good amount of coaching experience at a variety of schools,” Schmidt said.

Lauese spent 10 seasons coaching the Sequoia girls’ team before taking over the boys’ program beginning the 2006-07 season.

In his 20 years running the Ravens boys’ program, Lauese compiled an overall record of 206-260. In PAL play, he was 106-93. Three times over a four-year span, Lauese’s team won 20 games or more: the Ravens were 22-7 during the 2014-15 season, and went 25-6 in 2016-17 and 22-8 in 2017-18. They earned CCS Open Division bids in both 2017 and 2018, winning the PAL Ocean Division title in 2018.

“He did a lot of great things for a lot of kids for a long time,” Schmidt said.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.