Hamilton holds off Wolves

Apparently, Hamilton High senior Erik Smith was not quite ready for his high school playing career to come to an end.

The 6-foot, 5-inch wing sizzled for a career-high 30 points Wednesday and the Braves needed every one of them, as they fended off the visiting Trinity Wolves 54-53 to advance to Saturday's Division V championship game.

Hamilton, the No. 1 seed, squares off with third-seeded Liberty Christian at 4:15 p.m. at the Acker Gym at California State University, Chico.

With Smith going 13-for-18 from the field (72 percent), there was not as much need or opportunity for the rest of the offense to put up such lofty numbers, but Daniel Jones added 12 points and Omar Diaz, seven.

Jones also picked off 11 rebounds to lead the Braves, and stretched for 10 blocks to record a rare triple-double. He also recorded the team-high in steals with five.

Diaz served as the team's distribution center, passing out eight assists.

Game at a glance

Saturday's game will be the third meeting between the two, with Hamilton posting wins of 51-46 and 65-51 during the preseason.

Six-foot freshman Otar Pkhakadze led the Patriots with 9.4 points per game, followed by 5-foot, 11-inch junior Rhett Roberts (8.2).