The North Callaway boys felt confident they would win Tuesday night, and they were backing it up.

The Thunderbirds hit 10 3-pointers to outscore Class 3 District 7 foe Centralia 20-16 in the fourth quarter to win 66-62 at home. Anthony Ford led Centralia (1-1) and the floor with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

North Callaway head coach Matt Miller said, after losing to Centralia by more than 20 points each of the past two years, the Thunderbirds (2-0) thought they could end the night with a victory after Austin Brown ended the first quarter with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 16.

North Callaway vs Centralia Photo Gallery

“We knew about halfway through the first quarter that we could play with these guys,” Miller said. “They believed it going into halftime, and then in the third quarter, Centralia goes on a 6-0 run and we could’ve folded right there. We stayed the course and kept playing together.”

Miller said his players were more adamant than him in timeouts, saying ‘We’ve got this game’ and ‘This is ours.’ North Callaway took its second lead of the game with a 46-44 advantage after the third quarter and then widened the gap to seven points in the fourth quarter to force a Centralia timeout.

Centralia head coach Brandon Crites coached his second game with Centralia after years as the Hallsville head coach. The Panthers won a close 55-53 game against California in their season opener at home but couldn’t close the night on the winning end of the scoreboard despite cutting the margin to one possession in the final seconds.

“In a game like that, one shot and one possession makes a big difference,” Crites said. “The outcome of the game doesn’t change my thoughts on the players. If we would’ve won the game, I would still have the same opinion that we need to be more sure with the basketball and take better care of the basketball.”

After Jamarion Glover and Jake Blevins each led North Callaway in scoring in its 80-25 victory over district foe Missouri Military Academy in the season opener, Brown led the Thunderbirds this time with 18 points and four 3-pointers. Glover still had a solid game with 16 points, six rebounds and two 3-pointers while Blevins finished with 11 points, but Dalton Brewer also had 11 points and three 3-pointers.

Brown scored seven of his points in the fourth quarter, and Brewer had all of his points in the second half. Miller said 

“They were just unselfish, too,” Miller said. “Dalton didn’t get off a lot of shots in the first half. He came off the bench a little frustrated at one point, and I told him, ‘Just stay the course. Don’t force it. The shots are going to come.’ That’s a credit to him and a credit to Austin. They each could’ve jacked up 15-20 threes, but they took the shots that were available.”

Centralia spreads its playing time around as well as just about everybody on the roster took the floor on Tuesday night. Oliver Bohlmeyer had 11 points and five rebounds, and Cal Romine had seven points.

“We’re playing a lot of guys right now to give everybody a chance and see how things look and who works well together,” Crites said. “That bench will shorten as the year goes on, but I’m proud of how hard they played.”

Miller said defending Ford was a struggle all night so North Callaway tried to hit more shots than Centralia. Crites said Centralia is “blessed” to have a “great player, great kid and great leader” like Ford but could’ve defended North Callaway’s shooters better.

“Part of that is, when we switch, we’re not getting switched up to the ball,” Crites said. “We stand at the level of the screen or handoff, and we’ve got to switch up to the ball with the stick hand up. All of those things are habits that need reps and practice.”

Crites said Centralia needs to focus on being in the right spots defensively and move quicker and communicate better on defense. The Panthers play at Boonville at 8 p.m. Thursday, and Crites hopes they become “connected” better and have time with only two games down.

Miller said having two victories over district opponents doesn’t change the fact it is early December. He said North Callaway just has to focus on beating Eastern Missouri Conference foe Silex (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at home. 

“It’s December 2, and districts aren't until February,” Miller said with a smile. “That might mean something come February, but right now, it’s a win and we look forward to getting another win on Friday.”