The Saint Mary’s men’s basketball team is looking to follow up on a strong 2008-09 season. So far, so good. The Gaels have played two games so far this season, winning both impressively at home in McKeon Pavillion.

On Friday, Nov. 13, the Gaels beat New Mexico State, 100-68. They followed that up with an 80-58 victory over San Diego State. Their next game is Friday night when they host Vanderbilt at 8:30 p.m.

The Saint Mary’s women’s basketball team is also off to a strong start. The Lady Gaels won their first two games against Chico State, 78-55, and Idaho State, 76-69.

Their best game so far may have been their third game. Despite losing the game, 68-65, the Lady Gaels played tough and nearly pulled off the upset against a strong Cal team in Berkeley.

The Lady Gaels host Nevada on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

When the North Coast Section announced they would be expanding the playoff brackets, they really meant it.

Despite the fact that not one of the three Lamorinda high school football teams had a winning record, all three find themselves in the playoffs.

Acalanes, who finished 5-5, earned the seventh seed and a first-round home playoff game Friday night at 7:00 p.m. against an Analy team that finished 6-4 on the season.

Campolindo, who also finished 5-5, earned the ninth seed and will travel all the way up to Fortuna to play a 7-3 Fortuna High School team on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.

Despite a losing record at 4-6, Miramonte earned the twelfth seed and will play at the fifth seed, Healdsburg High School, Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Healdsburg finished the regular season at 6-4.

Despite losing to Acalanes in DFAL play and handing the Dons the DFAL title, Miramonte’s boys water polo team went into Saturday’s NCS final confident they could pull out the win. It was also the first time since 2004 that the Matadors weren’t the number one seed in the playoffs. The Matadors squeezed by the Dons, 6-5, to earn their fifth consecutive NCS title in water polo. It is the eleventh time the Miramonte boys have won the NCS water polo crown since 1994.

The Campolindo girls found themselves in the final against a favored Monte Vista team. Monte Vista jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead that the Cougars couldn’t return from. The Cougars fell to Monte Vista by a final score of 8-5.

Miramonte went into their game with DFAL leader Alhambra knowing they needed the upset to get into the NCS playoffs. The Matadors fought hard and found themselves tied 27-27 with under six minutes left, but Alhambra scored two touchdowns in the final six minutes to win the game. Miramonte finishes the season with an overall record of 4-6 and will miss out on the NCS playoffs.

Campolindo went into their game against Las Lomas looking to improve their seed in the playoffs. Las Lomas needed a win to get into the playoffs and came out strong, taking a 42-7 lead over the Cougars in the second quarter. Las Lomas won the game by a final score of 63-21. Campolindo finishes the regular season with a 3-3 DFAL record and a 5-5 record overall.

Acalanes finished their regular season last week in a 38-27 loss to Campolindo. The Dons finished 4-2 in DFAL play and 5-5 overall.

The Moraga-Orinda Fire District Board of Directors will soon be looking for a new member. Pete Wilson, president of the board, has submitted his resignation, effective Dec. 16, a district official said.

Wilson’s wife told me this afternoon that he will be stepping down for health reasons.

While the board vice president, currently Frank Sperling, would typically take over if the president steps down, that won’t be necessary in this case because the board will elect a new president and vice president for 2010 at their Dec. 16 meeting, as they typically do at the last meeting of the year.

The board will discuss the vacancy at their meeting Wednesday.

Wilson, an Orinda resident, was elected to the board in 1997 and has served as president in 2005 and again this year. He was appointed to the old Orinda Fire District board and was part of the group that wrote the application to LAFCO to merge the Moraga and Orinda Fire Districts.

The NCS Water Polo Championships are already on to the semifinals, which will take place on Thursday. On the girls side, Campolindo has advanced to the semifinals, which they will host Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Miramonte was knocked out in the second round, while Acalanes fell in the quarterfinals. On the boys side, Acalanes will play in one semifinal Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at Campolindo against San Ramon Valley. Miramonte will host the other semifinal against De La Salle also at 5:45 p.m. The Campolindo boys lost to De La Salle in the quarterfinals.

The NCS Girls Volleyball Division III Championships start tonight. Campolindo earned the fourth seed and will be hosting El Cerrito tonight at 7:00 p.m. Acalanes earned the tenth seed and will be playing at Moreau Catholic at 7:00 p.m. Miramonte earned the overall top seed and a first-round bye. Their first game will be Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at Miramonte.

The NCS Girls Tennis Championships will take place Nov. 17 and 18 in Santa Rosa. Anastasia Kaiser, of Miramonte, will be the lone Lamorinda representative in the singles bracket. The only local doubles team will be Sarah Holden and Natalie Korich from Campolindo.

Opening night of Saint Mary’s College Performing Arts Theatre Program’s production of “At Mrs. Dalloway’s Party” is this Thursday, Nov. 12. There will also be shows on Nov. 13, 14, 20 and 21. All of these shows start at 8:00 p.m. in the LeFevre Theater on the campus of Saint Mary’s. There is also a 2:00 p.m. matinee show on Sunday, Nov. 22.

The play is comprised of adaptations of a number of short stories by Virginia Woolf.

General admission tickets for all shows are $15. Saint Mary’s students can purchase tickets for $8, while students of other schools can get a ticket for $12 with a valid school ID card. Tickets can be purchased by calling (925)631-4670.

The Campolindo football team went into their meeting with Acalanes Friday night looking at the game as a “must-win.” The Cougars played one of their best games of the year as they beat host Acalanes, 38-27. Tommy Stephens, the Campolindo quarterback, proved to be the star as he completed 19 of his 26 passes for 255 yards. He also threw two touchdown passes. The Cougars improved to 3-2 in DFAL play and 5-4 overall. Acalanes dropped to 4-2 in DFAL play and 5-5 overall.

Miramonte won their game against host Dougherty Valley, 14-7, on Friday night. The Matadors improved to 2-3 in DFAL play and 4-5 overall.

As the Moraga-Orinda Fire District prepares to leave the controversy-laden era of Pete Nowicki, news that a pension reform group has filed a pair of reform initiatives. From political reporter Lisa Vorderbrueggen’s Political Blotter blog:

The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility filed language for two ballot initiatives with the Attorney General’s Office this week that would cap public employee retirement benefits, raise the eligible retirement age and eliminate the use of vacation pay and other perks to spike retirement pay.

Nowicki became a sort of poster child for pension reform after it was reported he cashed in unused vacation time and other benefits to raise his annual pension from $185,000 to $241,000, as is allowed under the rules of his retirement plan. MOFD, like other public safety agencies in the county, participates in a retirement system that allows retirees to receive as pension of 3 percent of their final salary for every year they’ve worked.

Nowicki has been the district’s interim chief on contract since he retired at the end of January, but that contract expires Nov. 19. Former Alameda County Deputy Fire Chief Randy Bradley was appointed Wednesday as the district’s new, permanent chief.

The Moraga-Orinda Fire District has officially announced their selection for new fire chief on Wednesday. Randy Bradley will become the new head of the MOFD.

Bradley had previously been a fire deputy chief for Alameda County. He also worked as the chief of the Lawrence Livermore Fire Department, a department who mainly deals with wildland fires. He is also currently chairman of a National Fire Protection Association committee. It was this experience that helped push him to the top of the group of applicants for the position. Nearly 60 people applied for the position of MOFD chief.