Fredericktown 49, Centerburg 38
Teegan Ruhl's double-double fueled Fredericktown (14-6, 12-0) to a 49-38 win over Centerburg (12-7, 9-3), Feb. 3, in a battle of the two top teams in KMAC. The win propelled the Freddies to a conference title, while they remained undefeated against KMAC rivals.
“The team came out amped and ready to go from the start,” said Fredericktown coach Derek Dibling. “(I am) really proud and excited for our seniors especially, to go out as undefeated KMAC champs. They epitomized what our ‘Championship Habits Everyday’ slogan means to us.”
Fredericktown led 11-3 after one quarter and showed a great display of offense and defense alike. At the beginning of the quarter, Kaid Carpenter dove for a loose ball to come away with a steal, setting the tone of intensity for the Freddies. Moments later, Brady Lester had a steal of his own that he was able to pass downcourt for a score. Ben Mast also had a steal when the Freddies were up 3-0 with 5:25 left in the quarter, and as time was winding down, he recorded his second steal of the game. Centerburg’s Jack Lawrence had a steal and Colton Martin had a block.
In the second quarter, Grayson Reynolds completed a fast break off a steal for Centerburg to make the score 14-9 in favor of the Freddies. Fredericktown’s Kaid Carpenter made it a 16-8 game with 4:20 on the clock on a wide-open three from the top of the arc. Centerburg cut the lead to 16-14 and were threatening to score, but Luke Bean stepped in front of a pass. Centerburg had a 13-11 advantage in the quarter, but at the half, the Freddies were up 22-16. Reynolds had a pair of steals in the quarter for the Trojans.
In the third quarter, the Freddies were up 28-23 with 4:10 on the clock and Ruhl swatted a shot away and then led a fast break score to make it a 30-23 game. With a minute left in the quarter, Carpenter drilled a three to go up 40-26. The Freddies outscored Centerburg 18-12 in the quarter. Martin had a steal for Centerburg in the quarter.
Mast hit a three in the fourth quarter to make it a 43-28 lead for the Freddies and they never looked back. Reynolds had two blocks and Bennett Hill had a block and a three for the Trojans. Centerburg was able to take a 10-9 fourth quarter advantage, but the Freddies controlled the clock for an 11-point win.
Fredericktown shot 42% and 27% from three, while Centerburg shot 26% and 15% from three. The Freddies led 37-26 in boards, 10-6 in assists and 7-6 in steals. Centerburg had a 2-1 block advantage. Points in the paint was a huge difference maker, with the Freddies scoring 34 and Centerburg 14.
Ruhl was the top Fredericktown scorer with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He also had 11 boards and a block. Carpenter had 14 points, four assists, one steal, one rebound and one block. Lester scored 11 points and added eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Centerburg was led by Reynolds with 13 points, four boards and three steals. Martin had 12 points, eight boards, one assist, two steals and a block.
Utica 64, Lakewood 44
Trenton Collins put on a show for Utica (8-8, 4-5) against Lakewood (2-18, 1-9) with some acrobatic dunks and solid work in the paint, leading the Redskins to a 64-44 victory on Feb. 3.
Utica led early with a 11-4 lead on a Brody McDaniel 3-pointer in the first quarter. The Redskins were up 17-7 after one quarter, with Collins netting seven points as the team’s top scorer.
Collins started the second quarter where he left off, on a steal leading to a fast break, one-handed slam to make it a 19-7 game. He showed his athleticism again to put the Redskins up 21-10 on another fast break slam off a steal. Collins then stole a pass on the next possession and took it to the hole for a layup to go up 23-10. Logan Gosnell then got in on the action, nailing a three from the corner to give Utica a 28-14 lead. McDaniel also had a block in the quarter. Utica ended the half with a 28-16 lead, with Collins putting up eight points in the quarter and 15 in the half.
The third quarter was all Utica, outscoring Lakewood 22-11. McDaniel, Roman Gamble and Dylan Yates all hit threes. McDaniel was the top scorer with seven points and Collins continued to hit shots in the paint for six points.
Lakewood finished with a 17-14 fourth-quarter advantage, but the game was out of reach and Utica took home a convincing win.
“Trenton Collins led the charge early with two dunks,” Utica coach Brian Radabaugh said. “Zach Heckman was a menace defensively and had five assists. We played good team basketball, sharing the ball and amassing a 30-point lead.”
Collins had 26 points to lead all scorers. McDaniel had 13 points, with a pair of threes; Yates scored nine points and both Gosnell and Gamble had eight points.
New Hope 66, Northmor 59
Grant Bentley and Jax Wenger combined for 48 points for Northmor (12-7, 8-4), but it wasn’t enough to knock off New Hope Christian Academy (11-7), who beat the Golden Knights 66-59 on Feb. 3.
The Golden Knights found themselves trailing the Statesmen 25-16 after the first quarter, with Bentley scoring 10 points in the opening frame.
In the second quarter, New Hope had a 14-13 advantage. With the score 31-20 in favor of New Hope, Bentley sank a three from the top of the arc to bring the lead down to eight with 4:30 left. With 1:30 left, he hit another shot from deep to make it a 36-30 game. Bentley had eight points in the quarter, but the rest of the offense had yet to find their rhythm.
Northmor had an 11-9 third-quarter advantage with Wenger scoring five and Bentley adding four points. Wenger shot a three in the quarter to make it a 41-35 game. Hunter Fulk had a steal and Wenger recorded a block.
The Knights ended the game with a 20-17 fourth-quarter advantage, and while it was close down the stretch, the Statesmen came away with the non-conference win.
“We played a great basketball team tonight that not many people know about,” Northmor coach Blade Tackett said. “We had an opening for this season that we didn’t fill because our goal was to find a small private school that would be similar to the teams we play in our Central District D-4 tournament. We wanted a team that our kids have never heard of and that we as a staff, know very little about that would take a lot of prep ahead of time. That’s the situation being D-4 for the first time ever and we found the perfect game. New Hope had three very talented players and good role players around them. On top of that, they were well-coached. Our guys got a game that prepped us for tournaments and that’s what we wanted.”
Bentley hit four threes in a 28-point showing where he led all scorers. He went 8-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-6 from downtown. Bentley also had three rebounds and an assist. Wenger scored 20 points, including a pair of threes, and went 4-for-4 from the line. He had five boards, four assists and a steal. Max Lower had four points, 10 boards and five assists. Fulk had three points, four assists, two boards and a steal.
“We played tough and hit big shots down the stretch, but couldn’t get over that five-point hump in the fourth quarter,” Coach Tackett said. “Overall, I’m extremely pleased with our team’s effort and the things we learned to continue to get better as we get closer to sectionals with three games left.”
Danville 79, East Knox 59
Danville (7-12, 3-9) won a convincing 79-59 victory over KMAC rival East Knox (2-16, 0-11) on Feb. 3.
East Knox led 4-3 in the first quarter, but Spencer Payne found a loose ball for a steal for Danville. Nate Stephens went on to record a block on the next East Knox possession. With time winding down, Max Payne hit a three from the corner for Danville to go up 20-10 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Danville was up 30-20 when Spencer Payne scored on a fast break stemming from a steal, to go up 32-20 with 3:15 on the clock. With 2:30 left, Spencer Payne hit a three from the top of the arc to put the Blue Devils up 35-20. Max Payne then hit a fast break layup to make it a 40-23 lead with a minute left.
In the third quarter, Max Payne hit another three to make it a 46-33 game, and then Walker Weckesser sank a three to make it 56-35. With less than two minutes left, Weckesser scored on a fast break to go up 62-37. He followed with another three to make it a 65-39 lead for the Blue Devils.
Mount Gilead 46, Cardington-Lincoln 41
Mount Gilead (10-8, 8-4) battled back-and-forth with Cardington-Lincoln (5-15, 2-9) on Feb. 3, but the Indians came out on top 46-41 in a KMAC matchup.
Mount Gilead shot 46% and 27% from three, while making 61% of their free throws. Cardington-Lincoln shot 33% and 27%, with 88% from the line.
The Indians led 29-25 in rebounds and 2-1 in blocks. The Pirates had a 7-6 assist advantage and 6-5 in steals.
