Rancho Cucamonga High School’s varsity basketball team concluded its season with a Baseline League record of 7-3 and an overall record of 18-11. 

Senior, Frank Cui, a player on Rancho’s varsity basketball team, plays power forward and center. 

“In general, we had a great season,” Cui said. “Everybody played hard, we played for each other and played for the team.”

On Thursday, Feb. 1, Rancho defeated Upland High School at home in their final Baseline League game with a score of 63-53. It allowed Rancho to advance to the CIF Southern Section Boys’ Basketball Championships (California) Division 1 game on Wednesday, Feb. 7. 

However, during the Upland game, a fight broke out between players on both the Rancho and Upland teams, which caused some players from RCHS to be suspended. 

According to Coach William Burke, athletic director of RCHS, nine players were suspended. According to Burke, five of the suspended players were suspended for walking a couple of feet onto the court, but they didn’t actually do anything. Burke also said four of the players were suspended for throwing a punch. As a result of this, Burke said one of the players would be suspended for two games next season; however, since the rest were seniors, their suspensions were complete. 

With this incident, those players who were suspended were not able to play in the first round of the CIF game. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the first round of CIF, Canyon High School defeated the Cougars with the final score of 59-61. After the loss, Burke expressed his disappointment and frustration with the final outcome of the 2024 boys basketball season. 

“We lost the first round by 2,” Burke said. “By a team that we could have beaten by 30.”

Overall, RCHS’s varsity basketball team fell short this season with the incident that happened in the final home Baseline League game.