Warriors Star’s Cousin Hits Six 3-Pointers in Four Minutes on His Birthday

While Jonathan Kuminga’s Golden State Warriors were facing the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, his cousin put on a show six miles away.

Riordan junior Nathan Tshamala hit six 3-pointers in the final four minutes of the third quarter, making his 17th birthday one to remember as his Crusaders beat Wilcox 90-39 in the semifinals of the 63rd Crusader Classic.

“The other team was making threes, but we shoot better than them,” the Congolese teenager said. “We just keep working on it.”

The 6-foot-5 Tshamala, who had previously attended high school in Pennsylvania before moving with his cousin and family to the Bay Area, started the night innocently enough. He made one 3-pointer in the first half, and didn’t hit his second until there were four minutes and 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter, when he got open in the right corner and received an inbound pass from Cameroonian freshman Andrew Hilman.

From there, Tshamala looked like a future NBA star himself. He sank his next five attempts, each one drawing greater and greater reactions from the bench, before finally missing one in the final 20 seconds of the quarter. He shot 6-for-7 in the span and scored a game-high 21 points. Riordan outscored the visiting Chargers 32-8 in the quarter to take a 79-33 lead, and the final quarter was played with a running clock.

The Crusaders, ranked No. 1 in the region by the Bay Area News Group, improved to 3-0. They’ll face San Ramon Valley (3-0) on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the championship game of the Crusader Classic, Riordan’s annual tournament.