The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School boy’s basketball team will play Marshfield in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association 2026 Division 1 Basketball Tournament. CRLS (14-6) is the 15th seed, Marshfield (18-3) is the 18th seed. The two will meet Friday at 7 p.m. at the War Memorial gym in Cambridge. The winner will face the victor in a game between number two seed Andover (18-2) and the winner of a preliminary round game between Belmont and Methuen. Central Catholic (18-2) is the top seed. Needham (18-2) is third seed and Boston College High (14-6) rounds out the top four.
The Falcons started the season 12-2 and then lost four of the last six games. The team is using these losses as fuel for the tournament.
“We just need to play together and kill,” said senior forward Jahari Toure Ortiz. “A lot of the guys you see, any guy, any moment, any night, can have a good game. “Everyone is playing together and has that mentality to win and go as far as we can.”
The Falcons have jumped 16 spots in the MIAA Division 1 Power Rankings since last year and now sit at No. 14. The team will find out Saturday who its first playoff opponent will be.
To the eight seniors who lead the team, this tournament holds more weight than ever.
“It’s my last year, so I want to go out hard,” said senior forward Aaron Abebe. “I just want to play as hard as I can this postseason–give it my all and uplift my teammates. We’ve been kind of playing bad these last two weeks, but I think we can bring it up in the playoffs.”
Even though the tournament brings pressure, it’s business as usual for the Falcons. The coaches are working on righting their wrongs from the rough stretch.
“We’re sharpening our swords, just cleaning some things up,” said head coach Geo Rodriguez. “Maybe add an additional player to a couple situational practices, add more situationals, just in case anything happens in a late game stretch, end of the quarter, things of that nature.”
The recent losses have resulted in a new mentality for the team, with its back against the wall, the team still has to show up when it matters.
“The mentality is we still have a chance. We still got to fight,” said assistant coach Ta’Keame Gomes. “Guys still show up every day, ready to go. We can’t ask for much more.”
Their recent struggles aside, the Falcons have strong talent and pose a threat to bring home a championship. A strong suit of the team is its depth, which Rodriguez refers to as a “seven-headed monster.”
The Falcons have beaten strong teams, and its losses have come to battle-tested teams like Boston Latin and Holland Tech, who recently met in the Boston City Championship.
“It could be any one of them, any night,” Rodriguez said. “Other teams can’t prepare for one particular person. You have to prepare for six or seven.”
The Falcons are very close off the court. When not in practice or at games, the players are either getting food, working out or simply hanging out. The team has taken on the identity of a family.
“These kids are a family, from top to bottom,” Gomes said. “As much as these guys give each other problems, like they’re always talking trash with each other, but it’s a brotherly feel. You know they love each other to death, and you can feel it.”
Regardless of the outcome on the court, the coaches want to prepare the players to succeed both on and off the court. Two CRLS players, Jaydaan Correia and Itamar Fox, received full-tuition merit scholarships to Rutgers University through the Posse Foundation.
“To be able to see those guys, since third grade, all grow up into amazing young men, speaks on their character,” Rodriguez said. “They’re just great individuals. All the seniors and kids have set goals for themselves – they know what they want to do with life and school. They all have their vision.”
The MIAA Boy’s Divison 1 Playoff Bracket and finalized standings was released on Saturday, February 21.
This story was updated to reflect that the bracket was released and to correct the first playoff game, which will be Friday.
This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
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