Wildcats

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’ more deliberate, methodical approach to the game.

Hamlet Nalbandyan For a team that had won its league games by an average of 61.6 points per contest, days like Friday were rare. No, the Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team didn't suffer the upset of all upsets in its CIF Southern Section Division VA second-round contest, but the second-seeded Wildcats didn't exactly wow anyone, either. Playing against a West Valley Christian team it had defeated by 41 points less than a month ago, Renaissance Academy was sluggish for much of the night before pulling away late in a 71-53 victory at home.

Grant Gordon Renaissance Academy's boys' basketball team is used to taking on the underdog role. The Division V team has played teams in higher divisions all season long and represents a school with a student body of just 50. But on Thursday, it was the Wildcats who had the bigger roster with larger bodies. Clearly, Renaissance Academy took the role of Goliath as it cruised to a 68-46 victory against visiting Glendale Adventist in a nonleague game at Renaissance Academy.

GLENDALE — Having watched his top-seeded Renaissance Academy basketball team play its first two postseason contests, Coach Sid Cooke said he’s spotted a couple of warning signs. While the Wildcats (19-8) have shown flashes of dominance, there have been stretches of choppiness in their early round CIF Southern Section Division V-A victories against Arrowhead Christian Academy and Chadwick. That, Cooke said, will need to change as the Wildcats shoot for the program’s first CIF championship after runner-up finishes in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE — All lanes to the basket were closed thanks to a towering specimen looking to swat shots right back to the shooter or beyond. Renaissance Academy basketball player Anthony Stover demonstrated the art of shot blocking at will, using his 6-foot-10 frame and arm extension to reject close-up shots in the paint. Stover blocked a season-high nine shots and teammate Justin Cook collected 29 points Wednesday afternoon to spark Renaissance Academy to a 69-54 nonleague home victory against Schurr.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE ? As far as playoff victories go, there aren?t many that are more flawless than the one the Renaissance Academy boys? basketball team delivered on Friday night. From the opening tip of their 77-19 CIF Southern Section Division III-A second-round victory over Estancia High at Renaissance, the Wildcats dominated every facet of the game and in the process delivered a message to the rest of the division: Watch out. Justin Cook poured in 20 points and Tremaine Tatum added 16 points to pace the Wildcats, who are on a mission to capture a CIF title that has narrowly eluded them the past three seasons.

PALOS VERDES PENINSULA — Though his team is the top seed in the CIF Southern Section Division V-A playoffs, Renaissance Academy basketball Coach Sid Cooke wouldn’t mind seeing it play up to it through an entire game. With some of the Wildcats’ top players still recovering from nagging injuries, they have only shown flashes of dominance during their first two postseason contests. “I think we haven’t played our best,” Cooke said after visiting Renaissance recorded a 63-42 second-round win against 16th-seeded Chadwick on Friday night.

LOS ANGELES ? For the second straight year, the Renaissance Academy boys' basketball team lost to Price, which in turn won its eighth consecutive CIF championship. And in the numbers game that was Friday's Division VA title contest, Price won. And it won big, with a 66-27 score serving as the biggest example of Knights' dominance at Loyola Marymount University's Albert Gersten Pavilion. "They have a lot of horses," Wildcat Coach Sid Cooke said. "One comes in, one goes out."