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. “You have to have time to get a feel for the game. We weren’t panicking. We had a long time left.”
The Trojans did indeed settle down, taking their first lead over the host East Knox Bulldogs in the second quarter. Centerburg held on to that lead for the rest of the game, and the 50-37 victory locked up the school’s first-ever outright Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference championship.
Centerburg used its full-court press throughout the game. The results began to show after the initial burst of scoring by East Knox, when Shane Knepp passed to Dillon Moreland for three consecutive 3-pointers, and Centerburg held a 10-9 lead after one.
From there, the Trojans (15-1, 10-0 KMAC) smothered and harassed the Bulldog dribblers. The defense sparked a 16-0 run over an 8-minute stretch, giving Centerburg a 20-12 lead late in the first half.
East Knox (12-5, 8-3) kept the game close through the third period, but the Trojans pulled away in the fourth on buckets by Colton Martin and Mckinnon Mead, though Knepp hit for seven for the Bulldogs.
Mead, a Centerburg senior and the team’s top scorer, did not start the game but contributed a game-high 18 points off the bench, including seven in the second quarter.
“We usually start off a little slow, and my job is to change the pace,” Mead said. “Come in, get aggressive, get quick steals and score on the other end. That’s what we did tonight.”
Centerburg’s defense was powered by another senior, Isiah Reynolds, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Martin had 13 points to go along with seven rebounds and three blocks.
“We have a lot of pieces that can step forward every night,” Marhefka said. “We had a game earlier against Fredericktown, and (Reynolds) kept us in the game early. Colton Martin had a big game against Pleasant. So, different people are stepping up at different times.”
East Knox was the only team within reach of Centerburg in the KMAC standings. The loss puts the Bulldogs in second place, two wins ahead of Fredericktown.
“We weren’t tough enough to handle it,” East Knox coach Ryan Powell said. “We did everything we could do wrong. Mentally, they were a lot tougher than us tonight.”
The Bulldogs were led by Knepp’s 17 points and Moreland’s 11. Sam Whitney had three points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The victory locks up Centerburg’s third straight conference title. The Trojans had to split the title the previous two years.
Not this year.
“They earned it,” Marhefka said. “Our goal was to win one outright, but we still have some games to go, and we still have a standard to set.”
