San Luis Obispo, Ca- The Cardinal Newman boys basketball team spent 5 days in Central California at one of the toughest tournaments on the West Coast.  After losing the firs two games by big margins, against top ranked teams, Newman settled down and nearly came away with a win on Tuesday morning against San Marcos High of Santa Barbara.

On Wednesday morning, the Cardinals took the court again, facing the host team Mission Prep.  Both teams were determined to finish the tourney with a victory and the defenses prevailed early on.  In fact, it took Newman 5 minutes to score its first basket.  But then the shots started falling and the Cardinals found a rhythm.   Cardinal Newman lead 10-4 after one, but the Royals found a hot hand in JJ Howard.  Howard hit several 3s and mission Prep tied the game at 19 at the half.    

In the second half Newman hit some 3s of their own led by Sam Cline and Leo Gonzalez.  The game went back and forth with the Cardinals hitting some clutch shots down the stretch and hitting the road back to Rosa with a 52-49 win.

San Cline led Newman with 16 points, while JJ Howard poured in 28 for the Royals.

The travel weary Cardinals host Marin Catholic at home Thursday night at 6:00 pm in the John Fitzgerald Gymnasium.