San Mateo girls' basketball team snaps 51-game league losing streak

With new head coach Paul Carion at the helm, San Mateo (1-0 PAL Lake, 11-3 overall) has turned things around in a hurry. The Bearcats, with a 10-3 record in non-league play, reached the 10-win mark faster than any team in program history since 2005-06. And entering play Wednesday, San Mateo had lost 51 straight league games dating back to 2018-19.

“The previous three years were very challenging,” MacAvoy said. “We didn’t have a lot of cohesiveness, but Coach Paul has really brought it together.”

Carion was tactical in talking about the past, meaning he tried not to bring up the losing streak. He didn’t have to.

“They knew it was there, but we never talked numbers because I’m still kind of old school,” Carion said. “I still want to make sure … we stick to the task at hand.”

The lowest of the low came last season in San Mateo’s season-finale matchup with Burlingame, a belligerent 62-22 loss that devolved into a glut of ejections and players walking off the court in tears. The Bearcats were forced to finish the game with just four players.

“So, to beat them this year, and to do it with integrity, felt really amazing,” MacAvoy said.

MacAvoy and freshman Bella Fong were instrumental in the victory. Fong scoring a game-high 15 points, and MacAvoy netting nine, including a string of defensive stops in the second half by turning ball-hawking steals into key transition points.

The night didn’t start amazing for San Mateo, however. One of the team’s top seniors, post player Olivia Salles, exited in the first quarter due to an ankle injury. She had to be helped from the court and spent the rest of the night on crutches. Carion said her status is day to day.

San Mateo trailed 6-2 at the time of Salles’ injury but turned things around with a flowing triangle-in-2 defense. Burlingame (0-1, 8-6) was led by sophomore Haleh Ansari with 11 points, while junior Miranda Sibley scored 10. The man-to-man efforts of San Mateo senior Avelyn Liang helped hold Burlingame junior Hailey Miller to six points.

“[Liang] did really, really well guarding the other team’s best player,” Carion said.

It was quite an effort from Liang, considering less than 24 hours prior to tipoff, she was offboarding an airplane on a return trip from Taiwan. She entered the game as the sixth man in the opening minutes, but with San Mateo limited to seven players after the injury to Salles, Liang was called upon for more minutes than intended.

She ultimately logged 29 minutes in the game.

“I was feeling super tired but once the game started, I started feeling super in the zone,” Liang said.

Liang is in her second stint with the San Mateo basketball team. She played her two underclassman seasons, but quit the team prior to her junior year, citing problems with the previous coaching staff. As a competitive runner, she still competed in two varsity sports her junior year, with the cross-country and track teams.

With Carion taking over the program this season — after three previous varsity coaching stints at Oceana, South City and Jefferson — the optimism brimming from her friends still on the team was a draw for Liang.

“At first I was kind of reluctant to try, but my best of friends, Charlotte and Olivia, they tried to pressure me to come to like one practice,” Liang said.

Liang said after her first practice, she started seriously considering returning to the squad. One week later, she did so officially.

“I met coach Paul and I felt super warm and super at home … and after a week I talked to my parents and they were super supportive of it,” Liang said.

San Mateo’s last league win came Jan. 18, 2019, also against Burlingame.

“I think to win just gives everyone a taste of what San Mateo can do,” MacAvoy said, “and I think this year proved, yes, we are on the rise, and I think we’re just going to really continue that trend from here.”