Basketball in Trying Times

Photo Credit: Kelly Foster

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Written by Trent Bastian

Earlier this month, the Menlo-Atherton Bears (9-7) lost a key inside presence in Walbank Mahoni who just recently became ineligible.  Mahoni, who averages five points per game and leads the team in rebounds, will surely be missed in the post position.  This is the second player to become ineligible this year after Marquise Tolson, a star junior forward, was declared unable to play at the beginning of the year.

The absence of two top interior players leans heavily on the rest of the team. However, the team game-plan remains unchanged, and the Bears are remaining focused throughout the season as they head into league play.

Over winter break, the Bears demolished the competition at the North Monterey Tournament winning by an average of 16 points per game.  No surprise that Jeff Keller was the player of the week after averaging 17 points and dishing out 13 assists, in the finale against San Benito, Jeff made the game winning shot with 2 seconds remaining.

Since that tournament the Bears are 2-3 with big wins coming against Menlo High school and league rival El Camino High.

The Menlo victory is just as sweet as the victory against Sacred Heart Prep in early December. The Menlo-Atherton 6^th man club showed up in huge numbers as they watched M-A beat their crosstown rival 53-38. Walbank Mahoni and Jeff Keller both produced double digits with 11 and 23 points respectively. However it wasn’t as easy as it seemed; The Bears were shocked and the 6^th man was stunned as Menlo led at halftime 28-31.  To the delight of everyone, Menlo only scored seven points in the second half.