HUNTINGTON BEACH — Prior to Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Division 4A title game, the California boys basketball team had never played in a sectional championship game.

It was hard to tell though from the way the Condors dominated Citrus Hill from start to finish to claim their first CIF sectional title.

The Condors jumped out to a 14-0 lead to begin the game and never looked back as they took down Citrus Hill 63-47.

Cal’s Aham Nwosu scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to help the Condors push past the Hawks. The sophomore forward shot 8 of 12 from the field and added six rebounds.

Nwosu said a speech given by Cal coach Joel Simonds before the playoffs began kept him motivated throughout the playoff run.

“It goes back to coach talking about you have to grow up fast and you can’t be a sophomore anymore,” Nwosu said. “We have to grow up fast and play hard.”

Simonds became emotional talking about what he’s poured into the program

“I don’t take the moment lightly,” Simonds said. “Honestly, I need to let it sink in. I had a real cool moment with my wife. She’s allowed me to do this for a long time. … I don’t know what else I’d be doing with my afternoons. I don’t know what I’d be doing with my evenings. I told these guys we were here for a lot of people. …These guys are playing in honor of them.”

Edgar Beltran, a senior captain for Cal, affected the game in every aspect. The do-it-all guard finished with 8 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals.

“Before the playoffs, my coach told me ‘maybe you won’t be the leading scorer, but you can affect the game in so many different ways,’ ” Beltran said. “And I really took that to heart and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”

After dropping 81 points in their semifinal win over Alhambra, the Condors picked up where they left off and began the game on a 14-0 run.

Citrus Hill didn’t score until midway through the opening quarter and found itself facing a 23-6 deficit heading into the second quarter.

Cal extended its lead to 21 points and led for all but 18 seconds in the first half.

A late offensive spurt from the Hawks allowed them to go into halftime trailing 36-18.

The Condors did not slow down their offensive output to begin the second half. Cal went on a 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the third quarter.

Despite facing a 16-point deficit entering the fourth quarter, the Hawks did not go down quietly. Citrus Hill went on a 8-2 run in the middle of the quarter.

With less than 1:30 left to go in the game, Cal’s Kenny Renfrow hit two 3-point shots to give the Condors a 63-43 lead and put Citrus Hill away for good.

Renfrow finished the game with 15 points and three steals.

“I was dreaming big and I was dreaming for my grandma,” Renfrow said.

Both teams qualified for the CIF State Southern California Regional playoffs.