CENTERBURG – Through three quarantines and a coaching change right before the season, the Centerburg boys basketball team is right where many envisioned them — atop the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference standings.
In a game of “Top This,” Levi Houck hit a corner 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to put the Trojans on top for good; handing visiting Fredericktown its first loss of the season, 62-58, on Tuesday, Jan. 26.
“Coach would send us workouts over our phone and we would do them,” junior Landon Griffith said. “I guess it was our choice whether we wanted to do them or not. But I think you can tell that we did them and we stayed in shape.”
“I’m really proud of them, because even through all of that they’ve been able to do some things and find ways to win,” Centerburg coach John Marhefka said. “I think they know what’s there and they’re pretty self-motivated.”
Griffith, who hit four 3s and scored 12 points against the Freddies, has been going through his own mini-struggle this season.
“I’ve been struggling to find my shot lately,” Griffith said. “I’m glad I found it tonight because I think we needed it, and I think it helped us.”
How did Griffith know he found his shot?
“I would probably say the bank shot in the first quarter,” he responded with a chuckle. “That’s not a shot you’re usually trying to hit. But it fell, so I can’t complain about it.”
The Freddies hit 10 of their 13 3-pointers in the second half to erase an 11-point deficit. But Centerburg had an answer for almost every big shot Fredericktown hit.
Lincoln Cunningham, Ty Hatfield and Caleb Sheriff each buried 3s to pull the Freddies into a 50-50 tie after the Trojans had opened up a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
A few possessions later, Cunningham buried another long ball to give Fredericktown its first lead at 55-54.
Landon Griffith answered with one of his own. Cunningham hit another 3 on the Freddies’ next possession, and then Griffith found Houck — who finished with eight points and four rebounds — for what turned out to be the game-winner.
Carter Jones led the Trojans (10-2, 8-0), who fell to Columbus Academy in non-league play on Wednesday, Jan. 27, with 21 points, 14 rebounds and four assists; and Mckinnon Mead added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling is focused on the here and now. The fact that his team hadn’t started 14-0 since the 1954-55 season (according to crawfordcountybasketball.com) wasn’t even on his mind.
“Whether you win, lose... you gotta find ways to get better,” he said. “If you’re standing still, you’re losing ground. Every game, win or lose, you gotta find ways to get better and this is no different — and hopefully a big boost for us going forward.”
Sheriff poured in a game-best 24 points, hitting five 3-pointers along the way, to lead the Freddies (14-1, 9-1). He also added seven rebounds to his ledger.
Cunningham had 14 points, five rebounds and five assists; Thomas Caputo added nine points, three rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals; and Ty Hatfield chipped in six points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for Fredericktown, which hosts Centerburg in the rematch on Feb. 12.
“The challenge is, how are you going to respond to something like this,” Dibling said. “These (teams) battled back and forth the past few years; and they wanted to win this more than any game so far, I would say. There’s another shot at them; but again, it’s a challenge for us to get better and find ways to be more efficient and more productive.”
