Photo

Menlo School opened defense of its West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) girls' soccer title with a 3-0 victory over host Crystal Springs on Thursday.

The Knights (1-0, 3-2-4) jumped on top 10 minutes into the match when freshman Elena Gray knocked in a corner kick from junior Chandler Wickers from close range.

Though Menlo controlled possession throughout the half, CSU frustrated the Knights with their offsides trap. Finally, in the 35th minute, Menlo junior Sienna Stritter beat the trap with an early and accurate through ball to junior Lindsay Karle, who calmly placed her shot into the far corner past the onrushing goalkeeper for a 2-0 halftime lead. This was Karle's fourth goal in the past three games.

Menlo added its final goal in the 31st minute of the second half when junior defender Amanda McFarland's 25-yard shot dipped in just below the crossbar. Senior keeper Kelly McConnell earned the shutout, playing the entire game. She was aided by the strong play of her back line of McFarland, senior Hannah Rubin, sophomore Alexandra Walker, sophomore Jamie Corley, and sophomore Lizzie Lacy.

Elsewhere in the WBAL:

Priory rallied from a 3-0 deficit, getting a goal in the 78th minute by Mariana Galvan to salvage a 3-3 deadlock with visiting King's Academy. Galvan scored twice and added an assist to spark the comeback while Sarah Zuckerman scored once and had two assists as the Panthers moved to 1-0-1 in league (2-2-3 overall).

In San Jose, Pinewood remained unbeaten in Skyline Division action with a 4-0 victory over host Harke. The Panthers (4-0, 5-3-1) got the eventual winning goal in the first half. Freshman forward Olivia Biggs scored two goals while freshman Kelly Branson and freshman Amrita Mecker also scored. Mecker and sophomore Leah Hess provided assists.

In the the PAL Bay Division, Menlo-Atherton evened its division record with a 4-0 victory over host Hillsdale. The Bears (1-1, 3-3-2) raced to a 3-0 halftime lead. Talia Missan scored twice with Sabiha Viswanathan and Cayla Stillman adding solo tallies. Assists were made by Marilena McCarty, Sarah McLeod, and Monika Richardson.

Girls' basketball
Menlo got 29 points from Drew Edelman and 22 from Maddy Price while overpowering host Castilleja, 80-51, in a WBAL Foothill Division game on Thursday. Edelman made 13 of 18 field goals to go along with seven rebounds while Price grabbed 10 rebounds and was 10-of-15 from the free-throw line as the Knights improved to 2-0 in league (11-4 overall).

Lauren Lete contributed 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Menlo with MacKenzie Duffner finishing with 10 points. The Knights grabbed 35 rebounds and shot 52 percent from the field.

Castilleja (0-2, 3-10), which trailed by only three after one quarter, was outscored by 42-18 over the next two quarters. Paige Vermeer led the Gators with 20 points and nine rebounds, making four 3-pointers as Castilleja tied a school record with eight treys. Vermeer also had six assists and five steals, but the Gators shot only 31 percent from the field and missed 12 free throws. Olivia Nicholls and Chela Davila contributed 10 points each for Castilleja.

Boys' basketball
Rallying in the second half, Sacred Heart Prep pulled out a 62-54 victory over host Pinewood in WBAL action Thursday. The Gators (1-1, 5-7) trailed by 32-29 at the half before coming on strong in the fourth quarter to keep the defending champion Panthers (0-3, 5-6) winless in league play.

Corbin Koch paced SHP with a season-high 26 points, 12 coming on three-pointers, while Ian Bennett tossed in 19 points.

Wrestling
Getting seven pins, Gunn (2-0, 4-1) remained tied for first in the SCVAL De Anza Division dual-match standings with a dominating 63-18 victory over host Los Altos on Thursday.

Daniel Papp led the pin parade by winning the 126-pound division in just 52 seconds. Cadence Lee pinned in 1:11 to win at 113 pounds while her brother, Blaze, also won by pin (in 1:37) at 145 pounds. The Titans' brother tandem of Eric (132) and Ian Cramer (138) also won with pins, as did Michael Abramovitch (106) and Sean Lydster (195).

— Palo Alto Online Sports

Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.