Centerville’s Dante Torres.
CENTERVILLE, Ind. – A big first half proved to be the difference on Wednesday as the Centerville boys basketball team was able to hold on for a 44-37 victory over Winchester.
“We got off to a good start,” Centerville Head Coach Seve Beach said. “That’s probably been the main focus point from Christmas. Life can be so much easier.”
The Golden Falcons led 8-7 after the first quarter of the Tri-Eastern Conference affair, but the Bulldogs hit five 3-pointers in the second period to build a 26-13 advantage by halftime.
“It was because of the defense end,” Beach said. “We gave up 13 points in the first half.”
Dante Torres nailed two of the treys with Michael Brewer, Dalton Stevens and Austin Farlow hitting the others.
“We just dug ourselves into too big of a hole,” Winchester Head Coach Dustin Baldwin said. “We gave them a lot of confidence early by giving Torres some open shots and giving them some easy baskets.”
The high water mark for Centerville came in the third quarter after Farlow hit his second 3-pointer of the stanza, which gave the Bulldogs at 35-20 advantage with 1:20 remaining.
At that point, the Golden Falcons went on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to 35-27 by the end of the third.
“Those kids aren’t going to quit,” Beach said of Winchester. “They are going to compete for 32.”
Winchester scored the first four points of the final frame to make it 35-31 after a basket by Payton Sparks with 4:07 left.
“We did a decent job in the second half of being aggressive, but the hole was too big,” Baldwin said.
The Golden Falcons cut Centerville’s lead to four two more times, but they couldn’t get any closer.
“In the second half we kept battling,” Beach said. “We still gave up 37 for the whole game. That was outstanding.”
“We kept our composure for the most part down the stretch,” Beach added. “It was a great defensive effort by everyone.”
Torres led the Bulldogs with 11 points with Farlow adding nine.
Justin DuPree added eight points as he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Brewer also had eight points with Kody Witham finishing with five points and four rebounds.
Boo Enis lead Winchester with 13 points.
Isaiah Jordan-Miller and Jordan Key both had six points. Sparks had 10 rebounds.
JV Buzzer Beater
Centerville won the JV contest 49-47 as Ryan Dickenson drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Bulldogs the victory.
Clete Schilling led the Bulldogs with 18 points, while Sam Casper tossed in 11.
Kobe Brown finished with eight. Dickenson and Mitchell Kelley both had six.
For the Golden Falcons, Ross Culy had a game-high 20 points. Levi Slusher added nine points.
Gavin Thompson had seven with Nathaniel Duncia and Cole Campbell finishing with six each.
Winchester (5-11, 3-3) is back in action on Thursday as the Golden Falcons visit Monroe Central (7-8) at 7:30 p.m.
Centerville (8-9, 2-3) entertains Connersville (14-4) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.