Central Catholic boys blitz Summerville, return to section basketball final

Joshua Hamilton built speed as he crossed midcourt with ball in hand, barreling down on the backpedaling defender like a bull in Pamplona.

With perfect timing and an even better read, the maturing Central Catholic point guard sidestepped Summerville’s last man and finished at the rim.

Just like that, the cold-to-start Raiders were off and running, setting a course for Saturday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV final at Sleep Train Arena.

Hamilton scored 14 points, springing decisive runs in the second and fourth quarters as Central Catholic overcame another poor first quarter in a 69-50 victory.

The Raiders (24-5) will play No. 3 West Campus of Sacramento at 3 p.m. in Saturday’s first final at the home of the Sacramento Kings. West Campus (26-4) upset No. 2 Liberty Ranch of Galt 88-69, snapping the Hawks’ section-best, season-long 29-game winning streak.

Central Catholic is seeking its first boys basketball flag in nearly 30 years.

“It’s unreal,” said Hamilton, a sophomore. “This is very important. We want this so bad. We just need to block out all the noise and get the job done.”

After trailing 12-8, Central Catholic outscored the Bears 61-38 over the final three quarters, boosted by runs of 15-2 and 12-2 in the second and fourth quarters.

Summerville, the fatigued Mother Lode League champion, waved the white flag with a little over a minute left.

Four players scored in double figures for the Raiders. Jared Rice matched Hamilton with 14 points, many in transition. A 1,000-yard running back for the Raiders’ four-time reigning CIF state-champion football team, Rice burned the Bears on long rebounds with sprint-outs.

Amrit Dhaliwal continued his postseason tear. He knocked down three three-pointers and scored 13 points, his third consecutive game in double figures. Forward Malcolm Clayton also had 13 points, including seven in the fourth quarter.

“We’re young, and they’re starting to see the potential they have,” Central Catholic coach Mike Wilson said. “They believe, and they’ve put themselves in position to bring home a flag that hasn’t been in our gym since 1988.”

Central Catholic is now 3-1 in section semifinal games under Wilson but 0-2 in the championship round with losses to Capital Christian in 2012 and 2014.

Wilson is aware of his record in the big game, as well as his team’s struggles under the section’s brightest spotlight.

“It’s always one quarter,” he said. “Before, it’s been fear. If you look at the box score, it’s always that first quarter, and then we played Capital Christian pretty evenly. That’s what we have to get over.”

Central Catholic has shown no signs of getting over its cold starts. The Raiders’ section title hopes appeared lost in a torrent of missed shots from all distances on Wednesday. Most alarming, though, were the gimmes Central Catholic couldn’t stick. Wilson’s boys shot 2 of 17 in the first quarter and missed their first nine shots, including six layups.

Summerville took advantage of Central Catholic’s sluggish and sloppy start, using cuts and screens around the basket to carve out a 12-8 lead.

“Those misses on the layups, you could tell they were adrenaline misses,” Wilson said. “We needed to get our feet under us and get into the flow. We’ve been fighting it all year.”

Hamilton could sense a slow start coming during warmups. He said the Raiders arrived at Tokay High School flat.

Six players scored for Summerville in the first quarter, including a turnaround jumper by Ethan McLaurin (13 points) at the buzzer.

“They punched us in the mouth,” Hamilton said. “We don’t want to play from behind.”

The deficit wouldn’t last long. Central Catholic took the lead for good with a 15-2 run to start the second quarter. The team that couldn’t lip in a layup in the first quarter suddenly couldn’t miss. The Raiders shot 10 of 13 in the second quarter with four three-pointers.

Cooper Wilson started the charge with a corner trey and then punctuated the 24-point period with a banked-in three from the top of the arc. Central Catholic closed the quarter with three-pointers on its final three possessions.

The difference, though, wasn’t the long ball. The Raiders stymied Summerville with their transition game. With Clayton and Peter Hamilton (six points, 10 rebounds) securing each missed shot and triggering the break, the Raiders found their confidence on the run.

Central Catholic scored 12 points in transition in the second quarter, including Joshua Hamilton’s full-speed finish at the rim.

In the fourth, he used his eyes and anticipation to burn Summerville. He spied Dhaliwal alone in the corner for a three and then bounced a pass between defenders to Rice for another fast-break bucket.

Wilson commended Hamilton for upholding the virtues of a point guard. On Wednesday, his quick decisions made quick work of the Bears.

“Part of our discussion with him this week was about being a point guard and creating for his teammates,” Wilson said, “making that read, and when (the defender) gets close, make your teammate better. He did a good job of that tonight.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Central Catholic boys blitz Summerville, return to section basketball final."