Sports briefs: Marin Catholic tops St. Mary’s in season opener

Izzy McFadden scored 30 points to led the Marin Catholic girls basketball team to a 67-61 victory in its season opener against St. Mary’s (Albany) on Saturday.

Jocelyn Gigounas added 15 points for the Wildcats (1-0), making their debut under new head coach Kayden Korst — a former standout player at San Domenico.

Cece Biernat added 10 points and Sienna Frazier scored six for MC. Mikayla Marsten and Simone Claxton had three points apiece.

• Claire Hannan and Sara Delgado scored 12 points apiece as Novato (3-0) rallied for a 40-36 non-league win against San Rafael on Saturday. Jennifer Armas paced the Bulldogs (0-2) with 14 while Jessica Vara added 12.
• Abby Bartholo scored 17 points and Quincy Dean added 16 points and eight rebounds as San Marin opened the season with a 54-42 win against Freedom on Saturday. Brianna Nottingham added nine points on three made 3-pointers. The Mustangs (1-0) held the Falcons to four points in both the second and fourth quarters.

Boys basketball

Luke Shapiro put up 31 points, six rebounds, and six assists to lead San Rafael past San Domenico 75-65 on Saturday. Gio Brovelli added 26 points and four rebounds for the Bulldogs (2-0) while Anthony Tajbakhsh scored 11, including a crucial 5-0 late in the game. Gavin Early scored 27 for the Panthers (0-1).

Prep football

Novato resident Gabe Casanovas threw four touchdowns to lead St. Vincent de Paul of Petaluma to a 53-24 victory against Maria Carrillo in the North Coast Section Division V semifinals on Saturday.

Casanovas completed 11 of 19 passes for 278 yards in the victory. Top-seeded St. Vincent de Paul (11-1) advances to face No. 3 seed Sonoma Valley (12-0) in the championship game set for 7 p.m. Saturday at Casa Grande High in Petaluma.

St. Vincent de Paul won the third-tier Redwood Empire Bay league while Sonoma Valley, led by former Branson School coach Max Pond, won the fourth-tier Redwood Empire Mountain league.

Casanovas has thrown for 2,370 yards this season with 33 touchdowns against three interceptions.

Girls tennis

The NorCal championships were pushed back again due to wet weather this week. Redwood’s first-round match against Granite Bay is scheduled to start at 10 a.m., on Dec. 3 at Broadstone Sports Club in Folsom.

Men’s soccer

UC Davis, making just its fourth appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament, was ousted in the first round following a 1-0 loss to San Diego. The Aggies feature three Marin players on the roster with former Terra Linda standout Jason Hsu, former Archie Williams standout Zack Lillington, and former Redwood standout Ensio Sardans. Hsu and Lillington both started against San Diego, with Lillington playing the full 90 minutes.

UC Davis (10-6-6) secured an automatic berth by winning the Big West Tournament with a 2-0 win against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 15. The win netted the Aggies their second Big West championship in program history.

Lillington, a midfielder, started in all 18 games he played in this season, scoring one goal and providing four assists. Hsu, a defender, made 12 starts in 21 appearances and had one assist.

Women’s soccer

Tufts University and Ponoma-Pitzer — both with a contingent of Marin players on their rosters — advanced to the second round of the NCAA D-III tournament before bowing out.

Tufts took out Rowan University 1-0 in the first round but fell 2-1 to William Smith College in the second round. The Jumbos have two Branson players (Caitlin Capitolo and Lena Sugrue) and two Tam players (Maren Jones, Jordan Cushner) on the roster.

Sugrue, a defender, started 18 games with two goals and four assists. Jones, a midfielder, scored twice and had three assists. Cusher started all 19 games as a defender, netting one assist.

Pomona Pitzer survived a scoreless draw in the first round by advancing on penalties against UC Santa Cruz — which has former Tam standout Sidney Boyd on the roster. Boyd started 17 games and had a team-high 18 points this season, with five goals and a team-high eight assists.

Pomona Pitzer was knocked out in the second round on penalties by Trinity after a 1-1 tie in regulation. All four of the Sagehens’ Marin players saw action in both postseason games. Patricia DePalma (Branson) started both games in goal while her former Branson teammate, Eliana Prosnitz, started both games in the midfield. A pair of former Marin Academy standouts, Imogen Jenkyn and Elodie Mortimer, came in off the bench.

Prosnitz tied for third on the team with two goals and second with four assists this season. Jenkyn also had two goals and two assists. DePalma started all 21 games in goal, with 63 saves against seven goals conceded.

Women’s volleyball

Ithaca College’s run through the NCAA D-II tournament ended in the round of 16 following a three-set loss to Johns Hopkins on Saturday night. Former Tam High standout Wesley Slavin, who had 37 assists, is the team’s starting setter and was recently named the Liberty League Player of the Year.

Women’s basketball

Abby Cooper led four players in double-digit scoring for Dominican University in a 74-58 road win against Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday.

Cooper scored 16 points for the Penguins (4-5). Mikayla Amoroso added 13 points, Kaylyn Buchanon scored 11, and Taylor Linzie had 10 points with a team-high seven rebounds.

Ace

David Knopping hit a hole-in-one at Meadow Club on Saturday, hitting off the blue tee with a 9 iron on the No. 11 hole.