Men’s varsity basketball fell to Archbishop Mitty of San Jose in the second round of the CIF NorCal playoffs March 12, losing 63-56 in an overtime battle.

The game was controlled on the defensive side for the most part and showed a battle of the post players near the basket. On the perimeter, Matthew Willis and ArchBishop Mitty’s Riley Grigsby traded three-pointers consistently.

The Cats held the lead most of the game and seemed to pull away until Grigsby made a game-tying three-pointer with eight seconds left to send the game into extra minutes.

In overtime, Mitty pulled away and sealed their victory when Mitty’s Kyle Peterson made two free throws to make the score 63-56.

“I feel extremely proud of the way that we played against Mitty. They were a very good team and we played our hearts out and some plays here and there didn’t go our way but I still feel like we put our all into the game and I have no regrets about it,” Willis said.

This loss ends the team’s season and caps off an all-time best performance by any Whitney men’s basketball team in school history. The men finished with a record of 25-7 and a second place finish in the Capital Valley Conference.

“The team performed at a very high level the entire season. I could not be more proud of the effort they gave us every practice and game. Winning 25 games in a season is a great accomplishment but I think the biggest and most important thing is that the guys on this team always showed class in winning or losing. This has been the best basketball season that our school has ever seen and we will only go up from here,” head coach Nick French said.

Nearly a month after their senior night, the team’s six seniors played their actual final game.

“It’s definitely bittersweet. Playing since middle school I’ve always loved basketball. From freshman year we all had one goal and that was to leave a legacy behind, to show Whitney something it had never seen before. I couldn’t be prouder of our team this year who all believed in each other and played as a team,” Moe Ali said.

Even though the majority of the team will be gone next year, the team feels confident about their ability to repeat this season’s success.

“Our seniors were incredible. They showed everyone in the program and the community how to be leaders both on and off the court. We are bringing back nine returning players and expect to pick up where we left off. Juren Porras and Adam Sharrah have already shown glimpses of being leaders and I think they will flourish in those roles,” Assistant coach Alex Anderson said.

French said, “I would like to thank the entire school, staff, administration and community for supporting us this year.”

by DANIEL SHARRAH