Sports briefs: Macy’s big day leads Branson to victory

Paige Macy had a big day on the glass as the Branson School girls basketball team opened up the season with a 50-29 win against Sonoma Valley on Saturday night.

Macy compiled 21 rebounds and scored 12 points for the Bulls (1-0). Avery Myerberg scored 19 points and had six rebounds. Freshman Kate Spaulding started her career with an eight-point, six-rebound performance.

Branson is set to take part in the St. Vincent tournament beginning on Dec. 3 with a game against Credo.

• Redwood also opened its season on Saturday night, rolling to a 70-29 victory against Analy.

Boys basketball

Tam dropped its second consecutive game to open the season, falling 55-36 against Montgomery on Saturday. The Red-tailed Hawks (0-2) started the campaign with a 51-42 non-league loss to Terra Linda (1-0) earlier in the week.

Men’s basketball

Nathan Ilunga had an efficient scoring night, making seven of his eight shots as Dominican University fell 77-61 on the road against Chico State on Friday night.

Ilunga registered team highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Penguins (3-2). Jaayden Bush scored 11 points. Dominican fell behind 49-26 in the first half and was unable to climb back into the game.

• K’Hamani Olivacce scored a game-high 21 points but it was not enough as College of Marin dropped its sixth consecutive game, 61-58 against Skyline on Saturday. COM (1-7) held a 30-26 lead at the half.

Women’s basketball

COM hung around for a half, trailing by six at the break, before losing contact with Shasta in a 67-33 loss on Saturday. Isabella Zepeda scored a team-high seven points for COM, which trailed 25-19 at the half.

Women’s volleyball

Dominican closed out the regular season with a 25-14, 25-23, 26-24 victory against Westmont on Saturday. The Penguins got team-high totals in kills from Ella Heckman (12), blocks from Avery Schneider (five), assists from Camille Rivers (34), and digs by Rein Bocage (16).

Dominican (6-20, 5-15 PacWest) made a five-win improvement in coach Tim Loesch’s first season at the helm. Dominican won just one of its 27 games in 2023.

Cross country

The Marin Waves 13-14 Girls XC team finished second at the 2024 USATF Pacific Association XC Championships at Hayward High on Sunday. The Waves compiled 44 points, just three behind the Mount Diablo Heat.

Kennedy Foster paced the Waves with a time of 15 minutes, 47.20 seconds — good for sixth place. Isabella Riesenfeld finished in 16:15 to take ninth. Sydney Smith (11th), Stella Hahn (22nd), and Olivia Campbell (42nd) were the other top finishers for the Waves, who qualified for the USATF Region 14 XC Championships next Sunday at Woodward Park in Fresno.