Top-seeded Capital Christian knocked out by Campolindo in NorCal quarterfinals
If nothing else, the Capital Christian boys basketball team learned a lesson Thursday night in the CIF Northern California Division I Regional quarterfinals. It was a hard one, as seventh-seeded Campolindo came to Rosemont and knocked out the No. 1 seed in Division I, 60-58.
Campolindo players yelled “How’s that for a No. 7 seed” after the game, celebrating with their fans. Capital Christian players walked off the court to regroup with a long session in their locker room. If they were looking for a bright spot, sophomore center C.J. McMillan pointed right at it after the game.
“The good thing about it is we only have two seniors,” he said, “and we’ll have three seniors next year, all we gotta do is bounce back.”
McMillan will be back. The big man hauls in rebounds under the bucket, but he can play defense out on the perimeter and pressure the ball. He can also step back and make a 3-pointer, like he did against Weston Ranch in a Sac-Joaquin Section playoff game in February. He had 12 points for the Cougars on Thursday.
“There’s a little bit of skills I have that people don’t know about,” McMillan said. “When I have a chance to buzz it out, I’m going to buzz it out.”
But it was another sophomore, Darrion Williams, who led Capital Christian with 21 points. Williams had blocks, steals and rebounds to go with his inside-out scoring.
“Sky is the limit for him,” coach Matt Filer said. “Best passer on our team and can score inside and out. Sky’s the limit for him.”
Young as they are, the Cougars had a special season. They went unbeaten in league play. They took powerhouse Sheldon to the limit in the Sac-Joaquin Section finals. And they did have a pair of seniors, with forward Evan Johnson providing timely defense and providing yet another inside-outside offensive weapon. Kendall Taylor, a 6-foot-5 senior, was injured and missed the last half of the Cougars’ strong season.
Then came Campolindo and Emmanuel Callas, who racked up 33 points. A junior, Callas has enough height to present a mismatch with guards and enough quickness to blow past big men and get layups.
“He was on the scouting report for sure, but he was like the third guy we needed to stop,” Filer said. “He had a terrific game. He shot the ball with confidence, he really effectively took some of our bigs to the basket. Really, really good basketball player. … He probably played his best basketball game of the year and that’s really tough for us.”
Campolindo knows a thing or two about winning tough games. The Cougars are the defending Division II champions. Coach Steven Dyer said he hadn’t planned on feeding Callas the ball, but when a kid gets hot, you stick with him.
“Emmanuel’s hard to guard because he’s too tall for a guard to guard and then he’s too quick for a big,” Dyer said. “We exploited that today and it really worked out.”
Still, Capital Christian had its shot. Capital Christian led by seven points midway through the third quarter. They also had a 48-45 lead with 5:14 left in the fourth quarter. Then the Cougars missed four 3-pointers, two short-distance shots and gave away a couple of steals.
Campolindo went to the foul line to seal the win, which went exceedingly well. Campolindo hit 7 of 9 free-throw attempts in the final 1:08 while Capital Christian struggled to get shots to fall. After Campolindo celebrated its trip to the NorCal finals, Dyer took stock. The loss hurts, but the Cougars feel like they’ll get another shot at something big next season. And maybe the season after that. They just need to mature.
“I thought we had them on the ropes and then we had three or four turnovers in a row,” Dyer said. “Next year, when they’re seniors, they’re really gonna understand what the value of the basketball is. This is one of the most talented teams in the 20-plus years I’ve been here at Capital. They’re gonna be really, really special.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 4:00 AM.