Roundup: Central Catholic, Modesto Christian cruise through first round

It took a while for the top-seeded Central Catholic boys basketball team to find its stride against Delhi, but when the Raiders finally reached top speed, the points came in bunches.

Central Catholic advanced to Friday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV quarterfinal round with an 89-34 victory over the Hawks (7-18).

The Raiders will host No. 8 Ripon (23-5), which survived Union Mine 68-66 on a half-court, buzzer-beating three-pointer by Cole Stevens.

Central Catholic (22-5) outscored Delhi 58-15 over the second and third quarters, turning rebounds and steals into transition points.

Jared Rice led the way with 20 points.

Amrit Dhaliwal had 15 points, including three three-pointers, while Cooper Wilson and Joshua Hamilton scored 12 apiece.

Ten different players scored for the Raiders, who struggled with Delhi’s zone defense at the start and led 18-11 after one quarter.

“It took us a while to get going,” Central Catholic coach Mike Wilson said. “We knew (the run) was coming. Once we were able to get rebounds and get running up and down the court, we played to our capabilities.”

The Hawks were paced by Arnold Perez with 16 points and Chance Browning with 12.

Modesto Christian 95, West 44 – On a night of close-calls and thrilling finishes, Modesto Christian carried out its assignment.

Robinson Idehen led four players in double figures with 26 points on 13-for-15 (87 percent) shooting as the second-seeded Crusaders cruised into the quarterfinal round of the Division I tournament with a lopsided win over No. 15 West of Tracy.

Christian Ellis finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Forward Josthin Dawkins had 12 points and five assists, while Darrian Grays had 11 points and four assists for Modesto Christian, which has won 27 consecutive games since a season-opening loss to No. 1 Folsom.

The Crusaders will host No. 7 Oak Ridge on Friday.

Whitney 85, Davis 72 – Senior Talolo Limu-Jones scored a game-high 33 points, connecting on three three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough to upset No. 4 Whitney.

The loss brings to a close Dan Pacheco’s brilliant coaching career. He spent 21 seasons on the bench at Davis, where he amassed most of his 475 career victories.

Tre Bryant had 16 points and Elijah Jackson 12 in the loss for the Spartans, who closed the season at 16-10.

Limu-Jones was explosive in what was likely his final basketball game. The 6-foot-5 senior has committed to play football at Eastern Washington University.

Whitney improved to 23-5 and will host No. 12 Grant in Friday’s D-II quarterfinal round. The Wildcats are 19-0 when they score 70 or more points.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Roundup: Central Catholic, Modesto Christian cruise through first round."