Central Catholic holds off Kimball to earn win in Valley Oak League opener
The Central Catholic boys basketball team hadn’t had the start to the season it expected.
The reigning CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III runner up played a challenging non-league schedule that included two losses to unbeaten Atwater, and it went 1-2 in the Bambauer Classic at Marin Catholic.
The Raiders entered Friday night’s Valley Oak League opener against Kimball on a two-game skid, and emerged with a win after withstanding a rally and hitting free throws in the clutch.
Central Catholic surged ahead by more than 20 points in the third quarter, but allowed the Jaguars to claw back. The Raiders regrouped in the final minutes, ending their losing streak with an 80-72 win.
“Coming off those two losses and how good those two teams are, we came in with confidence,” said Central Catholic coach Mike Wilson. “We watched film on them and we saw some things that we can take advantage of and the things that they do well. We talked about it and executed.”
The Raiders (8-6, 1-0 VOL) started fast. Malachi Miller scored 10 of his game-high 30 points in the first quarter, helping Central Catholic open up an 18-13 lead.
It was a stark contrast from their most recent game against Vacaville, when they fell behind 22-14 early and trailed 40-27 at halftime.
“Starting strong was really important,” Miller said. “Against Vacaville we came out flat the whole first half. I wasn’t in full attack mode like I should have been. But we came out tonight with a different mindset.”
The Raiders doubled their lead in the second quarter. Freshman Jordan Magana connected on a trio of timely threes, helping the Raiders open up a 10-point advantage by the end of the half.
“They’d make their spurts and those threes would deflate them a little bit,” Wilson said. “As soon as somebody did something good, Jordan came down and hit a three … it was definitely needed.”
Miller led the charge to start the third as the Raiders opened up a 51-30 lead midway through the quarter, but the Jaguars (11-7, 0-1 VOL) wouldn’t go away, outscoring Central Catholic 14-6 over the final three and a half minutes.
Magana made six three pointers in the game and tied his career high with 20 points. He scored the Raiders’ first nine points of the fourth quarter as the Raiders extended their lead to 15 with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left to play.
“People don’t expect him to have that much of an impact,” Miller said of the freshman. “But even in practice, he lights everybody up. It was huge … I’m glad to have Jordan on my team when he can get the ball and shoot it from anywhere.”
Once again, Kimball chipped away at the lead. The Jaguars forced turnovers with a full court zone press and converted them into points. The Raiders saw their lead go from 15 to five with just over a minute left.
“We were thinking too much,” said Wilson. “We weren’t moving without the ball to open spots and then we were forcing passes.”
After shooting around 50% from the free throw line for most of the game, the Raiders made nine of 12 foul shots in the final quarter when Kimball was forced to foul with under a minute remaining, allowing them to withstand the late surge.
“It gives our guys momentum and confidence,” Miller said of the win. “It shows us that we are good, but there’s still things to work on and room for improvement.”
The Raiders continue VOL play Wednesday night against East Union followed by Oakdale Friday.
This story was originally published January 7, 2023 at 8:37 AM.
