Sports

Menez Shoots 3s With Ease

Karley Menez went 9-for-13 from behind the arc last week to become Clayton Patch's first Athlete of the Week.

Saying basketball player Karley Menez is good at shooting 3-pointers is kind of like saying Stephen Hawking is good at math or that Takeru Kobayashi is good at eating lots of hot dogs.

Last week, Menez shot 13 3-pointers and made nine of them. In two games, she finished with 44 points. Clayton Valley's opponents last week — Concord and Ygnacio Valley — finished with 34 points, combined.

That made choosing Menez as Clayton Patch's first Athlete of the Week an incredibly easy decision.

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"If her feet are set and she has an open look, it's going in," Clayton Valley coach Bernard Barnes said.

Sinking shots from behind the arc isn't anything new for the junior guard. As a freshman, she came off the bench but her ability to quickly compile points in 3s made her the team's leading scorer. Last year, as a starter, she again led the team in points but showed she was more than just a sharpshooting specialist. She led the team in steals and was second in rebounding. This year, Menez leads the team in assists.

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"I have never seen anyone work so hard," Barnes said of his star's work ethic. "She will probably shoot 200 shots tonight just because she didn't get enough shots in the game."

Menez said she shoots for about an hour every day and, last week, she ran before shooting to simulate being fatigued during a game.

"I've been working really hard and getting myself tired before I shoot," she said. "That's made be more relaxed and I've been putting the ball in."

When asked why she puts in so much effort, Menez said, "God has blessed me so why not try and work as hard as I can and see where I can go?"

Despite all the practice, Menez makes sure basketball doesn't stop being fun. Teammate Taryn Pascal says she is probably the team's most important player but also one of the funniest.

"Even if you're having a bad game, she lightens up the mood and makes practice and games fun," Pascal said. "She's just a really cool person."

This week, racking up points won't be as as easy for Menez. Clayton Valley (15-2, 4-0 Diablo Valley Athletic League) faces defending league champs Northgate (10-7, 4-0 DVAL) on Tuesday with the winner taking first place.

Menez is feeling confident.

"I think we're starting to get into a rhythm," she said. "We started out kind of rough, but I think we're starting to get into the flow of the game and working as a team a lot better."


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