“I feel confident,” senior Jake Longoria said going into the boys’ Jan. 23 matchup against the Valley Christian Lions.
And this attitude wasn’t overconfidence, as the Cavs beat the Lions 86-55.
“(This group of players has) played (the Lions) for four years now, so we are familiar with their system,” Longoria said.
Senior Reggie Fan protects the ball from a Valley Christian player during the first quarter.
The Lions are known for their constant five-person substitutions so that the whole lineup is replaced by new players around every three minutes.
But the Cavs didn’t let this strategy give the Lions a leg up.
Although Longoria said that the game was “messy,” SCDS was still able to clinch a substantial 42-25 lead in the first half.
But going into the second half senior Reggie Fan, who scored 20 points, said that the Cavs had to continue to break the Lions’ press on offense and make layups.
Coach David Ancrum attributed the boys’ “so-so” performance to their many missed layups.
And Longoria echoed this common sentiment.
“We left a lot of points out on the field in layups,” he said.
But Ancrum said that the second half was way better for SCDS since they started making their layups.
“That gave us a cushion,” Ancrum said.
The Cavs scored 31 points in the third quarter, compared to the Lions’ 18 points.
But going into the next game, Ancrum said that the boys need to make their layups.
“Those are the only shots that we get that are free,” he said.
The Cavs (12-1) face the Sacramento Adventist Capitals (15-4) on Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at SCDS.
“Next game will be one of the, if not the toughest, games for us,” Fan said.
“They are fast and big and play tough defense.”
—By Katia Dahmani
