Trojans come on strong in second half to hand Bulldogs first conference loss, 47-35
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
Centerburg scored only 13 points in the first half, but responded with 35 in the second half to take a 12-point victory over East Knox, which suffered two-period droughts themselves -- six points in the second and eight in the third.
In the first, Shane Knepp started off strong with seven points for EK, as they took an 11-9 lead. Levi Houck scored seven in the quarter for Centerburg.
Knepp connected for four of East Knox’s six points in the second, while the Trojans only managed four points, three coming from a downtown rainbow by Landon Griffith. EK led at halftime, 17-13.
In the third, Centerburg came alive and outscored East Knox 17-8, to take a 30-25 advantage. Colton Martin hit four deuces for the Trojans in the third, and Ethan Rine hit a deuce and two free throws, for half of the EK period total.
In the fourth, Centerburg’s Mckinnon Mead went to work and scored nine of the Trojans’ 17 points, and Martin added two more field goals. EK tried to mount an attack in the fourth, but only managed 10 points, including five from Peyton Lester.
Mead led Centerburg’s scoring attack with 14 points, and Martin and Houck contributed 13 points each. EK’s season leading scorer, Knepp, was held to 14 points and was the only Bulldog in double figures. Lester hit for seven points and Ethan Rine scored six.
Golden Knights take control in second half to down Pirates, 62-46
On Jan. 4, the host Northmor Golden Knights (6-5, 3-3 KMAC) took a one-point lead at halftime and ran away in the final 16 minutes to defeat the Cardington-Lincoln Pirates (3-8, 1-5 KMAC), 62-46.
The Pirates held a 14-13 lead after one, as Gavyn Crockett and Andrew Brehm each popped in five points in the first for Cardington-Lincoln and Northmor’s Grant Bentley sank three deuces and a free throw for a seven-point first.
The Knights used a 14-12 second to take a 27-26 advantage into the locker room at the half, on three field goals by Logan Mariotti. Connor McIe drained two threes for C-L in the second.
Northmor came out smoking in the third and went on a 20-12 run to pad their lead to 47-38 entering the fourth. Graesin Cass put seven on the board for Northmor and Kalin Biggs added five for the Pirates in the third.
The final stanza saw a 15-8 advantage for Northmor to seal the victory, as Mariott’s six points led five Golden Knights scorers in the quarter. McIe sank his fifth three-pointer of the game in the fourth for C-L.
Bentley led all scorers with 17 for Northmor, which also got 14 from Mariotti, 12 from Max Lower and 10 from Cass. Cardington-Lincoln was paced by McIe, who scored 15 points on five three-pointers, Brehm added 10 and Briggs scored eight.
Free throws settle overtime win for Freddies over Blue Devils, 63-61
The Jan. 4 game at Danville between the Blue Devils and Freddies went into overtime and came down to the final horn, settled by three OT free throws in the period by Kaid Carpenter, as Fredericktown prevailed, 63-61.
The Freddies took an 11-9 lead after one on balanced scoring from four players. In the second, Carpenter nailed four deuces and Brady Lester netted two from two-point range and one from beyond the arc for the Freddies, as each team poured in 17 points for a 28-26 Fredericktown lead at the half. Danville got two threes from Darren Mickley in the second.
After halftime, Trevor Bellman nailed three field goals for Fredericktown in the third to increase their lead to 42-38. Danville relied on threes from Walker Weckesser and Cam Miller.
The fourth was a score fest as the Blue Devils scored 22 and the Freddies netted 18 to send the game into overtime, tied at 60-60. Danville was powered in the fourth by four threes, one each from Mickley, Miller, Spencer Payne and Max Payne. Fredericktown’s fourth was paced by Carpenter’s nine points and Teegan Ruhl’s six.
All the Freddies needed in overtime was three-of-four at the foul line by Carpenter to eke out the win.
Fredericktown was led by Carpenter’s 22 points. Lester scored 15, Ruhl had 14 and Bellman added nine. Danville was paced by Miller with 14, Mickley with 13 and Weckesser with 11.
The tight win put Fredericktown at 4-7 for the season, 2-5 in KMAC play, and sent Danville to 2-8 and 1-6 in KMAC.
Pleasant dominates with 47-pt. second half to take down Indians, 73-48
Pleasant is off to a rough start in 2022, but they put it all together with 47 points in the second-half to beat Mount Gilead 73-48 on Jan. 4.
The Indians got spirited defensive play from Aaron Gannon in the first, as Mount Gilead made a game of it, trailing 8-7 after one. In the quarter, Gannon blocked two shots and was credited with two steals. The second quarter was a glimpse of what was to come, as the Spartans outscored the Indians 18-10 to take a 26-17 lead at halftime.
The second half was a lesson in scoring, scoring and scoring some more by Pleasant as they put up 25 points in the third and 22 in the fourth. While the Indians hit for 13 in the third and 16 in the fourth, they were no match for the Spartans on the scoreboard.
Pleasant’s third-quarter onslaught was led by Trey Booker’s 13 points. Booker finished with 24 for the Spartans. Mount Gilead tried to counter with seven points from Elijah Chafin in the third and scoring from five players in the fourth, but the Indians could not keep up with the Spartan’s rapid fire.
Mount Gilead received scoring from eight players in the game, led by Elijah Chafin with 20 and Owen High with eight.
The Indians fell to 5-5, 4-2 in KMAC play, while Pleasant improved to 3-7 this season.
