Justin DuPree had 13 points and 17 rebounds for Centerville as the Bulldogs defeated Lincoln 54-45.
HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – The Centerville boys basketball team earned a spot in the Wayne County Tournament championship contest on Saturday, after a 54-45 win over Lincoln on Friday night.
“We came out and hit some shots early and hit them for a little while,” Centerville Head Coach Seve Beach said. “That was good to see and it helped the kid’s confidence.”
“We seemed to be a little bit more mentally ready,” Beach added. “Momentum and energy is such a big thing with kids and we got rolling.”
Centerville (4-7) plays Northeastern (7-4) in the title affair at 8 p.m.
The Bulldogs led 17-11 after the first period and 28-21 by the intermission on the strength of five 3-pointers.
“I was really pleased with our effort,” Lincoln Head Coach Rodney Klein said. “We talked about making sure that we played with some intensity and passion. When Centerville made that run, it wasn’t because of things that we were doing wrong. If they are making threes, that is tough.”
Centerville expanded its margin in the third quarter to 38-21 before the Bulldogs missed nine straight shots.
The Golden Eagles took advantage of the situation and 10 points in a row to end the period behind 38-31.
In the fourth quarter, Lincoln cut the deficit to four points on three occasions with the last coming at the 4:07 mark.
Michael Brewer led the Bulldogs with 17 points, while Justin DuPree added 13 points and 17 rebounds.
Dante Torres tossed in 10 points as Tommy Fordonski and Austin Farlow both finished with six points.
For Lincoln (3-7), Garrett Pumphrey led the Golden Eagles with 21 points and eight rebounds.
“Garrett played an unbelievable game,” Klein said. “We’re asking him to do everything for us.”
James Pugh and Caleb Craig had eight points apiece.