Centerburg High School

The high school football season has reached a point in which teams know who they are and what they need to do to get better.

Danville 28, Cardington-Lincoln 20.Cardington-Lincoln (1-6, 0-4) hosted a tough Danville (6-1, 3-0) squad last week and while the Pirates hung tight with the Blue Devils, they couldn’t complete the upset in a tight 28-20 loss.Danville, third-ranked in Division VIi, Region 25, went up 14-0 after one quarter, but the Pirates put six points on the board in the second to make it 14-6 going into the half.

Northmor Golden Knights boys and girls teams sweep first-place titles at the 48th annual McGowan Invitational Cross-Country meet, Sept. 10.

When the Centerburg High School marching band plays outside off the school grounds, it needs a trailer, and not just any trailer, to haul dozens of instruments with them.

The Centerburg Trojans are coming off an 11-11 season in which they went 6-6 in KMAC play.

Lady Pirates top Northridge 3-0. Cardington-Lincoln started the net season with a straight-set victory over Northridge, 25-14, 25-12, 25-15, August 19.

The Centerburg football team is coming off a play-off season win which they went 6-4 overall and 4-3 in KMAC play. During the season, they outscored opponents 271-207, and they are looking to build on that, facing challenges that include what head coach Andy Colella calls, "the challenge from withiin."

Centerburg is coming off a 12-16 season where the Trojans ended with a tight 3-2 loss in the playoffs. The Trojans ended 5-9 in conference play and aim for better results this spring.

“New culture, new expectations, a new way of conducting operations.” That’s the attitude of first-year Centerburg head baseball coach Josh Moss.

It came down to a final shot that bounced off the rim, as seventh-seeded Johnstown-Monroe (13-11) went on the road and held on to win its Division III sectional final 43-40, over Centerburg, in a hard-fought defensive match-up.

HOWARD – A sudden 9-0 deficit didn’t worry Centerburg boys basketball coach John Marhefka.“Did I look worried?” Marhefka said with a smile after the game.

Lester’s buzzer-beater 3, propels East Knox to road OT win over Smithville, 45-44. The host Smithville Smithies came into their home non-conference game against the visiting East Knox Bulldogs, with an 11-2 record and a first-place standing in Wayne County Conference play at 8-1. The Bulldogs entered at 11-4 and 8-2 in KMAC play, and the game lived up to the hype of two top teams battling it out, with the outcome going down to the final buzzer, with East Knox coming from behind and prevailing, 45-44 in overtime.

Knox County boys' high school basketball roundup. Centerburg sits atop the KMAC with win over Northmor.

Despite huge game by Payne, Trojans beat Danville by 23. Spencer Payne had a career night for Danville, but it wasn’t enough for the Blue Devils to derail undefeated (in KMAC) Centerburg, Monday night. The Trojans countered with six players in double figures to dominate the Devils for a, 88-65 victory, Jan. 18. Centerburg improved to 12-1 on the season and 8-0 in KMAC and Danville fell to 4-10 and 2-8 in KMAC)

Trojans remain unbeaten in KMAC with 71-32 romp over Pirates. Centerburg improved to 11-1 and remained unbeaten in KMAC play at 7-0, with a thorough 39-point shellacking of Cardington-Lincoln (3-10, 1-7 KMAC), 71-32, Tuesday night at home. Controlling the action and shooting well, Centerburg hit 18 field goals and eight threes, to six and six for Cardington. Protecting the ball well, Centerburg turned the ball over only three times, to 10 for C-L.

In the Wednesday, January 5 edition of the Mount Vernon News, we ran a review of the 2021 high school athletics season -- Knox County sports: Highlights of a unique year. In the recap of Boys basketball, we wrote: “A late start and a schedule into the spring saw Fredericktown on top of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference in 2020-2021, finishing with a 12-1 conference record and 19-3 overall. Second place was Centerburg, followed by Cardington-Lincoln, East Knox, Mt. Gilead, Highland, Northmor and Danville.” Officials at Centerburg High School submit that they shared co-championship status with Fredericktown.

In a battle of unbeaten-in-conference KMAC foes on Jan. 4, the host Centerburg Trojans (9-1, 6-0 KMAC) recovered from an ice cold first half to hand East Knox (7-3, 5-1 KMAC) their first conference loss, 47-35.

East Knox stays undefeated, outlasts Danville, 52- 47. The East Knox Bulldogs started slowly, then ramped up their offense higher each quarter to remain unbeaten and improve their record to 6-0, 5-0 in KMAC play, with a hard-fought 52-47 win over host Danville. The Tuesday night loss dropped the Blue Devils to 2-6 and 1-5 in KMAC.

Chafin deadly at the line in Mount Gilead’s overtime win over Northmor, 79-70. Elijah Chafin calmly hit 15-of-17 at the line and scored 10 points on overtime, as Mount Gilead (3-3, 2-2 KMAC) came from behind to take down the Northmor Golden Knights (3-3, 2-2 KMAC), 79-70, Tuesday night.

The yo​uth movement for the Centerburg girls basketball team is under way. After finishing last season 6-16, coach Bo Glenn’s squad is returning just one senior and one junior, meaning that the Trojans' underclasswomen are going to have to step up in a big way this season.