This Week in Athletics

December 9, 2022

It has been a lightning fast two weeks since returning from Fall Break, and for our winter teams, a week off immediately after starting practices two weeks prior is never ideal. However, that has not stopped anyone from hitting their stride during this three-week stretch.

The boys basketball team competes in the annual Nordhoff Tournament, and just about every year they are one of the teams to beat. It is a difficult tournament consisting of teams from all division levels around the Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. This year, the team took on Villanova Prep, Fillmore, and Ventura in the pool play stage. After victories over all three, including the first-ever defeat of Ventura High School, a school of over 2,000 students, the team advanced to the championship game to take on Camarillo, a powerhouse in the local counties. The team lost in a heartbreaker, 62-59, in what was an unbelievable high school basketball game. I don’t think many gave the Rams any shot in the championship going up against a Division 2 program, but the boys made sure that everyone knows this is a team that can compete with anyone. Behind the play and leadership of seniors Babacar Pouye and Jengus Ercil, the team will now move into league play looking for another league title and a shot at redemption in the CIF-SS tournament come February.

Girls basketball has had a slower start to their season, in large part due to not having their full roster until about a week and a half ago, and the fact that they, too, played some very stiff competition. As the boys do, the girls team plays yearly in the Bishop Diego Tournament where some very good programs attend. This year the Rams, just filling out their roster a day prior to the tournament, felt the lack of cohesion with some tough losses to Bishop Diego, Carpinteria, and St. Bonaventure. However, sometimes from the toughest of days can come the learning experiences that a team needs, and who did they get on the schedule coming out of that tournament, the Thacher Toads. And who wouldn’t want to take some frustration out on their rival? The girls traveled into the hills just a few days later and picked up a huge road win against the Toads. A young team with over half the players being 9th and 10th graders will look to their seniors Kendall Thorne, Desi Flores, Mary Foster, Nicole Teh, and Talia Tom for leadership as the Rams look to take home a Frontier League Championship with a full month of games when they return in January.

In what seems to be the theme to the early season for all sports, the girls water polo team has faced off with some very good, experienced teams to begin the season. A young squad has competed against two schools with enrollments of 2,000 in Buena and Royal, and although the results were not what the team had hoped to start the season, their effort and resilience must be commended. The competition is going to level out as this team gains more experience, and with seniors Liz Sutter, Cathleen Chow, Myla Van Lynde, Lylie Bechtel, and Stella Meister guiding the team, it will be exciting to see what they are able to accomplish in league play.

The boys soccer team has played solid to begin the year. After an opening game loss to Nordhoff, the Rams have bounced back with a dominating win over Stevenson School and draws against very good local rivals Bishop Diego and Dunn. A small senior group of captains Jae Lim and Sage Hou is taking a relatively young core and helping them gain experience quickly. Coming off a deep playoff run last year, the team has its sights set on a repeat performance with a different end result. After the break, the Rams will be in the heart of their league play vying for a league championship and playoff spot, both of which seem very possible with the direction their early season play has them headed.

The other half of the varsity soccer equation sees the girls team off to a fantastic 4-0 start having netted 17 goals while only surrendering two. Wins over a good Stevenson School team, as well as Villanova Prep, La Reina, and Nordhoff have the Rams in a great position as they move closer to their league schedule. And unlike the boys team, this group does have a heavy upperclass presence with six seniors all of whom have years of experience on varsity. Those seniors, Emie Nam, Tamsyn Taptich, Ava Bracher, Phebe Hancock, Gigi Geyer, and Ellie Tunnell, have had outstanding careers in the soccer program, and if the start to this season is any indication, they are hoping to finish with bang.