Revenge is sweet. The Boys Falcons beat their counterpart from Holy Family, 46 to 27, avenging their loss last year, when the Knights gave the Falcons their sole league loss as they won Foothill League. The Knights, on the other hand, could not avenge their losses in the St. Rita tournament to the Falcons both this year and last. Last year the Knights had handed the Falcons a league loss after the Falcons beat the Knights in that tournament This year was different from last year.  The Falcons took a nine point advantage into halftime and pulled away, giving the Knights their first league loss. St. Philip has beaten seven of the other top eight teams, with the game with rival St. Rita this Monday, February 3. The Falcons have also given the other teams in the top four their only losses.

The game between the Knights and Falcons was much anticipated, but the game seemed to be anticlimactic. Neither team scored in the first five minutes in the matchup on Holy Family’s home court at Brown Gym at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). After the hosts struck first, St. Philip answered and took an 11-7 lead en route to a 19-10 lead at the half, as they limited the star Holy Family center known as Sal from dominating the game as he picked up two of his three fouls in the first half.

After halftime the Knights came back, pulling within six at 20-14 before the Falcons put up eight unanswered points. The two teams stayed at approximately the same distance as the score was 31-18 with eleven minutes remaining in the game. The doubt seemed to be draining from the game when the score went to 36-20 with seven and a half minutes remaining in Holy Family’s undefeated record in league play. With four minutes St. Philip had a 41-25 lead, and about a minute later the starters were removed for the Knights, and the game reached an end with the final score 46-27, a stunning margin for the teams that had participated in a game in the St. Rita tournament where the Falcons needed a shot with seconds left to pull off a victory.

Earlier in the week, on Monday, the Falcons beat San Gabriel Mission, 46-26, handing them their first defeat, while staying undefeated in advance of the Holy Family showdown.

Left on the schedule for the Falcons are:

• St. Rita on February 3. The Raiders are have three wins in addition to a loss to Assumption. St. Rita has not faced any team above it in the standings, and is tied with San Gabriel Mission for fourth in the Mission League.
• St. Luke on February 5 at St. Luke (in Temple City). St. Luke is 0-4, though they lost to St. Rita, Holy Family, and St. Rita.
• Monrovia ICS on February 10 in Holy Angel Hall. They are 0-3, with losses to Holy Family and San Gabriel Mission.
• Holy Angels on February 12 at Holy Angels (in Arcadia). Holy Angels is 0-5.