Basketball Recap: Branden Ellis' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Savanna over Cate

Despite a phenomenal run in the regular season, Savanna couldn't carry that success into this playoff game. They fell to the Cate Rams 67-63. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Wednesday (62), the Rebels still had to take the loss.

Branden Ellis

Rebounds

02/14/25 vs Cate	4
02/12/25 @ Highland	2
01/31/25 @ Los Amigos	2
01/28/25 vs Santiago	1
01/18/25 vs Loara	1
+ 17 more games

Savanna's loss came despite a true team effort with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Branden Ellis, who went 10-for-20 on his way to 26 points. What's more, Ellis also posted four boards, the most he's had since back in December of 2023. Paul Henderson was another key player, putting up nine points along with seven assists and seven rebounds.

Even though they lost, Savanna smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 22 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in 13 consecutive games.

Savanna's defeat dropped their record down to 18-9. As for Cate, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten matches, which provided a nice bump to their 14-7 record this season.

Savanna does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Cate, they will square off against Pacifica at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Cate's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last eight contests.