St. Joseph junior guard Malcolm Price has had plenty of memorable games this season.

He scored 30 points just a few weeks ago against San Luis Obispo.

He’s made five 3-pointers in one game against Arroyo Grande to start the new year.

But Tuesday was even more impressive.

Price scored a career-high 41 points and hit five 3-pointers all in just three quarters, as St. Joseph routed Bakersfield Centennial 100-45 in a CIF-Central Div. 1 first round game.

“After I hit my first three, I felt good, and then my teammates just kept finding me,” Price said. “From there, I just needed to get into a flow.”

Centennial hung with St. Joseph for the first four minutes of the game. It even traded the lead back and forth with the Knights until they finished the quarter on an 18-0 run that was highlighted by a pair of 3s by Price.

“That’s our identity,” Price said. “There is no better feeling than that. Once you get rolling you need to keep it rolling.”

St. Joseph didn’t let up as the reins of the offense were handed to Malcolm’s older brother, Julius Price, who started the second quarter scoring his team’s first 11 points.

While the Knights offense has always been explosive, the defense also shared the spotlight.

Centennial was held to just three field goals in the second quarter as St. Joseph took a 62-18 lead into halftime.

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“Coach (Eliot) Davis does a great job (with this team),” Mott said. “He gets the guys realizing that every defensive possession matters. If one guy takes a possession off, then someone else might. Everyone needs to be locked in.”

Malcolm Price continued the scoring throughout the second half as St. Joseph’s lead continued to grow.

If he wasn’t spotting up from behind the arc, he was finding openings to drive to the basket.

By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the running clock was implemented and St. Joseph reached the century mark by scoring 100 or more points in its fifth game this season.

It was the largest win the Knights have had since they played a tournament in Australia back in early December.

“We came out pretty focused there in the first half and they knew what they needed to do,” Mott said.

Julius Price also finished with 28 points while center Williams Sacre finished with 10 points.

St. Joseph will now look to punch its ticket into the CIF-Central finals with a home game on Thursday against Bakersfield Christian.

The Eagles defeated San Joaquin Memorial, 61-59 in its quarterfinal game.

“We just need to play as a team and find what works,” Malcolm Price said. “Most importantly we need to stick together.”