Cathedral Catholic found itself in a battle against an undersized and depth-lacking Francis Parker team, which wouldn’t go away. The Lancers briefly took one- and two-point leads in the third quarter, and cut the lead to 1 with less than a minute to go after Kimo Ferrari hit three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt. But Obinna Anyanwu and Beon Riley hit 3/4 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
What did we learn from this matchup? Here are some takeaways.
Cathedral does just enough to win
Call it a “trap game” or a “potential letdown,” but after Cathedral Catholic’s solid performance in a loss to Sierra Canyon, it found itself in a dogfight with the undersized Lancers. Every time the Dons appeared to pull away, Francis Parker answered with key baskets. But the Dons were able to hit free throws down the stretch to secure the win. Highly ranked teams will have these games throughout the year, and a win is a win.
Parker is small, but dynamic
In a way, we learned much more about Francis Parker in the loss than we did about Cathedral in the win. Parker lost all of its size to graduation and transfer, and doesn’t have a starter taller than 6-2. But the Lancers play fast but disciplined, shoot it well from three and are fierce on defense. The Lancers effectively sent doubles to the post to neutralize the Dons size advantage, and Cathedral for most of the night was unable to make them pay by hitting outside shots of its own. The return of Miles Williams, who spent his junior year at Christian High, gives the Lancers a second high-level point guard and a mismatch off the bounce.
The Lancers should once again be competitive in the Coastal League.
Kimo Ferrari is back
After an injury-plagued and inefficient summer and spring travel ball season, Ferrari made a statement in his senior debut, scoring 18 points on 5-11 three-point shooting. Known for his quickness off the dribble, his improved perimeter shooting caught our attention. Three of the made threes were from NBA range. He also does a solid job driving and locating open shooters with pinpoint kick-out passes. One area he needs to continue to improve is scoring at the rim once he gets by defenders, as he almost never looked to score once beating his defender off the bounce.
Camden McCormick is a sophomore on the rise
The 6-2 lefty played much bigger than his height as he frequently guarded the Dons post players and held his own. He came alive offensively during the third quarter, knocking down two corner threes and making a spectacular reverse layup and the ensuing foul shot. After missing much of spring and summer with injuries, McCormick looks ready for a breakout sophomore campaign.
