Modesto’s Central Catholic mum on missing boys basketball players

Central Catholic boys basketball player Josh Hamilton missed his third consecutive game Wednesday night as the Raiders fell to Manteca 69-60 at the Mark Gallo Health and Fitness Center.

Hamilton, the team’s leading scorer at 13.6 points per game, and reserve Dash Von Stade have not played since a 75-43 victory over Kimball on Jan. 17.

It is unclear if the players’ absence is because of injury or disciplinary action, or if they voluntarily left the team.

“I don’t know anything right now,” said coach Mike Wilson, when asked if the players would return for Friday’s game against Oakdale.

Central Catholic athletic director Billy Hylla, standing with Wilson outside the team’s locker room after the loss, was just as vague.

“We really have no comment at this time,” Hylla said.

In September, 19 members of the Raiders’ football team were suspended for a half against rival St. Mary’s because of curfew violations a week earlier while in Southern California. Hylla was asked why the school publicly addressed the football players’ infractions but will not answer questions about the basketball players’ status.

“When we were dealing with that situation, we knew where we were at,” Hylla said. “It was finalized.”

A phone call to Von Stade’s family provided no clarification.

“We don’t really have anything to say,” said Tina Von Stade, Dash’s mother.

Efforts to reach Hamilton’s family were unsuccessful.

Over the past three games, the Raiders have gone 1-2, losing to East Union and Manteca. The Buffaloes, No. 2 in The Bee’s large-school rankings, improved to 8-0 in the Valley Oak League with Wednesday’s win.

“We practiced as if (Hamilton) was going to play,” said Manteca coach Brett Lewis. “If he was here, he’s here, and if not, we knew they were going to give us a fight anyway.”

Central Catholic cut a 17-point, second-half deficit to two, trailing 62-60 with 2:45 remaining. But the Buffaloes scored the final seven points of the game.

Hamilton’s scoring was sorely missed.

“He’s a dynamic player,” Lewis said of Hamilton. “He played really, really well against us (on Jan. 12). He hit five 3s and he was pretty much unguardable in the fourth quarter.”

Lewis didn’t know the reason for the players’ absence.

“I’ve heard it all,” he said. “Every rumor in the book, man.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 11:35 PM with the headline "Modesto’s Central Catholic mum on missing boys basketball players."