Phantoms’ winning streak has opponents spooked

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You may be wondering why a team with an 18-0 record and an average winning margin of 20 points isn’t ranked in The Times’ Top 25 boys’ basketball poll. It’s simply a matter of size for Cathedral, a small boys school located a mile and a half from downtown Los Angeles.

Sure, against powerhouse programs like Taft or Mater Dei, the Phantoms would be overmatched. But versus schools of similar size, they are the scary ones. In fact, Cathedral is the only undefeated team in its division and Coach Sheldon McCorn, an assistant at Artesia when it won the Southern Section Division III-A title in 2003, has high expectations.

‘We’ve got pretty balanced scoring and we can adjust to whatever style our opponents are playing,’ McCorn said. ‘But the real strength of this team is defense. We only give up about 45 points per game.’

http://cathedralhs.ca.campusgrid.net/home

Cathedral is ranked No. 1 in Division IV-A by both Maxpreps and Calpreps and is expected to be atop Monday’s first Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Assn. poll. The Phantoms strengthened their position with a 71-64 win over Viewpoint (No. 8 in Div. IV-A) Saturday at the Brethren Christian Small Schools Showcase in Cypress.

In addition to wins over Narbonne, Crossroads, Walnut, Ontario, Riverside Notre Dame and Bell-Jeff, the Phantoms are 3-0 in the Camino Real League, including a 58-55 home victory over St. Paul -- their closest game so far.

Cerritos Valley Christian and defending Division IV-A champion Twentynine Palms are expected to be second and third, respectively, in the coaches’ poll.

-- Steve Galluzzo, guest blogger