Cathedral boys basketball head coach Peter Arnold came away from a 52-44 loss about as optimistic as a coach could be in such a circumstance.

That’s because before the break, the same team, Madison St. Joseph defeated Cathedral 70-47, and despite not playing a game for three straight weeks, his Green Wave basketball team responded with a lot of fight Thursday night.

“I told them before the game that we are going to play it at our pace, and we did everything that we could,” Arnold said. “You go out there and do the best that you can, and when you do that, you don’t have any regrets. We’re going to get this thing rolling.”

Cathedral took a 10-7 lead into the second quarter of the contest, as the Green Wave were propelled early by R.J. Givens, who finished the game with five points. St. Joseph would respond in the second quarter and take a 21-19 lead into halftime.

“We played outstanding defense,” Arnold said. “Two teams played really hard defensively, and there were no easy points in that game. Everything you got you had to work for.”

Cathedral went to work early and often with Jardarius Anderson and Wyatt Boothe driving to the basket and dishing it off inside for James Allen Coley to finish. Coley led the team in scoring with 12, while Anderson and Boothe contributed nine and six points, respectively.

“To play a 2A school that well, it’s comforting, especially with the long layoff,” Arnold said. “We just needed a couple of breaks there at the end and didn’t get them.”

St. Joseph took a 35-29 lead into the fourth quarter before securing its victory in the fourth quarter. Winford Ross led the Bruins with 23 and Keoaka Trevillion added 13.

Cathedral, now 1-4, will look to get back its winning ways tonight when the Green Wave host Monterey at home.