After ending the regualr season with a 3-9 league record, boys’ basketball entered the CIF-SS Div 3A tournament as underdogs.

Going into their first round game of CIF, the Wildcats matched up against San Jacinto High School, who held an 8-2 league record.

“Before the first round, we were looking to get to the quarterfinals and semifinals of the Southern Section rounds. If we got past the second round, we could have gone far, but we had a bad draw this year,” said Aaren Lewis, junior, who grabbed three rebounds against San Jacinto. The Wildcats did not get a favorable draw as they had to face the number one seed in the tournament in the second round.

In the first round, the Wildcats dominated the San Jacinto Tigers, winning the game 59-47.

“Even though we started slow, we picked up the pace [and] played our manto- man defense, which we executed very well,” said Tyler Baublit, senior, who secured four rebounds while dishing out two assists.

The Wildcats were able to take the lead by the half as they limited the Tigers to four points in the second quarter with their man-to-man defense.

“We were able to play a very defensive game and played it to Kyle Caudill [senior] to make the easy shots. He was able to score points because he was much bigger and stronger than [the players on] on their team” said Grant Bishop, senior, who scored 13 points in the game.

After their win against San Jacinto, the Wildcats looked for an upset against number one seeded Harvard-Westlake High School in the second round.

In the first quarter against the Wolverines, the Wildcats got off to a slow start and trailed by nine points. However, the Wolverines were not able to take a larger lead into the half as they still led by nine points.

“We had to keep the turn-overs down and should have boxed out on the rebounds more often,” said Lewis.

After the half, the Wildcats were able to gain some momentum and closed the gap to four points in the third quarter.

“At half we talked about executing our plays and running our defensive schemes,” said Lewis.

By the end of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats had the opportunity to tie the game. However, down by two and with possession of the ball the team failed to convert.

The Wolverines went on to win the game by a final of 65-58, ending the Wildcats’ hopes of making a run in CIF.

Baublit said, “They played well, but we started slow and could not catch up.”

Bishop agreed, adding, “I thought we could have won the game but we would have had to play perfectly through the whole game.”

The Wildcats ended their season with a near upset against a top-200 nationally ranked team in the second round of CIF.

“I was pleased with the way we ended the season because we played the best we could against [Harvard Westlake],” said Bishop.