The Centralia boys believe they are in good shape.
The Panthers closed the Harrisburg Tournament last week with a 78-72 overtime loss to the host Bulldogs (14-4) in the third-place game on …
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The Centralia boys believe they are in good shape.
The Panthers closed the Harrisburg Tournament last week with a 78-72 overtime loss to the host Bulldogs (14-4) in the third-place game on Saturday following a 52-51 semifinal loss to Blair Oaks (11-5) on Thursday. However, Centralia (7-10) took a three-game winning streak into the week before a loss to a Class 4 team that received state votes and an overtime loss to the fifth-ranked Class 2 team.
Centralia had a five-game losing streak that carried over into the new calendar year, but head coach Chad Thall said he feels better with the five games after that. Even against Harrisburg, the Panthers trailed 18-8 after one quarter before cutting the deficit to 36-28 at halftime and then finishing regulation with a tie at 69 despite being down 55-43 late in the third quarter.
“They had a couple shooters get loose on us, but then we had a shot to win it at the end of regulation. Got a good look at it but didn’t go in,” Thall said. “They handled the pressure really well, they had shooters everywhere and have a lot of good basketball kids that know the situation and what to do.”
Thall said Centralia did a lot of good things such as having a balanced offense. Travis Brooks led the Panthers with 20 points, and Logan Rosenfelder followed with 19 points before being named to the all-tournament team along with Harrisburg’s Trace Combs and Bryce Ott. Hunter Hull finished with 11 points and played good defense along with Ethan Ross, Thall said, and Anthony Ford pulled down 15 rebounds.
“Their basketball IQ was a little bit higher than ours down the stretch, and they got the win,” Thall said.
Centralia plays at Bowling Green (13-3) at 7 p.m. tonight as the Bobcats are coming off winning their home tournament last week. Thall said the losses against Blair Oaks and Harrisburg are still good signs for the rest of the season
“Even though it’s not showing up on the wins and losses, we’re getting better all the time,” Thall said. “These two last games are going to bode well for us going forward. When you’re playing these tight games, it bodes well for you in tight games against better competition.”
