Wildcats

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — By the time the Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team begins Harbor League play on Friday, most other squads will be over a third of the way through their league schedules. But Wildcats Coach Sid Cooke doesn't mind the late start. It's giving his young team some extra time to find it's rhythm and it's been time well spent, as Renaissance will ride a seven-game win streak into league after beating Besant Hill on Tuesday night at home, 72-59. "We don't want to stop winning," said Nick Troplant, who led the Wildcats (12-6)

PASADENA - All season long, the Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team has leaned on the play of its starters. It was the Wildcats' bench that picked up the slack and delivered 35 points in a 79-51 victory over Vincent Memorial High Tuesday in the first round of the Southern California Regional of the CIF State Division V Championships at Pasadena City College's Hutto-Patterson Gym. "Our starters didn't come out ready, they were anxious,...

ALHAMBRA - The Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team devised a game plan to exploit its opponent's size disadvantage and executed it on the way to a convincing nonleague victory Tuesday night. Led by senior forward Jessy Cantinol's 20 points, the Wildcats received easy baskets inside, as well as good looks outside, while the defense hounded the Mark Keppel Aztecs to a poor shooting night. The result was a 68-42 triumph that marks the eighth straight win for the Wildcats, who have also won 10 of their last 11 under Coach Sid Cooke, who said the team is starting to come together.

WOODLAND HILLS - There's help coming for the Renaissance Academy basketball team. In all likelihood, the Wildcats are not going to have to play a regular season game with just six players when competition begins in the winter. But that's what Renaissance Academy was burdened with in Sunday's quarterfinal game of the 17th annual War on the Floor Tournament at Los Angeles Pierce College. Four of its players had never played on the varsity level during the 2011-12 campaign, and of the two who had, one was at Temple City before transferring to Renaissance Academy.

Though the Renaissance Academy basketball team recently won its first CIF Southern Section Division VI championship, many of the players haven't forgotten the last loss pinned on them. That occurred Feb. 7, when Renaissance suffered a 57-56 Harbor League defeat to Ribet Academy. The Wildcats shook off the loss, having since won seven games in a row. Third-seeded Renaissance (26-6) will get another crack at second-seeded Ribet (21-10) when the teams meet at 7 p.m. today in a CIF State Boys' Division V Championships Southern California Bracket semifinal contest at Pasadena City College, with Ribet as the home team.

BURBANK — For most of the night, the Renaissance Academy basketball team seemed destined to make another appearance in the championship game of the annual Bulldog Tip-Off Classic. The Wildcats got plenty of rebounding and featured a strong inside presence. It all vanished in the fourth quarter. Renaissance saw its offense go cold in the fourth quarter and suffered a 46-41 loss to Mark Keppel in a semifinal game of the tournament’s 41st installment on Friday night at Burbank High.

GLENDALE — Just five days removed from its loss to Corona del Mar in the CIF Southern Section Division III-A championship, the Renaissance Academy basketball team was back on the court in its third consecutive bid for a state championship. The Wildcats won their first-ever state playoff game Thursday night with a Division V opening-round 61-58 victory at Reedley Immanuel in a game that came down to the wire amid some casualties. Josh Thomas had a team-high 18 points, including the pull-up jumper that put the Wildcats ahead by five points with under a minute to play, but was hobbled by an ankle injury in the third quarter.

MORENO VALLEY ? And the growing pains continued, ironically, as Renaissance Academy's season ended. For the second straight year, the Wildcats lost their last two games of the season, this time falling to Moreno Valley Calvary Chapel, 72-58, in the opening round of the Southern California Regional of the CIF State Championships at Canyon Springs High on Tuesday night. "I can't really complain, because it takes time to build a program," said Renaissance Academy Coach Sid Cooke, whose team lost in the CIF Southern Section Division VA final to Price on Friday for the second consecutive year.

BURBANK — The Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team continued to hone its arsenal of weapons in the Burbank Summer League Thursday, this time dismantling St. Bonaventure, 70-53. Paced by Justin Cook's 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals, the Wildcats opened a double-digit lead in the first quarter and led by 20 at the half. The wide margin gave Renaissance Coach Sid Cooke the latitude to play his entire roster, while still getting double-figure scoring from three of his five starters.

SACRAMENTO ? There haven?t been too many times this season when an opponent has been able to knock the Renaissance Academy basketball team off the path it wanted to go down. The Wildcats have the size, strength and athleticism to push almost anyone around in almost any situation. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Ross Branson wasn?t just anyone and Saturday?s CIF Division V State Championship at Arco Arena in Sacramento wasn?t just any game. Using a suffocating and active defense, the Bulls grounded the taller and more athletic Wildcats, forcing them to abandon their normal attacking style of play and play the Bulls?