The Centralia boys had good offensive possessions Friday night but not quite enough.

Centralia at Moberly Photo Gallery

The Panthers lost 57-48 to Moberly after struggling with their shooting in the first half by trailing 27-13 at halftime. They cut Moberly’s lead to 52-46 with less than a minute remaining but couldn’t catch the Spartans.

Centralia (4-5) did cut its deficit to single digits other times late in the second half after seeing that small of a margin for the first since the first quarter on a three-quarter-court shot by Quin Eckler on the third-quarter-ending buzzer. That miraculous shot made it 40-32 Moberly (7-3) going into the fourth quarter, but head coach Chad Thall said the inconsistent shooting, especially early, hurt Centralia.

“They’re tough defensively,” Thall said. “They play fast. They’re everywhere. They’re not as big as some of the teams we play, but they’re fast. We score around the basket a lot, but every time we dumped it in there, they had two or three guys digging it out.”

In the first quarter, Mason Bivins demonstrated the speed and well-rounded game used by several of the Spartans. Bivins scored all 10 of his points along with picking up some rebounds, steals and a block to help put Centralia behind 20-3 after one quarter.

Cameron Doubrava led the floor with 22 points and scored 11 of those points in the fourth quarter to prevent the Panthers from coming back. Doubrava hit two of his four 3-pointers in that fourth quarter and drew some contact on some layups in the second half, which is what Collin Knox also did. Knox had 11 points and eight rebounds.

“It’s tough on the defensive end for us because who is going to guard who,” Thall said. “You think you would have an advantage offensively, but they are so fast and their intensity was there tonight. It’s hard to get the ball where you need it to go.”

That size advantage Thall was referring to was there for Centralia as it outrebounded Moberly 24-16 in the first half and had a 48-31 advantage for the game. Anthony Ford led the Panthers with 13 rebounds, and Ethan Ross had 11 rebounds. 

Travis Brooks had nine rebounds at halftime and had to finish with that total after not playing in the second half. Brooks hit his head on the floor after attempting a putback near the end of the first half and was left out due to precautionary reasons, Thall said. His fellow starter Ross stepped up by scoring nine of his team-high 11 points in the second half and bench player Hunter Hull followed with eight points, including two 3-pointers, with some extra playing time.

“Ethan and Hunter are both really athletic kids,” Thall said. “They’re young so they’re getting into the swing of varsity basketball a little bit. They are both really athletic kids that can really do it all so we’re just trying to get them integrated into what we do and allow their athleticism to show.”

While Thall said Centralia did adjust better offensively to Moberly’s quicker team in the second half, the Panthers didn’t have enough productive offensive trips in a row. When they did find a groove, Thall said they protected the ball.

“They were a lot stronger with the ball,” Thall said. “They’re going to fly in with their hands a lot. We held onto the ball a lot better, which allowed us to get the ball where we wanted to. Early in the game, it seemed when we saw a double, we just turned it over. When they would bring that double (later) we would find an open man.”

Now the calendar has turned to a new year, Thall said Centralia can benefit from improving in all areas, especially with its shooting around the rim. He said that wasn’t good against Moberly but needs to be a consistent strength for the Panthers from this point of the season.

“We haven’t had a lot of days where we shot the ball particularly well,” Thall said. “We’re going to be a team that scores more around the basket. It’s hard to win games when the other team shoots it well and you don’t.”