Renaissance Academy

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — Before they were Falcons, Knights and Rebels, a good number of the boys' and girls' basketball players currently occupying roster spots on area high school teams began as Blazers. Renaissance Academy boys' basketball Coach Sid Cooke has been instructing youth players from around the area and the greater San Gabriel Valley long enough to count alumni of his camps and travel ball program at just about any local game he attends, whether it's at Crescenta Valley High, La Cañada, St. Francis or Flintridge Prep.

With Muir High's boys' basketball team stunningly forfeiting its Pacific League title along with 20 victories, Glendale's subsequent ascension into third place in the final standings, a rare playoff home game and the Nitros' first postseason victory since 1993, just one round into the CIF Southern Section Division IA playoffs and it's already been quite a surprising and historic run for Glendale basketball. "It's been great," said Glendale Coach Steve Snodgress, who coached his first CIF playoff victory in Friday's first-round 56-49 win over Diamond Bar. "Just to get there as a third-place team was a bonus and to get a home game against another third-place team worked out perfectly.

On three occasions, the Renaissance Academy boys' basketball program has vied for a CIF Southern Section Division championship only to come up short. But many believe this season may very well be the best chance of them all. Renaissance, as expected, was bestowed the No. 1 seed in the Division 6 tournament on Sunday and will begin its championship quest on Wednesday when it hosts St. Monica Academy. “I think our schedule was tougher than a lot of teams in higher divisions,” said Wildcats Coach Sid Cooke.

SANTA ANA — Just when it all seemed to be slipping away, Renaissance Academy found its tickets to Sacramento in the trusted hands of senior guard Josh Thomas. It was Thomas who hit a go-ahead jumper, calmly stepping up inside the three-point line for a higher-percentage shot, with just 38 seconds left to propel Renaissance to a dramatic 55-52 win against Price on Saturday at Mater Dei High in the 2008 Division V State Championships Southern Regional Final. “From where we came from to now, it’s just an amazing thing,” said Wildcats Coach Sid Cooke, whose team will play Ross Branson this coming Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at Sacramento’s Arco Arena with the hopes of becoming the area’s first state basketball champion.

When the Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team captured its first CIF championship on March 3, players jumped into each other's arms, a few tears flowed and emotions ran high. None of which is an uncommon sight when a team reaches its ultimate goal together after months of striving, but for Wildcats senior guard Vince De Guzman, the moment carried an extra poignant touch of bittersweet sentiment. "It felt amazing capturing a CIF title. It feels good just winning it, not only for the team, but for my dad's memory," says De Guzman, who lost his father Napoleon De Guzman to a heart attack over the summer.

The area’s top-10 high school teams from the 2007-08 season were selected by the sportswriters of the Crescenta Valley Sun and Glendale News-Press .   1 Renaissance Academy boys’ basketball — For the first time in the program’s history, the Wildcats advanced to the CIF Division V State Championship game. Renaissance suffered a 40-33 loss to powerhouse Ross Branson in Sacramento’s Arco Arena, but it was still a history-making season that will be looked back upon for a long time to come.

GLENDALE — You could form a pretty lethal basketball team just from the list of all-league, and in some cases All-CIF, players who graduated from the four area boys' teams that made the CIF playoffs last season. Flintridge Prep will forge on without its four-year starting backcourt of Edmund Chow and Jonathan Woo, while Crescenta Valley lost its pair of aces in the post, Coltrane Powdrill and Nick Dragovich. Renaissance Academy is a vastly different team without its Big Three of Gil Tacita, Dushon Carter and Bryan Bourgeoise and St. Francis bid farewell to standout guard Tommy Jordan.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE ? There?s still two weeks left in the regular season before the CIF Southern Section Division III-A playoffs begin for the Renaissance Academy boys? basketball team, which will attempt to claim the program?s first CIF crown after appearing in the title game the previous three seasons. For now, the Wildcats are ranked No. 1 in the latest CIF poll. Renaissance Academy showed why Monday afternoon during a 64-47 nonleague home victory against Brentwood. Four athletes scored 10-or-more points to help the Wildcats (21-2)