New era for San Mateo girls’ hoops

That was the 2021 season. After retiring for the second time, his son-in-law, who is the South City boys’ varsity coach, begged Carion to take over his junior varsity program for the 2022-23 season.

Carion said he was done after that.

Tuesday afternoon, he was on the sideline for his first game leading the San Mateo varsity girls’ team as the Bearcats hosted Burton of San Francisco.

“I was not looking at all (to be coaching this season),” Carion said. “I have to stop telling people I retired because no one believes me.”

Carion said San Mateo athletic director Jeff Scheller reached out to him this past spring about the coaching opening and, after consideration, texted Scheller that he was going to withdraw his name from consideration.

But Scheller wouldn’t take no for answer.

“I wasn’t going to let him get away,” Scheller said.

And if his resume is any indication, the Bearcats have the right man to turn around its program. It certainly showed up in San Mateo’s regular-season opener as the Bearcats overwhelmed an overmatched Pumas squad to the tune of 53-23. Ten Bearcats got in the scoring column, led by 6-1 post player Olivia Salles, one of only two returners from last season’s 4-19 team, who scored a game-high 14 points. Charlotte MacAvoy, another 6-foot post, added 10 points, as well.

“When we step on the court, we should be bigger than most teams,” Carion said. “We came out with a game plan and they executed the game plan.”

Danalyn Silva had 8 for San Mateo (1-0 overall) and Bella Fong added 6 points.

The game was essentially over after the first quarter as the Bearcats scored 20 unanswered points, almost all of which came in transition. Salles had back-to-back layups to open the scoring before Silva scored the final eight points of the quarter.

In the second quarter, Carion put Salles down on the block and told her to go to work. With her back to the basket, Salles twice backed the defender down before using a post move to score on two straight possessions.

“It’s really hard to teach a post player to be patient,” Carion said, adding that it takes time to recognize when double teams are coming, when to make a pass and when to go up for a shot.

Salles, a senior who is a volleyball standout and in her third varsity basketball season, said this year is already much different than the last two seasons.

“Everybody’s energy and vibe are in high spirits,” Salles said. “It’s been really fun, but basketball is always fun.

“[Carion] is great. I’m thrilled to have him as our coach. I’ve learned so much from him.”

When Fong — whose older sister, Bailey, was a four-year varsity standout for the Hillsdale girls’ team — connected on a fast-break layup with 5:32 to play in the first half, San Mateo was up 30-0.

At that point, Carion substituted liberally and asked his players on the court to pass the ball around before taking a shot to limit any further damage to the psyche of the Burton players.

Besides, it’s not like the Bearcats were simply racing up and down the court. San Mateo had its own issues with turnovers and generally sloppy play — which is to be expected from the first game of the year.

But it was enough to keep Carion, and his team, engaged until the end of the game.

“That’s been our big problem,” Carion said. “We’re averaging about 25 turnovers a game (during four scrimmages). You can’t win a game that way.”

Burton (0-1) finally broke the seal on its side of the scoreboard when Promise Nelson banked home a layup with 5:12 left in the half. She would go on to score 8 points for the Pumas.

It was more frenetic, chaotic play in the second half as Carion continued to toy with his lineup. With only five players on this year’s squad who played basketball last year, and five freshmen on the varsity roster, Carion is still in evaluation mode.

“I’m trying to see what the freakout factor is for each player,” Carion said. “I think we’ll be a solid team by mid-January.”