Fourth-quarter comeback powers Central Catholic boys basketball to section final
The Central Catholic boys basketball team grabbed the rebound trailing by one with 30 seconds left in Wednesday’s CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III semifinals game. It needed a basket.
Raiders coach Mike Wilson didn’t call a timeout to draw up a last-second play after Burbank missed the first free throw of a one-and-one. Instead, he opted to let the team play it out, and it worked.
Tyler Wentworth and Wesley Payne, both sophomores, connected on a play that ended with a layup with 16 seconds left, giving the Raiders their final lead of the game and, after the Titans failed to convert on their final shot attempt, a 62-61 win.
Wentworth, the passer, caught the ball on the right wing and, with his 6-foot-5 frame, looked over his defender at the action taking place on the opposite side of the floor.
“I kind of just scanned the floor to try to see if anybody’s defender was sagging a little bit.” He said.
Payne was standing in the short corner on the left side of the court. He saw every Burbank defender guarding his man closely and made his move.
“I saw Malachi (Miller) coming up the floor with the ball, I saw Tyler up high and I saw this gap in the middle,” Payne said. “I just saw a lane and it just happened naturally, I went for it and Ty, man, what a great team player, great passer, just hit me in the perfect spot and I just made the layup.”
Wentworth added: “Wes made a great cut and I just reacted and he ended up with the layup, so it was great play.”
The play put a cap on an emotional game.
After quick offensive starts, the two teams went into halftime tied at 31. The Titans (19-9, 7-5) blitzed the Raiders coming out of the intermission, outscoring them 19-11 for a 50-42 lead after three.
Central Catholic’s (22-9, 8-4) defense stepped up in the fourth. The Raiders held Burbank scoreless for more than three minutes in a 10-0 run that gave them a 58-55 lead with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game.
“We sagged and we made them shoot it from the 3 and we got rebounds,” said Wilson. “Then, we were able to execute better. We got a flow going again.”
The offensive production came from Payne, who finished the game 21 points and six rebounds, and junior Malachi Miller. The two scored all but four of the Raiders’ points in the final frame.
“Coach has been telling us all season to run the offense and that’ll open up your game because they’ll start predicting what the offense wants to do,” said Miller, who finished with a team-high 23 points. “I just saw the chance, my game opened up, his (Payne’s) game opened up and we just started scoring.”
The Raiders won the fourth quarter, 20-11, propelling them to victory.
They’re peaking at the right time
After a rough December that included a two-week stretch of three losses in four games, the Raiders found their stride at the right time.
They’ve won eight of their last 10 games, including four straight. Wilson says his team continues to improve and he can see things finally starting to come together.
The game-winning play is an example of that. He didn’t call a timeout — he didn’t have to — yet the players still knew what to do. It clicked.
“Now, we’re getting to the point where we’re really learning from our mistakes,” Wilson said. “That last shot that Wes made, earlier (this season) that cut wouldn’t happen because he’s learning as he goes,” Wilson said. “It ended up happening where he waited for the cut, he set the guy up and then he cut at the right time, which we’ve been working on. But it stuck in his mind, which makes me very excited.”
The Raiders will play the Monticello Empire League champions, Vanden (18-12, 9-1), in Saturday’s Division III section title game at Golden 1 Center in a rematch of the 2020 championship. The Vikings beat Central Catholic 57-41.
“It’s a reunion, so to speak,” Wilson said. “I want to go get them because they beat us last time. They deserved it, they outplayed us. We’ve got to go get it back.”
