March Madness: 10th graders dominate the court
By Axel G.
CATS students and teachers/staff competed in the annual March Madness basketball tournament that took place from April 3rd to April 5th.
Though the current juniors had won the tournament over the last two years, this year, the 10th grade team took the prize.
The score in the teacher/staff and sophomores game was 25 -14.
Mr. Mandujano, CATS testing coordinator/Math Coach, participated in the basketball tournament because he believes that it builds community and it’s fun.
Photos by Axel G.
He added that we need more space and time for things like this.
“We used to do this years ago. We used to play softball against the seniors every year, we did that about 5, 6 years before the, right before the pandemic began,” he said.
He feels a little scared being in the tournament because he said that he’s not in shape and he knows that he’s going to be tired, but he was still excited for it.
Before the game, Mr. Mandujano said that he wasn’t not confident about winning the tournament.
“No, I don’t [feel confident] for the obvious reason that every student is way better in shape than the majority of the adults that are going to participate in the game.”
He doesn’t think the teachers or staff will come out as the winners, but promised that they would give it their best.
When ranking teams, he ranked juniors as 1st because most of them are on the basketball teams, seniors as 2nd, teachers/staff as 3rd, freshmen as 4th, and sophomores as 5th.
He adds “But that is just me, hopefully, no one takes it personally.” Little did he know that the sophomores would beat out every class and even the teachers and staff.
Mr. Monteon, a graphic design teacher, shared that he wanted to participate in the basketball tournament to seek revenge.
He further explained that he won the first year he participated in the tournament but lost for the last 2 years to the current juniors.
He said, “I feel great, you know, the fact that I could still run and be able to compete with our youngsters, it feels great and then it’s fun, even if we lose.”
When asked if he feels confident in winning, Mr. Monteon says “Honestly, not really, but we’re gonna try ’cause these 9th graders who are now juniors are now stronger, faster, younger, and we’re older.”
He added that they’re going to give it a shot and if they score 10 points that’s a win for them.
He says that “Juniors for sure, juniors are the top dog, so they’re number 1, I don’t know about this year’s seniors, I would go with sophomores next and then I would say seniors third and then teachers and then 9th graders” when ranking teams.
Enghell M., a 9th grader, said that he participated in the basketball tournament because “I play basketball every day and I’d like to feel like being in a tournament or on a team.”
He added that he feels excited to be in the basketball tournament because he’s going to play with a lot of people he doesn’t know.
He shared that he’s going to be happy if he wins the tournament and if he loses he doesn’t care, he just wants to participate.
Enghell said he thought the teachers/staff would win because, according to him, they are bigger than students, older, and more experienced in the game.
Miguel H., a 10th grader, says that he participated in the basketball tournament because his friend recommended it to me.
He said “I feel good about it because I love the sport of basketball and I just like playing the game.”
Miguel H. felt confident about winning the tournament. When asked how he would rank the teams from 1st to 5th place, he shared “For first the 10th graders, second place the 11th graders, third place the teachers, fourth place the 9th graders and last will be the 12th graders.”
Cristopher Zamora., an 11th grader, participated in the tournament because he likes the sport, plays the sport, and it’s a fun way of bringing school spirit. He feels like it’s fun being in the tournament. He further explained that he’s been doing it since his freshman year and it is a fun way to show school spirit.
He says that “I do, we’ve won it the past two years and I’m pretty confident that we could do it again.”
Riquelme A., a 12th grader, said that he participated in the basketball tournament “Because it’s my senior year and you know I’m just trying to do all the activities and yeah, just make sure I have fun, it’s my last year of high school.”
He shares that it feels pretty fun being in the tournament and he just wants to play against the teachers/staff.
He said that “I feel pretty comfortable like I mean if the seniors who are gonna play are the ones that do play basketball I think we got that.”
Ranking:
1st place: Sophomores
2nd place: Teachers/Staff
3rd place: Seniors
4th place: Juniors
5th place: Freshmen
