The Centralia boys had a chance to even the score against Boonville but weren’t in a hurry.

Centralia vs Boonville Photo Gallery

The Panthers lost 61-52 to Boonville in Centralia earlier this season but came out victorious this time 53-41 in the Centralia Invitational third-place game on Saturday. Centralia led by as much as 19 points and only allowed 23 points through three quarters.

Head coach Chad Thall said it feels good to get a win back regardless of who the opponent is, and Centralia (3-3) had that motivation. However, Thall said the Panthers couldn’t be too eager offensively since Boonville (3-2) turned their turnovers into 29 points last time.

“The key for us was not to get sped up so much,” Thall said. “We really slowed down and made sure we were set up for our half-court stuff instead of sprinting right into bad situations.”

Thall said Boonville has plenty of athleticism and speed that comes immediately into play when it picks up turnovers with its zone defense. Because of that, Centralia made plenty of passes back-and-forth until it had an opening.

Anthony Ford found some openings midrange and inside in the first half, scoring 13 of his 17 points. In the third quarter, Travis Brooks found some on the perimeter by draining four straight 3-point attempts to finish with 12 points in the quarter and 14 points in the game.

“I have been yelling at him for four years to shoot the ball,” Thall said. “Anytime somebody doesn’t have their hand up, Travis Brooks needs to let it fly. He shot about 100 3s last year and made 50 percent of them. Shoot the ball, kid. He was great tonight. He passed one up early, and I said, ‘Travis, do not pass up another one’ and he didn’t.”

Ford also pulled down six rebounds while Brooks had nine rebounds to each earn spots on the all-tournament team. Thall said having Brooks and others like Logan Rosenfelder hitting shots from outside will only help Ford, who is already having an “awesome” season.

Rosenfelder, Elliott McCoy and Quin Eckler took turns handling the ball and also took turns passing to an open Brooks before he made Boonville pay. Thall said each of those kids were good at countering Boonville’s defense.

“We had some guys handle the ball and handle the pressure too so we can get it down and get it into something,” Thall said. “It was really good. I was happy with everything they did tonight.”

Landon Conz and Braylon Ellison were Boonville’s representatives on the team. Ellison was the only consistent scoring option for the Pirates as he muscled and shot his way to 18 points and eight rebounds. Centralia struggled to stop him at times, but the next highest point total was five points by three different players.

Boonville didn’t play Centralia as close as the first quarter, which the Panthers closed leading 13-9. Centralia’s lead was cut to seven points before three straight 3-pointers by Brooks buried the Pirates. 

“They have some kids that can shoot it,” Thall said. “Our whole thing was we were going to guard man-to-man and help when Ellison gets the ball. We have to limit runout layups because that’s what killed us first time out.”

Centralia plays at Chillicothe (3-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.