Natomas High boys basketball wins CRC Summer Challenge championship. / Photo by Trevor Horn
BY TREVOR HORN
THE NATOMAS BUZZ | @natomasbuzz
ELK GROVE – Jamison Lyons is known as a sharp-shooting three-point specialist for the Natomas High School boy’s basketball team.
But it was a steal on the defensive end and two clutch free throws for the senior guard that sealed the championship for the Nighthawks on Sunday in the Cosumnes River College Summer Challenge basketball tournament.
Lyons scored 10 of his team-high 12 points on Sunday in the first half on 3 for 3 shooting from three-pointers to help Natomas High beat Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory of San Francisco 63-60.
Then with the Nighthawks clinging to a three-point lead, Lyons grabbed a Sacred Heart pass in the paint with less than 10 seconds left in the game to ice the victory for the Nighthawks.
“It feels good to be able to (get a) steal in the game and to know that it’s over and we won it,” Lyons said.
Following a six-win season in 2012-13, the Nighthawks went 5-0 in the 32-team tournament.
The Nighthawks defeated Antelope High School, the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II champions in the first round on Friday and defeated Pleasant Grove High School, the D-I champions on Saturday to advance to the semifinals.
Sacred Heart was the D-III state runners up in March at Sleep Train Arena.
Add it up, this was a big weekend with quality wins for the Nighthawks that could be the start of a strong summer heading into the regular season that begins in November.
“We are definitely going to prove people wrong, that our motto,” Lyons said.
Natomas High led 29-15 in the first half in the championships on Sunday before Sacred Heart took a 48-45 lead in the second half.
That’s when the Mekhi Williams show began.
The incoming freshman for Natomas High scored eight points, including two three-pointers late in the second half to go along with trey from sophomore T.J. Lindsey to put the Nighthawks up 58-54.
“It feels good to help my team out and come out as a freshman and prove myself, and to prove myself to my team on offense and help on defense,” Williams, who also scored 10 points in the semifinals, said.
Senior Phillip Morgan did not play on Saturday because he was taking the ACT, but scored a team-high 12 points in the semifinals and 10 points in the finals.
Lindsey scored nine points in the finals and senior Jalen Manning scored nine points in the semifinals for Natomas High.
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[…] started his career with the Nighthawks during the summer basketball season. He showed early promise while leading the offense at point guard en route to a championship at the C…Williams scored eight points late in the fourth quarter to lead the Nighthawks to a 63-60 win in the […]