Tournament Photos

Centralia continues offensive skid in 45-42 loss to North Callaway

The Centralia boys' offense will have to work out their offensive issues after their home tournament.

The Panthers lost 45-42 to North Callaway late Thursday night in the consolation semifinals of the Centralia Invitational Tournament in a game that started a half hour later than the 9 p.m. start time.

Sam Pezold, who usually starts for the Thunderbirds but was battling sickness, came off the bench beginning in the second quarter to lead all scorers with 24 points, including hitting 3-pointers and going 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Isiah Craighead, along with finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds, finished 6-for-6 from the free throw line, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth quarter to seal the game. Braydn O’Neal led the team with six assists.

For Centralia (2-3), Jack Romine led the team with 12 points, and Logan Rosenfelder followed with 10 points.

North Callaway head coach Matt Miller said North Callaway (2-2) remembers when it lost its season opener 65-42 in Centralia so the defense was much improved from that night.

“The difference in the game was our defense and free throw shooting,” Miller said. “We did a great job of slowing them down.”

For Centralia, it was one short of tying its season-low scoring total this season it achieved Tuesday in a 60-41 loss to Clarence Cannon Conference foe Macon.

Panthers pressed into 60-41 loss to Macon

The Centralia boys will be seeing this defense again.

The Panthers lost to Clarence Cannon Conference foe Macon 60-41 after being outscored 27-8 in the second quarter in the first round of the Centralia Invitational Tournament. The Tigers tallied 14 steals and kept the pressure on to ultimately force Centralia in a season-low scoring total.

After taking a 12-7 lead after the first quarter, Macon (4-0) used a trap defense that induced the Panthers (2-2) into throwing passes straight into the awaiting hands of a defender, who didn’t take long to either become a scorer on the other end or make the pass to the scorer. Head coach Scott Humphrey said it is difficult to prepare for that type of defense when Macon is able to install the athletic and long players it has on its roster.

“You can’t imitate what they are in practice,” Humphrey said. “You’ve just got to get out there (in a game). They came out in the second quarter and slapped the press on us that we talked about, but it was bigger, faster and stronger than what we could replicate.” 

Hayden Lovingier led Macon and all scorers with 17 points and finished with five steals, Boston Douglas — who also had eight rebounds — and Mykel Linear each followed with 11 points, Caleb Reger had seven points and six rebounds and Logan Petre scored eight points and hit two 3-pointers off the bench. 

For Centralia, Cullen Bennett led with 13 points and five rebounds to make him the only Panther to finish scoring in double figures. In the second half, Bennett scored 10 of his points and pulled down most of his rebounds, seemingly gaining a second wind to try to give Centralia a second life in the game. Humphrey said that while it wasn’t enough, he is proud of the determination Bennett and others showed.

“Cullen’s got a lot on him,” Humphrey said. “He’s having to do a lot for us. He’s big and strong, he’s handling the ball, and we’re giving the ball around the block. I thought Jack Romine played well and also Benji Chick. Those guys kept us in it.”

Noah Kropf followed with seven points but had all those points in the first quarter, Austin Orth had five points in the fourth quarter, and Chick and Romine each scored four points.

Humphrey said Centralia’s shots were hitting a decent clip in the first quarter as Bennett knocked down a 3-pointer early only for Macon to take a 7-6 lead. Kropf excelled in transition to lead the Panthers on a 6-0 run to give the home crowd something to be excited about.

“We just got some shots to fall, and we came out with good energy,” Humphrey said.

Once the second quarter started, Macon flipped two Centralia possessions into points and a 12-11 deficit that forced an immediate Centralia timeout with 6:32 left. Douglas and Linear went full-steam toward the rim to draw back-to-back 3-point plays to increase the lead to give Macon a 19-14 lead with five minutes left until halftime.

After a 13-0 run that was highlighted by a couple 3-pointers by Lovingier, Macon owned a 34-20 lead at halftime. Another Lovingier 3-pointer pushed Centralia’s deficit to 20 points in the third quarter.

“We turned it over and they got going,” Humphrey said. “I was pleased with how we battled in the third quarter and kind of hung around, but definitely the second quarter was where the game got away.”

Centralia had North Callaway (1-2), who lost to Harrisburg 74-58 on Tuesday, tnext in the tournament in the consolation bracket. The Panthers play Macon again on Feb. 7 on the road.

Humphrey said that will be a good point to see how far the Panthers have developed in the season as they should be a different team than what they’ve been four games in.

“That’s the best team we’ve played all year so it’s nothing to hang your head about,” Humphrey said. “Sometimes it’s just as simple as they’re just a little better than us right now. We’re going to learn from this, and we’re going to grow. This could’ve gone a lot worse is the way I kind’ve looked at it. We’ve got to take the bright spots from it and move on.”