The “Battle of the 192” returned as neighboring Carpinteria High and Cate met in a non-league boys basketball game, and the host Rams pulled out a 61-55 win on Monday night.
Cate led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, but Carpinteria got hot and made it a close game.
“We played extremely well in spurts,” said Cate coach Andy Gil. “Proud of our first-half defense. I told the team at halftime, holding any team to 15 first half points will almost always lead to a positive outcome.”
Babacar Pouye scored 18 points, Jacob Gabbay had 14 points and seven assists and Tyler Martinez finished with 13 points to lead Cate (9-6 overall).
“Jacob Gabbay was fantastic for us in the second half, knocking down two big threes and feeding Babacar,” said Gil
Junior Mario Serrano led Carpinteria with 14 points, including four three-pointers. Senior Rodolfo Jimenez made a trio of threes and scored 11 points and senior Kainoa Glasgow added 10 points.
“Credit to coach Jackson Hall. “I’m excited he is over at Carp and has these guys playing hard and getting loose balls,” said Gil.
Carpinteria is now 5-17 overall.
Cate has a big Tri-Valley League game at Bishop Diego on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Carpinteria plays at Santa Paula on Friday.