After 14 years as head basketball coach at Cathedral Catholic High School, Will Cunningham returned to campus for the first time in three years, this time as coach at Christian High School.
And it was a happy homecoming. The Patriots twice overcame large deficits and beat Cathedral Catholic 51-46 in the first round of the Southern California Division 2 Regionals.
It was Christian’s first Southern California Regional win since 1999. The 11th-seeded Patriots (24-9), winners of 21 of their last 22, advance to play the winner of No. 11 San Pedro and No. 3 Bakersfield Christian.
Cathedral Catholic, the No. 6 seed, finishes 19-11.
In three seasons at Christian, Cunningham is now 63-23 with a pair of 20-win seasons.
“Being here is definitely nostalgic,” said Cunningham, who was 266-134 and Cathedral Catholic. “And sure, winning feels good. But winning any playoff game feels good.
“We got down by 10, weathered the storm, could have folded. This was a total team effort.”
Trailing by 10 midway through the second quarter, Christian went on a 9-0 run to close the half and trailed 24-23 at the break.
Cathedral Catholic opened the second half on an 8-0 run run to retake command and led by seven at the end of three quarters.
Christian then went on a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter, taking the lead with 5:29 to play on a 3-point shot by Dwight McDonald.
It was a back-and-forth game down the stretch, with Julian Lebel’s putback basket and free throw with 1:04 to play giving Christian a three-point lead.
Down 49-46, the Dons had the ball with 5 seconds to play and tried to inbound the ball in Christian’s front court. But Lebel intercepted the pass, raced the length of the floor and ended the game with a dunk.
“I’m so proud of the way we played,” Lebel said. “We lost Saturday (in the San Diego Section Division 1 championship game) and didn’t know how we’d bounce back. It’s a huge win for us and for Coach Cunningham.”
Cathedral Catholic’s Charlie Barajas, left, and Seimir Roberson watch as Christian’s Julian Lebel celebrates after dunking the ball in the final seconds of the game to defeat Cathedral Catholic 51-46 during the CIF Southern California Regionals Division 2 boys basketball game at Cathedral Catholic High School in sSan Diego on Tuesday, March 03, 2026. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Ronnie Scott and McDonald added eight points each, while Scott had six rebounds and McDonald five.
Kai Carlson and Seimir Roberson led Cathedral Catholic with 12 points each. Charlie Barajas had six points and 11 rebounds.
In 2013, part of Cunningham’s family was involved in a horrific head-on car crash on State Route 52 with a wrong-way driver. The crash killed the driver of the other car and seriously injured Cunningham’s wife, Alisha, and their then-17-year-old daughter, Taylor. Two younger children, Jayden and Logan, escaped serious injury.
The Cathedral Catholic community rallied to Cunningham’s side. And the gym was packed for a Healing Mass that included players from archrival St. Augustine.
The crash and commute to Cathedral Catholic were part of Cunningham’s decision to move to Christian, which is located in El Cajon and closer to his family’s East County home. Cunningham reports that Alisha and Taylor are well.