Women's Basketball
Varsity:
Led by junior guard Jada Hunter, the Christian Brothers Falcons basketball team (9-1) captured The Valley High School tournament, defeating Pierce High School 72-35 in the championship game, Dec. 11.
The 5’8” Hunter dominated, with 28 points, 10 steals and seven rebounds and was named tournament MVP. Sophomores Leah Nelson, and Kaia Foster added ample support with 14 ad 13 points, respectively. Nelson was named to the all-tournament team.
“I’m proud of the team,” Falcons’ coach Shandyn Foster said. “We’re young and far from perfect, but we’re resilient. There are a lot of kinks to iron out on offense and defense, but we’re growing and getting better.”
Christian Brothers raced past rival St. Francis in the opening round of the tournament, 59-39 and rallied from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat a then-undefeated Rodriguez (7-1) team, 69-64.
Hunter, fast and springy, averaged 21 points, 10.6 rebounds and 7 steals in three games. Foster (named all-tournament at the Cartwright Classic, Dec. 2-4) averaged 15.6 points and Nelson, 15.3 points in the Valley tournament.
Men's Basketball:
Frosh: It was another strong week for the Christian Brothers Men’s Freshman basketball team as they finished a challenging slate at 3-1.
The week started with a 69-34 victory over visiting St. Mary’s of Stockton. The Falcons were paced by Marcus Salud’s 18 points and also received strong contributions from Stephen Hewitt, Phillip Bell, Josh Lewis, and Steve Willams.
Thursday saw the Falcons travel to Woodcreek High School in Roseville. for the Woodcreek Invitational.
They started the tournament with a 75-41 victory over Roseville, had a heartbreaking loss to the host Woodcreek Wolves 67-57, and then closed with a 72-60 victory over Inderkum.
All tournament selections Philip Bell and Ryan Delucchi led the Falcons, and it was a strong team effort on both sides of the ball that led to a successful weekend.
Varsity: Men’s Varsity Basketball played host Burbank in their Home Opener Dec 7th and traveled to Jesuit to participate in the 47th Father Berry Classic. Dec 9th -11th
The falcons had a rough week in going 1-3 thru all 4 games while playing some top teams in the city and state. The Falcons continue to have slow starts in games plagued by turnovers and missed opportunities.
Game 1: The Falcons Home Opener against Burbank on Dec 7th quickly got out of hand where the Falcons had double digit turnovers in the 1st quarter. Burbank’s Athleticism and ball hawking defense haunted the falcons all night. The Falcons found success in 3rd quarter with limiting turnovers and forcing Burbank to play half-court offense however, Burbank’s lead of 20+ was too big of deficit to overcome. Falcons Lose 86-48.
Game 2: Falcons took on Top 10 State rank team in Archbishop Mitty in the 1st round of the Father Berry Classic. The falcons came out with a lot of energy and forcing Mitty into turnovers and limiting their 2nd chance points. With 2 minutes to go in the 1st half, the falcons were only down 3 points off a steal by John Marengo which forced Mitty into a timeout. However, Mitty responded with 15-0 run to close out the quarter where the Falcons committed 4 straight turnovers leading to shooting fouls giving Mitty the chance for 3-point plays. The Falcons could never seem to recover in the 2nd half where Mitty extended their lead well onto the 4th. Falcons lose 85-42
Game 3: In desperate need of a Win the Falcons played took on St. Patrick -St. Vincent in the 2nd game of the Father Berry Classic. Thinking about the last two rough outings the Falcons were hoping to come out with some energy and competition. However, the Falcons once again had a slow start with turnovers and giving up transition points. Frustration and lack of communication by the Flacons allowed St. Patrick -St Vincent to play with extreme confidence while they cruise to an easy win over CB. Falcons lose 81-36
Game 4: After a long post game meeting from their embarrassing lost to St. Patrick -St Vincent the Falcons took on Bishop Manogue in the last game of the tournament. The Falcons only had one objective in the game and that was to “PLAY HARD”. From the Tip the Falcons played with extreme energy and effort determined to not have a poor outing. Although the Falcons weren’t necessarily executing on both ends, they were forcing their opponent into turnovers and making them feel their presence. Led by Seniors John Marengo and Cooper Rapton the Flacons fought their way back from down 17 to get their 1st win in the tournament 71-70 over Bishop Manogue.
Senior John Marengo average 20 points and 8 rebounds during the 4-game span this week.
Men's Soccer:
Men's Soccer took first place in the River City Tournament this past weekend. The team went 4-0 beating McClatchy, Monterey Trail, Rodriguez, and Folsom in the championship match. Keep up the great work!! The JV team also played in the tourney and finished 2-1-1.