Boys’ Basketball places 2nd in CCS

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Sheridan Tobin

Huck Vaughan (12) dribbles the ball around his opponent. The boys placed 2nd in CCS after losing against Sacred Heart 48-37.

The boys’ basketball team placed 2nd in CCS Division IV after losing to Sacred Heart Preparatory 48-37 today at Independence High School in the CCS finals.

Though Sacred Heart maintained a steady lead the first half, ending the first quarter 9-2 and second 23-17, the Eagles picked up in the third quarter, trailing at 28-29. They were unable to maintain the momentum though, falling back once again during the 4th quarter. Shots were made by Srivinay Irrinki (11), Eric Holt (11), Nick Nguyen (11), Huckleberry Vaughan (12), Sean Pan (12) and Wei Wei Buchsteiner (12).

“We started off so slowly and out of sync just because of the venue and big time stage,” Head Coach Butch Keller said. “It’s a big game and when we caught up we used all our energy to catch up and we couldn’t get over them.”

Roshni Pankhaniya

Despite the loss, the team still has high expectations for the Northern California Championship (NorCal) playoffs, a spot they gained by advancing to CCS finals.

“Though the game against Prep was definitely a hard one to swallow, I’m excited that we still get to play in Norcals,” Sean Pan (12) said. “We’re just looking forward to coming out and playing at our true potential and better than we did today.”

Keller also echoed Sean’s hopes for a better game Wednesday at the NorCal playoffs.

“I think we were here today because we deserve to be, the last six teams we beat were very good basketball teams and we played hard enough and well enough to be here,” Keller said. “Today just wasn’t our day and we hope that Wednesday will be our day.”

Many students, faculty, and alumni came out dressed in white as requested by the team to cheer on the boys. A generous donor paid for the admission of all students and faculty attending the game.

Back in the bay for spring break, basketball player and alumni Shreya Vemuri (‘12) was impressed by the spectator turnout.

“I think it was really nice to see the crowd come out and see how far the team has come from last year, especially since the crowd is what motivated me as a player” she said.

The school’s mascot also came out and rallied the crowd’s support.

Roshni Pankhaniya

The team will play at the first Round of NorCal playoffs this Wednesday at 7 p.m.