The week’s best performances by San Mateo County high school athletes

Lavulo found an interesting way to combat El Cerrito’s stingy defense, though, even if he drew a penalty flag doing so. With the Bears taking over for their final possession trailing by 4 with 3:38 to play, they’d soon face third-and-3 from the 50 when quarterback Teddy Dacey scrambled out of the pocket before hitting a cluster of bodies at the line of scrimmage. But, instead of letting Dacey get tackled to bring up fourth down, Lavulo picked up the 5-11, 175-pound quarterback with a big bear hug and carried him across the line to gain.

“He fell into my hands and I thought the best thing I could do was just wrap him up and pull him forward with me,” Lavulo said. “He was getting pushed into me also on the drive, and he was falling forward, and I was like: ‘There’s nowhere for me to go!’ So, I just my best to get that first down.”

While the play was called back on a penalty for aiding the runner, Lavulo’s antics did have a silver lining as M-A got to replay third down. On the following play, Dacey completed a pass for senior running back Eva Ama to dodge a tackle and pick up the first down.

Bella Fong, San Mateo girls’ basketball. San Mateo extended its winning streak to open the year to five games with wins over Westmoor, Westmont and Jefferson last week. Fong went for 17 points in a 54-26 win over Westmoor. She then scored 19 in a 39-25 win over Jefferson. The junior guard is also averaging eight rebounds, five assists and two steals per game this season.

Andrew Tafolla, El Camino boys’ soccer. A senior midfielder/striker, Tafolla served both purposes as the Colts opened the season with a pair of wins. Tafolla scored the only goal in a season-opening, 1-0 win over Half Moon Bay. He followed that with a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win over Mills.

Anika Shah, Menlo School girls’ basketball. A sophomore, Shah helped the Knights to three wins last week, serving as the leading scorer in two of them. She opened the week with 14 points in a 33-25 win over Leigh. She then closed her week with 14 points, six rebound and four assists In a 71-21 dismantling of Design Tech.

Catcher Ashkinos, Oceana boys’ basketball. The junior guard helped the Sharks to their first win of the season. He poured in 25 points in a 59-56 win over Burton-SF.

Jordan Lee and Daina Randall, Summit Shasta girls’ basketball. The two freshmen are making quite an impact on their new team, as the Black Bears won their final two games last week at the Kelly Shea-Gallo Memorial Tournament to improve their record to 3-2. In a 52-23 win over Presentation, Randall scored 17 points and Lee finished with 12. Prior to that, Shasta walloped Mercy-Burlingame 64-37, with Lee scoring 20 points, to go with five rebounds, eight assists and six steals, while Randall totaled 18 points.

Freeman Lane, Hillsdale boys’ basketball. The senior forward did his job during the Knights’ 58-45 loss to Sacred Heart Prep. Freeman filled it up, finishing with a game-high 27 points.

Eva Awoyinka, Carlmont girls’ soccer. The Lady Scots won back-to-back games last week, 2-1 over Sacred Heart Prep, and 2-0 over Christopher. Awoyinka was in on all four of Carlmont’s goals. The senior forward assisted on goals to Lindsay Wong and Kiyo Aretun against SHP. Awoyinka then scored her first two goals of the year against Christopher.

Eugene Leung, Crystal boys’ basketball. While Crystal had better scorers in a 52-48 win over Summit Shasta — senior Marcus Kueh poured in 15, and senior Gavin Diaz 14 — Leung led the Gryphons with a spectacular day on defense. The senior, who totaled 46 steals last season, recorded a career-high seven steals against Shasta.

Kate Baron, Sacred Heart Prep girls’ basketball. A senior wing, Baron had a pair of big games during wins in the Kelly Shea-Gallo Memorial Tournament hosted by Mills. In the opener, a 70-35 win over Summit Shasta, Baron had 24 points. In the third-place game, a 59-42 win over El Camino, Baron eclipsed the 20-point mark again, finishing with 23.

Sebastian Garcia, Serra boys’ wrestling. Garcia was the Padres’ top performer at the Third Annual Arballo Holiday Hammer at South Madera High School. Serra totaled three medals on the day, with Garcia posting a 5-1 record to take third place in the 165-pound division. Sophomore Leon Bleess also medaled, taking sixth place in 175s; and sophomore Dominic Andrini rounded out the hardware count with an eighth-place finish in 144s.

Jean-Luc Uharriet, Burlingame boys’ basketball. The senior guard helped the Panthers to a 2-1 record at the Gary Brinck tournament hosted by Westmont. In a 55-52 win over Leland in the tournament opener, Uharriet had 14 points and three assists. In a 55-51 loss to Mountain View, Uharriet finished with seven points and five assists, before rounding out the tournament with 11 points in a 68-41 win over Wilcox.