WOODSTOCK — Basketball is a game of runs and that was on full display Thursday night.
Central withstood a furious rally by Skyline and put together a strong fourth quarter to hold on for a 67-57 victory in the Region 3B boys basketball tournament semifinals. The win gives Central its second state berth in the last three years. The top-seeded Falcons will host sixth-seeded Armstrong in the regional final at 6 tonight. Both teams have secured berths in the Class 3 state tournament.
Central 6-foot-5 senior forward Kelan Hoover said that the Falcons talked with some of the players from the 2017-18 squad before the game and it felt good to accomplish what that team had accomplished.
“Our 2018 class, we had a group chat with them (before the game) and they said ‘good luck,’” Hoover said. “It makes you feel good when that happens. Once we won tonight – to see everybody smile – I think it felt really good because it’s good to know that we’re already in states no matter the outcome of Saturday’s game.”
Central 6-foot-8 junior Dominic Strother is the only player on this year’s team who was also on the squad two years ago.
“It feels good to go to states for the second time in three years, because back then when we went to states we had the same motivation like we do now,” Strother said.
The Falcons have been motivated all season to return to states and that drive showed early in the game against Skyline.
Central dominated the first half. They started out on a 12-3 run, with all 12 points coming from Strother and Hoover.
Skyline junior point guard Mason Schmitz hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 12-6. Neither team scored the rest of the period, but Central took over in the second quarter.
Strother, who had a game-high 33 points, used his size to dominate in the paint and scored the first 7 points of the second quarter.
“He was dominant the entire game,” Central boys basketball coach Jeff Whittle said. “Playing extremely well inside, whether it was finishing or kicking out or playing on the perimeter he had an outstanding game.”
The Falcons outscored the Hawks 25-11 in the second quarter to take a 37-17 lead into halftime. Central led by as many as 22 points in the first half. It was the second straight game that Central’s defense held a team to under 20 points in the first half.
Skyline boys basketball coach switched things up in the second half going from a man-to-man defense to a two-three zone and also employing a full-court press at times and the move worked.
The Hawks ended the third quarter on a 22-7 run, causing eight Central turnovers and playing at the fast-pace that Skyline prefers to play at.
“We got off to a very slow start,” Chunn said. “Then we played hard the whole second half. If we would have played the first half like we did the second half it would have been a different game.”
Two free throws by Skyline junior center Lamar Schmitz cut the lead to 46-43 with 7:31 left in the game.
The Falcons (21-3) regrouped and took the momentum back. Central used a 10-2 run to push the lead to 56-45 with 4:53 remaining in the game. Strother, who was in foul trouble in the second half, had 5 points during the run.
“When Skyline made a run, they we’re playing some good ball during that stretch,” Whittle said. “We just kind of withstood that and made some plays down the stretch when it mattered. They cut it to 3 and we withstood that and then bounced back to get it back up to 10 there. I was just proud of how we didn’t fold, kind of withstood that. We still had confidence because it’s a senior-led group. So I’m happy for all of the guys on the team.”
Skyline junior forward Marion “Budder” Haley hit back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to 56-49 with 3:08 left. But that’s as close as the Hawks would get. Strother, Hoover and Central junior Brevin Scott combined to make six free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.
Skyline was only 5-for-14 from the foul line and Chunn said that was another big factor in the loss.
Haley led the Hawks (16-8) with 20 points, six rebounds and three steals and Mason Schmitz added 15 points for the Hawks.
Skyline has a young team and Chunn said that his squad had a lot to be proud of despite the defeat.
“I got nothing but big things coming next year,” Chunn said. “We’re going to put in some work in the offseason. Like I told the guys, you don’t have to be at every practice but you have to be at some of them, so we can get it going. I know (the loss) hurts them, but like I told them ‘you got to walk out of here proud. You were down 20 and you got it close.’”
Strother had eight rebounds and four blocks for the Falcons and Hoover had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. The Falcons had 10 blocks as a team.
Whittle said that he told his team to stay focused and keep pushing for the regional title, which they can win tonight.
“These guys have said from Day 1 that they wanted to make it to states,” he said. “Now that we’ve achieved that we basically told them not to be satisfied just with that. We want this region title. I don’t think we’ve won one here at Central since 1980. So that’s something that we want to try to achieve.”
– Contact Tommy Keeler Jr. at tkeeler@nvdaily.com
Central withstood a furious rally by Skyline and put together a strong fourth quarter to hold on for a 67-57 victory in the Region 3B boys basketball tournament semifinals. The win gives Central its second state berth in the last three years. The top-seeded Falcons will host sixth-seeded Armstrong in the regional final at 6 tonight. Both teams have secured berths in the Class 3 state tournament.
Central 6-foot-5 senior forward Kelan Hoover said that the Falcons talked with some of the players from the 2017-18 squad before the game and it felt good to accomplish what that team had accomplished.
“Our 2018 class, we had a group chat with them (before the game) and they said ‘good luck,’” Hoover said. “It makes you feel good when that happens. Once we won tonight – to see everybody smile – I think it felt really good because it’s good to know that we’re already in states no matter the outcome of Saturday’s game.”
Central 6-foot-8 junior Dominic Strother is the only player on this year’s team who was also on the squad two years ago.
“It feels good to go to states for the second time in three years, because back then when we went to states we had the same motivation like we do now,” Strother said.
The Falcons have been motivated all season to return to states and that drive showed early in the game against Skyline.
Central dominated the first half. They started out on a 12-3 run, with all 12 points coming from Strother and Hoover.
Skyline junior point guard Mason Schmitz hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 12-6. Neither team scored the rest of the period, but Central took over in the second quarter.
Strother, who had a game-high 33 points, used his size to dominate in the paint and scored the first 7 points of the second quarter.
“He was dominant the entire game,” Central boys basketball coach Jeff Whittle said. “Playing extremely well inside, whether it was finishing or kicking out or playing on the perimeter he had an outstanding game.”
The Falcons outscored the Hawks 25-11 in the second quarter to take a 37-17 lead into halftime. Central led by as many as 22 points in the first half. It was the second straight game that Central’s defense held a team to under 20 points in the first half.
Skyline boys basketball coach switched things up in the second half going from a man-to-man defense to a two-three zone and also employing a full-court press at times and the move worked.
The Hawks ended the third quarter on a 22-7 run, causing eight Central turnovers and playing at the fast-pace that Skyline prefers to play at.
“We got off to a very slow start,” Chunn said. “Then we played hard the whole second half. If we would have played the first half like we did the second half it would have been a different game.”
Two free throws by Skyline junior center Lamar Schmitz cut the lead to 46-43 with 7:31 left in the game.
The Falcons (21-3) regrouped and took the momentum back. Central used a 10-2 run to push the lead to 56-45 with 4:53 remaining in the game. Strother, who was in foul trouble in the second half, had 5 points during the run.
“When Skyline made a run, they we’re playing some good ball during that stretch,” Whittle said. “We just kind of withstood that and made some plays down the stretch when it mattered. They cut it to 3 and we withstood that and then bounced back to get it back up to 10 there. I was just proud of how we didn’t fold, kind of withstood that. We still had confidence because it’s a senior-led group. So I’m happy for all of the guys on the team.”
Skyline junior forward Marion “Budder” Haley hit back-to-back baskets to cut the lead to 56-49 with 3:08 left. But that’s as close as the Hawks would get. Strother, Hoover and Central junior Brevin Scott combined to make six free throws in the final minutes to seal the win.
Skyline was only 5-for-14 from the foul line and Chunn said that was another big factor in the loss.
Haley led the Hawks (16-8) with 20 points, six rebounds and three steals and Mason Schmitz added 15 points for the Hawks.
Skyline has a young team and Chunn said that his squad had a lot to be proud of despite the defeat.
“I got nothing but big things coming next year,” Chunn said. “We’re going to put in some work in the offseason. Like I told the guys, you don’t have to be at every practice but you have to be at some of them, so we can get it going. I know (the loss) hurts them, but like I told them ‘you got to walk out of here proud. You were down 20 and you got it close.’”
Strother had eight rebounds and four blocks for the Falcons and Hoover had 20 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. The Falcons had 10 blocks as a team.
Whittle said that he told his team to stay focused and keep pushing for the regional title, which they can win tonight.
“These guys have said from Day 1 that they wanted to make it to states,” he said. “Now that we’ve achieved that we basically told them not to be satisfied just with that. We want this region title. I don’t think we’ve won one here at Central since 1980. So that’s something that we want to try to achieve.”
– Contact Tommy Keeler Jr. at tkeeler@nvdaily.com
