Centerburg 62, Danville 48
Centerburg (2-1, 2-0) travelled to Danville (1-1, 0-1) for KMAC basketball action Tuesday, and the explosive Trojans' duo of Colton Martin and Grayson Reynolds supplied an onslaught of scoring in a 62-48 win.
Centerburg's first quarter’s scoring was led by Reynolds and Martin. Reynolds hit a three and a pair of free throws, while Martin scored four points to give Centerburg an 11-7 advantage. Max Payne scored three of his seven points in the quarter for Danville.
Centerburg dominated the second quarter, with Reynolds hitting his second three of the night and a pair of baskets to propel the Trojans to a 29-17 lead at the half.
Danville’s offense woke up in the third quarter, outscoring Centerburg 16-12 to make it a 41-33 game. Walker Weckesser scored five points to lead the Blue Devils, and Kendall Carter added four for Danville.
Centerburg had a 21-point output in the fourth quarter thanks to Martin’s 10 points, securing the 62-48 win.
The Trojans were led by Martin and Reynolds, who had 24 points and 16 points respectively, and Trevin Harris also had a solid night in double figures with 11 points. Reynolds and Martin were a combined 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, and as a team the Trojans led the Blue Devils 72% to 48%.
Coach John Marhefka was proud of his Centerburg squad and praised the team for their hard work after the win.
"It was a good step forward for the program,” Marhefka said. “Many young players executed well and gained experience. Colton does a great job of making plays that impact the style and pace. It is no secret that he is a talented player."
The Blue Devils were led by Carter with 12 points, Weckesser with 11 points and Spencer Payne with 10 points. Levi Lyons had eight points and Max Payne had seven points, with both hitting threes.
Fredericktown 53, East Knox 29
The Fredericktown boys’ basketball team (2-2, 2-0) cruised to a 53-29 victory over the East Knox Bulldogs (1-1, 0-1), in a game in which the Freddies controlled nearly every stage of the game in an impressive performance on both sides of the ball.
Ben Mast and Trevor Bellman provided impressive defense early in the first quarter for Fredericktown, with a steal apiece, setting the early tone. Kaid Carpenter buried a nasty fade away jumper in first quarter on a fast break to make it 5-1. He then followed with a 3-pointer with a hand in his face to make it a 10-1 game. It was a 14-7 lead after the first quarter for the Freddies.
In the second quarter, there was a nice steal-and-pass from nearly one end of the court to the other from Brady Lester to Dom Thompson for a layup finish to go up 20-7 with about 5:30 left in the quarter. With about 4:20 left in the second, Bellman had another steal and took the ball to the hoop for a layup to go up 24-7. As time wound down in the half, Carpenter scored on a fast break that was started by a steal-and-pass by Teegan Ruhl with help from pressure by Mast. Going into halftime Fredericktown led 30-13.
Fredericktown’s Carpenter hit a trey at the top of the key at the beginning of the third quarter to go up 35-13. Later in the quarter, Mast had a steal and fast break layup to make it a 45-15 game. The Bulldogs were held to only three points in the third quarter to make it a 47-16 game at the end of the quarter. The Bulldogs outscored Fredericktown 13-6 in the fourth quarter but the Freddies held onto their lead and cruised to victory.
Carpenter and Lester were the leading scorers with 14 points apiece for Fredericktown. They were both efficient, as well, going 6-for-13 and 7-10 from the field respectively. Carpenter also had three rebounds and a steal, while Lester gathered four boards and two steals. Ruhl had six points, four boards, an assist and a steal.
Bellman scored seven points to go along with four steals, three assists and three deflections. Thompson had six points, a pair of deflections and a steal, but they both did more defensively than what goes into the scorebook.
“I am proud of the kids for playing a complete game and getting after it early in the game and controlling the pace,” said Freddies' coach Derek Dibling. “Trevor Bellman and Dom Thompson provided a huge lift defensively with their energy and active hands and really set the tempo early on.”
The leader for East Knox was Ethan Rine who had eight points, but most impressive was his work defending the rim with six blocks and nine defensive boards. He also had a steal. Dustin Springer had six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Northmor 59, Mount Gilead 51
Northmor (1-1, 1-2) hosted Mount Gilead (2-1, 1-1) on Tuesday and despite a valiant effort by the Indians to stage a comeback, the Golden Knights gave their hometown fans a 59-51 win and were led by Grant Bentley’s 17 points.
Mount Gilead was down 13-2 with just under three minutes left in the first quarter but a steal from Carson Trainer, who then hit a three from the corner to follow, gave the Mount Gilead squad life after the extended run by Northmor.
It was an 18-5 game after one quarter in favor of Northmor, but Mount Gilead’s offense turned on and kept even with the Golden Knights in the second quarter with 12 points, making it a 30-17 at halftime.
With Northmor up 30-21 in the third quarter, Aaron Gannon had two blocks, back-to-back within seconds of each other, that got the ball back for Mount Gilead. With 3:48 left in the quarter, Rowan Fitzpatrick did his best Steph Curry impression with a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to make it a 35-26 game. With the game at 40-28, Gannon had another big block to bring Mount Gilead back into transition.
In the fourth quarter, Gannon swished a corner three off a crisp assist by Fitzpatrick to make it a 42-31 game. The blocks kept coming for Gannon, who swatted another away in the fourth quarter as Northmor had a 48-35 lead. Matt Bland then made it a 48-42 game on a steal off an inbound pass, and then a three from the corner. Bland hit another three to make it 52-48, and despite the comeback attempt outscoring Northmor 23-17 in the fourth, the Golden Knights took home the 59-51 win.
Bentley was huge for the Golden Knights with 11 points in the fourth quarter, including five makes from the free-throw line.
Northmor basketball coach Blade Tackett liked his team's focus.
"We executed our game plan really well for a Mount Gilead team that scores a lot of points," Tackett said. "I think we made it tough on Matthew Bland all night even though he still ended up with 17. We have a talented team on both ends. Our biggest fault right now is playing with a lead. We were up 12 against Centerburg and gave that up. We were up 14 on Mount Gilead with 6:30 left in the fourth and they also made it close. Once we get better at playing with a lead, I believe we will have an extremely well-rounded team."
Bentley led the way with 17 points in the win for the Golden Knights, which included going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line and draining a pair of threes. Hunter Fulk and Jaxson Wagner each scored 14 points in the win.
Mount Gilead was led by Bland’s 17 points, including a pair of key threes down the stretch. Gannon had 13 points and was huge defensively near the basket blocking shots and creating offense. Fitzpatrick scored eight points highlighted by his long-range three.
Utica 66, Zanesville 52
Utica (2-0, 1-0) and Zanesville (0-2, 0-0) were evenly matched for one half of basketball, but the Redskins capitalized off a big third quarter led by Trenton Collins to take a 66-52 win Wednesday.
Down 6-3 in the first quarter, Brody McDaniel tied things up for the 'Skins with a wide open corner three, which was followed up by a Zach Heckman steal on the next Zanesville possession. Collins scored five points in the quarter and it was an 8-6 game after one.
In the second quarter, McDaniel struck again from deep with a three to give Utica a 13-10 lead. The game was tied again at 15-15 and McDaniel continued his hot hand from downtown with a corner three to go up 18-15. Utica was up 20-15 and Zanesville was threatening to score, but Dylan Yates made a swift defensive move to swat away a shot. However, Zanesville went on a 7-2 run to end the quarter, making it a 22-22 game at halftime.
The third quarter was huge for Utica, outscoring Zanesville 27-16 and going up 49-38. Zanesville had a 26-25 lead until Heckman nailed a corner three to go up by two. Soon after, Heckman made it a 36-29 game on another three pointer from the corner. Roman Gamble had a steal on the next Zanesville possession. It was a 41-31 game and Gavin Chinn came out of nowhere to block a 3-pointer and regain possession for Utica. Collins had a big quarter with 11 points and Gamble scored eight points to lead the scoring charge.
In the fourth quarter, Utica was up 53-47 and steals by Collins and Gamble sealed the deal for the Redskins.
Collins led the way again with a 24-point performance. Gamble had 15 points, all coming in the second half and was also a defensive standout. Heckman scored 14 points and McDaniel had nine points on a trio of 3-pointers in the first half.
Elgin 62, Cardington-Lincoln 39
Cardington-Lincoln (3-2, 0-1) was coming off a big win over Delaware Christian, but Elgin (3-0, 1-0) brought their “A” game in a 62-39 win Tuesday.
The Pirates were down 15-9 after one quarter and it didn’t get any easier in the second with Elgin outscoring Cardington-Lincoln 19-10 to take a 34-19 lead into halftime. Elgin continued to control the game in the third quarter, taking a 53-31 lead, and then outscored the Pirates 9-8 in the fourth quarter.
AJ Brehm was the top scorer for the Pirates with 12 points on the day. AJ Hall had eight points in the game.
“Tuesday, we as a team did not execute our game plan,” said Cardington-Lincoln Coach Jason Rice. “All offseason and season so far, we have been talking about being the more disciplined and focus team and tonight we did not follow through. Elgin is a well-coached and experienced varsity team and we knew in order to have a chance against them we would have to play very well. Unfortunately, this was not the case and we talked in the locker room after the game that this is a game we will learn from.”
