This Week in Athletics

February 18, 2022

CIF Playoffs for boys soccer and boys basketball commenced this past week, and for one team the road continues into the quarterfinals while the other saw their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in the second round.

The boys basketball team (14-4) had an incredible season. As noted in the winter season round-up a couple of weeks ago, the Frontier League champions swept through league play and headed into the CIF Southern Section Tournament as one of the teams to beat. The boys faced off against Beacon Hill Classical Academy in their first-round matchup and continued their white-hot play, cruising to a 60-12 victory.

A second round match-up pitted the Rams against Western High School in Anaheim, which proved to be their toughest game to day. The two teams battled into overtime and the raucous environment in Anaheim proved to be just enough to give the home team the upper hand, as Western edged out Cate 48-47 in the final seconds. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Rams after such a successful season, one that they all thought would continue much deeper into the playoffs. All in all, it was a tremendous season for the boys and they have every reason to hold their heads up high.

On the pitch, the boys soccer team (11-2) has played themselves into the CIF quarterfinals with two dramatic victories at home. In the first round, the Rams took on Maranatha School from Pasadena. A back and forth game led to a 1-1 tie heading into stoppage time in the second half. It only took a few seconds into stoppage for a beautiful through ball to find its way to senior Peter Wood’s foot, where he lofted a ball up over the closing goalkeeper for the game winner.

The second round was even more tightly contested as a scoreless game ticked down into the final minutes. A hard fought play led to a Rams corner kick that was sent into the box and rattled around multiple players before eventually finding the leg of sophomore Seb Sutch for the lone goal of the match. Cate will look for a birth in the semifinals when they travel to Little Rock High School on Friday, February 18 at 5:00 p.m.

As the winter season comes to a close, spring sports are just getting underway. Stay tuned for the next update on how our spring teams are beginning their seasons.