“Valley Christian Lions maul low-scoring Cavs.”

“Lutheran Panthers trample over Cavalier girls.”

“Boy Cavaliers swept by Sacramento Adventist.”

“Girls’ basketball suppressed by Faith Christian Lions.”

These are the boys’ and girls’ basketball seasons thus far—rough, hard-fought and losing—but not terrible.

True, both teams are 2-8 in their leagues and ranked sixth of seven.

However, the teams’ success does not lie in their records or standings, but rather their game-to-game point spreads.

Each season, the Cavs face every team in the Sacramento Metro League twice, once at home and once away.

Because of this, the second game serves as an opportunity for both teams to improve. And the Cavs have done just that, senior Shaun Shah said.

“At first, we didn’t know how to play with each other,” he said. “But in January, everything just clicked.”

“We didn’t win, but we fought.”

Senior Madison Galati agrees.

“Once we get involved and realize that we’re all a part of the team, we’ll play better than we did before,” she said.

Statistics prove her right.

For the boys, the first Buckingham Charter match-up produced a 36-point losing spread, while the second was only a 25-point losing spread.

Similarly, the first Sacramento Adventist game resulted in an 18-point losing difference, while the second time it was only one of 13.

The girls, too, have seen diminishing point spreads between their league games—and large ones.

They lost to Lutheran by 16 points on Jan. 13, but beat them by 13 only three weeks later.

And against Sacramento Adventist, the point spread closed from 23 to 8 between the two losses.

Boys’ coach David Ancrum said that the players are finding their own “parking spaces,” or niches, on the team.

Senior Bryan Nakagaki agrees, claiming that the practices are far less “chaotic” now that everyone has adjusted to their positions.

“We don’t make the same mistakes any more,” he said. “Now we’re making new mistakes.”

Ancrum also believes that extra training before and after practice has developed the team.

“You can have a negative season if your guys are not trying,” Shah said. “But we’re trying our very best.”

According to Galati, boosts in the team’s confidence, especially in shooting, are to thank for the upward trend in the girls’ season.

While the girls started the season strongly with a loss followed by a three-game winning streak, they went on to lose six games in a row.

However, the team quickly rebounded at the Homecoming match against Buckingham, Jan. 27, and then the Lutheran game, Feb. 7, which they won 49-36—and with only six players, four of whom were sick.

“We started out with just (high-scorer) Mary-Clare (Bosco) scoring,” junior Alison Walter said. “But in the last (Lutheran) game, everyone made a shot.”

Both teams faced Wilton Christian on Feb. 10, but results were unavailable at press time.

They will tackle Faith Christian, whom both have lost to earlier this season, tonight in Yuba City in the last game of the season.