Hillsdale's Emily Nepomuceno sank a 3-pointer from the corner late in the first half of Monday's game against College Park and her coach Mike Ciardella did a karate kick at the air, looking like an elderly Ralph Macchio.
Nepomuceno even got fouled out on the play and had a chance at a four-point play. But typical of this 34-22 loss to the Falcons, her shot eluded the net.
Such are the vagaries of coaching girls' basketball in the 2000s, with execution and focus a here-today, gone-tomorrow thing. Given Hillsdale's 11-6 record (4-1 in the PAL-South) Ciardella and Hillsdale are actually ahead of the game. The Knights are tied with Capuchino and Menlo-Atherton heading into Friday's 6:15 p.m. game at Aragon.
"I like their attitudes and they come to practice every day and work as hard as they can," Ciardella said. "I think I'm just more demanding than I think they're used to."
Ciardella is in his first year back coaching after a highly successful run at Sacred Heart Prep in the 1990s. He coached the Gators to four consecutive state titles and 80 consecutive victories at one point. He also guided Mercy-Burlingame before that, leading the Crusaders to their only CCS finals' appearance.
The Mercy gig only came about because Ciardella was a recreation supervisor at Burlingame Rec and a Mercy parent mentioned the Crusaders needed a coach. Ciardella said he'd take the job if a gym was found to practice in (Roosevelt School was secured) and sophomore Bea Godoy was coaxed into playing (she was a flash from Pacifica who had only been playing soccer). Under Ciardella's leadership and with Godoy running the point, Mercy won 15 games his first year.
The rest has been history with Ciardella's reputation coaching girls now firmly cemented. His fledgling Hillsdale team is on its way to a possible league title and maybe even 20-win season ... not that there aren't some trying times.
When Ciardella took over at Mercy he leaned on two San Mateo County gurus of the women's game, Jim Soden at Terra Nova and Tom Martinez at College of San Mateo, who have both passed away. Martinez was more famously known as Tom Brady's personal quarterback coach, the guy Tom Terrific would lean on on those rare occasions he wasn't so terrific.
"Tom Martinez told me to just do what you do -- teach the fundamentals," Ciardella said. "He did say that girls don't tend to play on the playground, so you have to let them play some 3-on-3 and 2-on-2 in practice so that everyone touches the ball."
And Soden?
"Jim told 'Remember, this is the most important thing to you and it's the third thing to them.' I said 'Well what's the first thing?' He said 'Well, the first thing is their social life. The second thing is school and the third thing is basketball."
At least Ciardella knows where he stands.
MICHIGAN IMPRESSED BY GORDON: Michigan tight ends coach and West Coast recruiter Jay Harbaugh (son of Jim) worked out Terra Nova quarterback Anthony Gordon on Tuesday in Pacifica.
"He liked him," TN coach Tim Adams said of Jay Harbaugh's impression of Gordon. "They saw film of him and were impressed and then they said he was better in person. The word that came up was 'intrigued.' What will happen, who knows. But it's good that a high-profile program like that is interested. It's a compliment to Anthony. One of the things (Jay Harabugh) said is that he's a lot stronger than anticipated."
MORE MICHIGAN: While Anthony Gordon ponders what a Michigan winter might be like, Cole McConnell's already been there. The former Sacred Heart Prep star was a preferred walk-on with the Michigan basketball team in 2013-2014 who played 10 minutes for the Wolverines before breaking his foot, ending his season prematurely.
McConnell no longer plays basketball for the Wolverines.
"It was a lot of fun," said McConnell, who led SHP to three section titles and then attended New Hampton Prep in New Hampshire for his fifth year. "We won the Big 10 regular-season title and made the elite eight (of NCAA). We had a good group of guys."
McConnell's mom attended Michigan and his dad went to Penn. The former SHP star grew up a Wolverine fan, but is now just cracking the books in Ann Arbor.
"I'm just focusing on school now," he said. "School has been a lot harder this year than last year."
Briefly: Westmoor girls' basketball star Yazmeen Goo has committed to Alaska-Anchorage, she said ... O'Dowd basketball guard Paris Austin scored a school-record 43 points in a win against Piedmont on Wednesday night ... Kennedy-Richmond High is seeking a new football coach. ... Stacy Patch has been named the girls' lacrosse coach at St. Francis.
John Murphy is the Web Content Editor of Prep2Prep. Reach him at jmurphy@prep2prep.com. Follow him on Twitter @PrepCat
