Logan Rosenfelder went long for Centralia.

Centralia vs Van-Far Photo Gallery

Not as a wide receiver on Friday nights during football season but as the one who scored the game-winning bucket on Tuesday night in the first-round of the Centralia Invitational. The Panthers defeated Van-Far 58-57 on an alley oop pass from Elliott McCoy to Rosenfelder with 1.7 seconds left in the game. Carson Huff hit Van-Far’s ninth 3-pointer of the game for a 57-56 lead with 2.8 seconds left.

Centralia head coach Chad Thall said the final play was “exactly how we drew it up” as the skills of multiple Panthers (2-2) on the floor were a factor. Anthony Ford finished with 25 points, nine rebounds and two blocks so he drew plenty of attention as McCoy was preparing to inbound the ball from around midcourt. McCoy put the ball into the long, outstretched arms of Rosenfelder to convince the Centralia student section to storm the court in celebration.

“We really want to get Ford the ball because he’s been the hot hand all day, but they knew that,” Thall said. “They had three guys on them so let’s see how this other thing goes. Elliott is our do-it-all kid so we knew, with him throwing it in, he wouldn’t hesitate if it was open.”

Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway said the focus on the final play of the game was to keep Centralia away from the rim. That obviously didn’t happen as Rosenfelder ran along the side of the lane to the rim. 

“The specific instructions were, ‘If we’re going to get beat, we’re going to get beat from 24 feet while protecting the paint,” Connaway said. “We didn’t call out the back screen, and we gave up a wide open layup. You don’t deserve to win if you make mental mistakes like that.”

Centralia made mistakes earlier in the game on defense as Van-Far (6-1) created open shots for its shooters. Huff hit four 3-pointers to finish with 16 points, Pacey Reading had two 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead Van-Far with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Gaven Gaston knocked one down as part of his nine points, and Gibson Condie hit a couple of 3-pointers off the bench.

Van-Far had some turnovers in the second half, and a few key ones in the fourth quarter, that helped Centralia take its first lead of the game at 55-54 with about two minutes left to play. Ford scored after coming away with a steal.

“You always take your first half and change your scouting report to whatever is going on in the game,” Thall said. “(Huff) and (Reading) were killing us from the 3-point line. Do not leave them whatever we do, and everybody has to play more help. We played better help defense in the second half, which led to some of those turnovers.”

Connaway said Van-Far has been a great first-quarter team but has noticed some decline in the second quarter. Centralia narrowed Van-Far’s lead to 32-28 at halftime as Ford and Rosenfelder combined for 14 points in the quarter.

“The two turnovers in a row with the lead cost us,” Connaway said. “It’s just being careless with the basketball.”

Van-Far hit more 3-pointers in the second half to hold off Centralia for a while, even giving others shots from the perimeter after Huff and Reading caught the Panthers’ attention. Condie hit both of his 3-pointers in the third quarter for a 47-44 Van-Far lead after the third quarter.

“I’ll let that kid shoot the ball all night from the top of the key,” Connaway said. “They don’t step out a lot and guard the perimeter. They protect inside since they’re such a good rebounding team so we knew we were going to get good looks. That’s the first time we shot the ball pretty well from the arc. We’ve been shooting about 16 percent for the year.”

The Panthers didn’t need to hit many shots from the perimeter as they were effective from midrange all night. Several kids pulled up and hit shots a fair distance away from the basket, including Ethan Ross while scoring his seven points off the bench in his first game coming off an ankle injury sustained during football season. Thall said those work well for Centralia in practice and in game situations since he instructs them to avoid “guarded threes” or “guarded 15-footers.”

Ford was especially dangerous from midrange as the fadeaway was pretty much automatic for Centralia’s post threat. He had four points in the first quarter but then had a constant supply of scoring opportunities the rest of the way and even pulled down some rebounds when the Panthers missed some free throws in the final minute.

“He’s a spot where we know we can go if we’re a little bit slow starting,” Thall said. “If we need a bucket, we know Anthony’s a really good bet for that. He’s done a great job getting himself into basketball shape so you don’t have to take him off the floor much. I expected him to be really good this year, but so far, he’s been even better than I expected.”

Connaway said he wasn’t disappointed with how Van-Far guarded Ford and complimented Ford for hitting those tough midrange shots. He was more disappointed that Ford snagged those late rebounds and thought Centralia “deserved to win” after making key plays like that.

“It feels really good,” Thall said. “Van-Far played a great game and had a great game plan. We started a little bit slow, but the guys didn’t quit.”

Centralia plays rival Hallsville (2-0) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals while Van-Far faces Macon (1-3) at 9 p.m. Thursday in the consolation bracket.