CORONA — Third quarters have been a problem for the Centennial boys basketball team in recent weeks.
Poor starts after halftime nearly proved costly for the Huskies in their games against Roosevelt and Sierra Canyon.
“We’ve talked about that at halftime the last four or five games that we’ve played,” Centennial coach Josh Giles said. “We’ve had some bad quarters this year, but for some reason it has been the third quarter that we’ve decided not to play well in during this stretch.”
Centennial was clicking on all cylinders in the third period Tuesday evening. The Huskies quickly turned a five-point lead at the break into a double-digit advantage only three minutes into the third quarter and pulled away for an 83-63 victory over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in the CIF Southern Section Open Division pool-play game.
Devin Williams finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Aaron McBride also registered a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead a balanced attack for the Huskies. All five Centennial starters scored in double figures Tuesday. Mike Price and Eric Freeny each finished with 17 points, and Jared McCain added 14 points and eight rebounds.
Centennial (27-3) scored 46 points in the second half, and did it efficiently on 21-of-31 shooting (67.7%).
“I feel like when we play together and let our chemistry work, we can be really unstoppable,” Williams said.
Centennial had a chance to punch its ticket to the Open Division final, but Bishop Montgomery rallied for a 51-49 win over Sierra Canyon. Centennial hosts Bishop Montgomery (26-3) on Friday night, with the winner moving on to the championship game.
For the second straight game, Centennial’s offense got off to a slow start and the Huskies found themselves trailing at the end of the first quarter. Notre Dame knocked down five 3-pointers to grab a 17-15 advantage.
McBride and Williams dominated the offensive glass and helped Centennial surge to a 37-32 lead at halftime.
“Those put-backs are very important,” said McBride, who scored nine of his points during the second quarter. “Some teams only get one chance to score, but working hard to get rebounds and those second chances can really help get the offense going.”
Centennial, the two-time defending champion of the Open Division, opened the second half with a 13-4 run to extend the lead to 50-36. The Huskies only scored nine points during the third period against Sierra Canyon in last week’s playoff opener.
“I think Devin said it well, when we move the ball around for good looks, we’re tough to beat,” Giles said.”
Notre Dame (21-10) trimmed the deficit to 52-43, but McCain beat the shot clock for a 3-pointer to get the lead back to 12.
Caleb Foster, who will be teammates with McCain at Duke next season, caught fire at the end of the game, as he scored all 17 of Notre Dame’s points during the final period. Foster finished with a game-high 33 points.
“That’s the best player we’ve gone up against all season,” Giles said about Foster.
Despite Foster’s best efforts, Notre Dame never got closer than 11 points in the fourth quarter. Centennial made nine straight shots from the field during one stretch of the quarter to seal the victory.
Dusty Stromer had 12 points for Notre Dame, which hosts Sierra Canyon in its final pool-play game Friday.