HILLSBORO, Ore.-- If there were any questions about the legitimacy of Central Catholic’s hot start to its 2019-20 campaign, most of them are likely put to rest now after the Rams put together yet another solid preseason performance on Saturday afternoon.
After a slow start to the game, Central Catholic made sure that there would be no doubt about who the better team was as they outscored Churchill by a combined 18 points in the second and third quarters to win its second game in three nights at the Les Schwab Invitational, 59-40.
“The third game in three days after you’ve lost is always difficult,” Central Catholic head coach David Blue said. “We played well in the first half, but there were some things we could do better. In the second half, I challenged them, and they rose to the challenge and then some against a really good team.”
A season after falling to Jesuit in the quarterfinals of the state championship tournament, the Rams (6-1) have opened the season on a tear, looking to cement themselves in the 6A state championship conversation.
After early non-league wins against No. 3 ranked Jesuit, No. 6 ranked West Linn, and No. 4 ranked Lake Oswego, it took nationally-ranked Mater Dei out of California to slow down the top-ranked 6A team in Oregon, and even that game was a close 70-57 defeat.
Senior DeRay Seamster led all scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds while senior guard Isaiah Amato added ten points and eight rebounds.
With the win Central Catholic will play either Crater or Bishop Gorman in the fifth-place game on Sunday afternoon. Churchill (5-2) will play whichever team that the Rams do not.
“There’s some talented kids [in our locker room], but talent doesn’t win,” Blue said. “It’s togetherness and then on the defensive end we were really locked in today.”
It was the defense that helped lock down an explosive offense, holding the Lancers to its lowest-scoring performance of the tournament. The Rams defense held Churchill to 25-percent shooting on 51 shots and forced 16 turnovers.
When Central Catholic’s offense got clicking in the second half, they pulled away convincingly with a combination of fast-break transition buckets, kick-out three’s, and mid-range jumpers. As Seamster hit a contested fadeaway three at the third-quarter buzzer, those in attendance could tell that it was the Rams day.
“The coaches prepare us for games like these, but it is up to us to execute,” Amato said. “We like to move fast and move in transition, and we just weren’t doing that in the first half. We played better defense in the second half.”
Seamster helped sustain a rusty Rams offense early on with an array of floaters and jumpers, and on the other end, Churchill simply couldn’t keep pace.
The Lancers struggled to finish plays, turned the ball over continuously in transition, and just couldn’t put together any sustainable amount of momentum. Senior Dylan Carson finished with eight points, and while Churchill tried to make up for its sloppy play with chippiness to try and claw their way back into the game, by the fourth quarter a win was already out of reach.
Throughout the first few weeks of the season the Rams are proving that they belong in the state-title conversation, but for now they have a tournament to finish and a fifth-place game to go play.
“You know you want to be on this side of the bracket because you know you’re playing a good team and you’re going to test yourself which is where growth takes place,” Blue said.
“We’re going to play a good team in either Crater or Bishop Gorman tomorrow so we want to win out and play for fifth,” Amato added. “We want to get matched up with a good team before conference play starts and then go into conference play hopefully on a roll.”
