MONROVIA, Calif. - Daniel Hamilton might be a sophomore, but the 6-foot-7 wing from
St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) did not play like an underclassman Tuesday.
Hamilton hit the game-winning basket, a contested bank shot in the lane with 1.7 seconds remaining on the fourth quarter clock to guide the Braves to a 53-51 Division III semifinal victory over
Pasadena in a Southern California Regional playoffs showdown.
"Once it left my hands, it was good,'' Hamilton said.
Daniel Hamilton made the game-
winning bucket against Pasadena.
File photo by David Hood
Spoken with experience of an upperclassmen, Hamilton was right on the money. As a result, the sixth-seeded Braves (25-7) advance to the title game on Saturday. They will face
Alemany (Mission Hills), an 84-64 winner over San Diego Cathedral Catholic on Tuesday.
Hamilton connected on the bucket in the paint despite the presence of his cousin,
Blake Hamilton, who challenged the shot. Blake Hamilton kept the second-seeded Bulldogs (29-7) close throughout. The senior scored finished with 22 points and had 11 rebounds.
Pasadena took an 8-0 lead in the first quarter and maintained a two-point advantage to start the second quarter. Blake Hamilton added another eight points before the break and things appeared to heading in the right direction for the Bulldogs, who led 29-27 at halftime.
"My cousin made the shot that counted,'' Blake Hamilton said.
St. John Bosco took its first lead of the game in the third quarter when Darryl Matthews scored inside. Teammate
Juwan Thomas followed with a 3-pointer. Hamilton's brother,
Isaac Hamilton, added a dunk. All of a sudden, the Braves took a 40-31 advantage at the 2:41 mark.
Pasadena rallied down the stretch.
Ajon Jefferson scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and the Bulldogs tied the score, 51-51, with less than a minute in the game.
Hamilton and the rest of the Braves, however, would not be denied.
"I told Daniel if he was open, take the shot, I knew he could make it,'' St. John Bosco coach Derrick Taylor said. "I had confidence in him the whole time, no question.''
The fact the Braves were in position to win should not come as a big surprise. They played, after all, one of the toughest schedules in Southern California this season.
Daniel Hamilton finished with 16 points. His brother, Isaac, had 16. Pasadena's Blake Hamilton ended up with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Alemany (Mission Hills) 84, Cathedral Catholic 64: Marqueze Coleman got to work in the first half and
Max Guercy did his part in the second half. The fourth-seeded Dons (30-4) never stopped the senior tandem and a Division III victory was never in doubt for top-seeded Alemany (31-4).
The Nevada-bound Coleman scored 19 of his 31 points in the first 16 minutes of action. Guercy, on the other hand, was no slouch. The point guard got hot after intermission and scored eight points in the third quarter and 14 of his 16 points in final 16 minutes of play.
DIVISION IBullard (Fresno) 54, Long Beach Poly 52: Few saw this one coming. And no one could have predicted the finish.
Walter Orr
hit the game-winner at the buzzer as the sixth-seeded
Knights (33-3) shocked the second-seeded Jackrabbits (29-3) in one of
the big upsets in recent memory. The senior grabbed a loose ball and
heaved a shot from near mid-court, 40 feet away.
Lon Beach Poly's
Jordan Bell
blocked a potential tying shot, but the junior batted the ball in the
general direction of the opportunistic Orr.
"I got a quick look and released it," Orr told
the Fresno Bee. "I didn't know how much time was left on the clock. ... And it went in."
The win is another in line of monumental upsets over Southern California squads, starting with triumphs over perennial Los Angeles City powers Westchester and Taft.
Corey Silverstrom led Bullard with 21 points, according to the Bee.
Evidently Katin Reinhardt is just
fine after he scored 21 points on
Tuesday night.
File photo by David Hood
In Division I semifinal play, the big question mark surrounding this game was whether
Katin Reinhardt would be available for the top-seeded Monarchs (32-2). He played despite a broken thumb and that spelled trouble for fourth-seeded Cubs (26-6).
Reinhardt scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and a 4-of-6 clip from beyond the three-point arc. Furthermore, the senior and UNLV commit also added 10 rebounds for Mater Dei, which advances to the championship game Saturday against Fresno Bullard.
The Monarchs, No. 6 in the
MaxPreps Xcellent 25 national rankings, figure to be prepared for the finals and heavily favored. Expectations are indeed high. Anything less than a title would be a major disappointment.
Rest assured, Reinhardt had help along the way Tuesday. Teammate
Xavier Johnson finished with 26 points. The Colorado commit was 11-of-15 from the field. Johnson also played well on the defensive end of the floor and ended up with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.
DIVISION IVPrice (Los Angeles) 53, Lutheran (La Verne) 52: Skylar Spencer knocked down a pair of free-throw with the game on the line in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter to lift the third-seeded Knights (25-8) over the second-seeded Trojans (25-8).
Spencer, a San Diego State commit, finished with 11 points and five blocked shots. His counterpart, Arizona-bound
Grant Jerrett scored 20 points for La Verne Lutheran.
With the victory, Price advances to Saturday's finals against top-seeded Gardena Serra (31-2). The Cavaliers defeated the fifth-seeded Bruins (30-5) by three points.
Follow Sean Ceglinsky on Twitter @seanceglinsky
