CSD-Riverside played against Cal Lutheran for the first time this season. They were supposed to play before Clerc Classic; however, the game had to be rescheduled for last night. Cal Lutheran assumed that they would blow out the game; however, CSD Riverside played some great defense for the first five minutes. It was a real battle and the score ended up being 2-2 for a long time. CSD-Riverside struggled with their free throws, making 0-6 of the shots in the first quarter. But the Cubs were still in the game. Cal Lutheran led 10-8 at the end of the 1st quarter.

In the second quarter, both team continued to play great defense and CSD-Riverside continued to struggle with their free throws- they shot 1 for 5 in the second quarter, yet were down within 4 points. Then Noah Valencia made the last shot before halftime, which helped boost the Cubs’ score. It was 18-17, Cal Lutheran leading, at the halftime.

In the third quarter, CSDR stepped up and rallied with 16 points to grab the lead, 33-31. In the fourth quarter, both teams fought hard with great defense. With 1:30 left on the game clock, CSDR led by 1 point, but Cal Lutheran went on a 7-0 run and answered with 19 points, so CSDR fell to Cal Lutheran, 50-46.

Individual contributors included Desean Welch (8 points, 10 rebounds, 1 block), Jacob Weiss (8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), Christian Jacobs (7 points, 12 rebounds), Nathaniel Humpal (4 points, 8 rebounds), Alan Alcocer (4 points, 3 steals.) and Noah Valencia (14 points, 10 rebounds). CSD-Riverside Boys Basketball finished the game with 50 rebounds.

Noah also broke his own father’s school record for steals in a season, grabbing his 97th steal during the game. The old record, previously held by Jeremias Valencia (’99), stood at 96. Noah still has a few more games to go in the season as well.

“It was heartbreaking for all of us, because we made the same mistake in the last 2 minutes in each of the last three games, and lost all three. Missing free throws really hurt us. Hope we will regroup today,” stated the coaches.

CSDR will host a game against another league opponent, Boys Republic, on Tuesday, February 3, at 6:00 p.m.
League Record 5 – 4
Overall Record 10 – 10