Braves new world

Reviving an old Mid-Valley League rivalry, Hamilton's boys basketball team trounced Redding's Liberty Christian, 56-39, for the Braves' first-ever Northern Section Division V title on Saturday at California State University, Chico.

Liberty, who long-dominated the MVL before being realigned to the new Tri-Cities League, suffered an unprecedented shooting drought in Chico State's Acker Gym.

The Patriots are no strangers to playing in big venues, having played a non-league bout against Los Molinos at the Sacramento Kings' Arco Arena earlier this season.

Second-seeded Liberty shot 0-for-15 out of the gate against the top-ranked Braves and trailed Hamilton by 10 points at the end of the first quarter. The Patriots were a miserable 5-for-35 from the field in the first half (14 percent).

The Patriots never established an offensive scheme other than flinging deep balls at the hoop, which worked briefly to pull them within a bucket of tying the score.

Freshman Otar Pkhakadse, a native of the country Georgia, sunk a pair of bombs late in the second quarter, and teammate Adrian Warren hit one before half and a second early in the third, cutting Liberty's deficit to two points.

"We were out-rebounded in the first half, so we switched to man-to-man," said Brian Erickson, Hamilton coach of the second-half turnaround.

Hamilton point guard Omar Diaz produced four of his game-high eight assists in the third quarter, however, three of which were to a wide-open teammate Hector Aguilar for 3-pointers.

"Hector hit some big shots," the coach said, "and Erik Smith is always aggressive."

Aguilar devastated the Patriots' momentous comeback, putting Hamilton back up by 10 before third quarter's end. Daniel Jones also grabbed six rebounds and hit two buckets in Hamilton's third-quarter resurgence.

Each team committed 16 turnovers, but Liberty continued to miss at a nightmarish rate, ending the game at a 12-for-63 clip (19 percent).

Diaz and Aguilar led the Braves offense with 13 points apiece while Jones, Erik Smith and Jonathan Jacobo all scored eight.

Diaz credited a season-long plan for Hamilton's success. "All year long we've tried to come out strong the first three minutes each half. We knew they (Liberty) was here for a reason, but our defense has been tough all year."

Warren and Pkhakadse tied with eight for Liberty's club best in scoring. Pkhakadse tried to take control of the game and failed, making just three shots in 16 attempts.

The Patriots (21-8, 5-1 TCL), with the No. 11 seed in Northern California, traveled to No. 6 Ripon Christian in the state playoff opener Tuesday night. Meanwhile the fourth-seeded Braves (24-5, 10-0 MVL) earned a first- round bye and host a game at 7 p.m. Thursday night, the winner of No. 5 Victory Christian, of Carmichael, and No. 12 Head-Royce, of Oakland.

Contact Paul Gadbois at 824-1036.

Hamilton 56, Liberty 39

Liberty 3 16 8 12 -39

Hamilton 13 9 15 19 -56

Liberty (39): Pkhakadse, 8; Warren, 8; Lowe, 7; Roberts, 3; Papashvili, 3; Curato, 2; Duncan, 2; Templeton, 2; Cargile, 2; Westrip, 1; Duffy, 1

Hamilton (56): Aguilar, 13; Diaz, 13; Jacobo, 8; Smith, 8; Jones, 8; Mercado, 4; Noffsinger, 2