CENTERVILLE, Ind. – The Centerville boys basketball team celebrated senior night with a 55-49 victory over Lincoln in a Tri-Eastern Conference contest.
“It was a very good senior night to send these guys out with a win on their home floor,” Centerville coach Seve Beach said. “Very good for them and for coach (Roger) Martin.”
It was the final home game for Alex Brandon, Myles Cunningham, Blake Shook and Matt Stamper along with Martin, who is a long-time assistant for the Bulldogs.
It was the sixth win in a row for Centerville and the seventh of the last eight.
“It was coming down to rebounding and free throws down the stretch,” Beach said of his team being able to hold off the Golden Eagles. “They started extending the game with about two minutes to go.”
“That was a hard-fought game,” Beach added. “We got to the free throw line quite a bit, which helped.”
The Bulldogs made 15-of-24 with eight of the makes coming in the fourth.
Lincoln led 7-5 after the first period, but the Bulldogs held a 21-20 advantage by halftime.
“This is a hard place to play and we didn’t finish things like we wanted,” Lincoln coach Rodney Klein said. “We were a little stagnate offensively. We didn’t move the ball very well.”
Centerville scored 20 points in the third quarter to take a 41-35 lead heading into the final stanza.
“We got some key stops and we got a little bit of separation,” Beach said. “We got some really big minutes from our bench guys in the third quarter.”
The Golden Eagles couldn’t get closer than four points in the fourth quarter.
“Centerville did a really good job of taking things away from us,” Klein said. “The bottom line was that we didn’t play with the same sense of urgency that they did. Give them some credit and we’ve got to get better.”
Brandon led the Bulldogs with 15 points and 11 rebounds with Stamper and Justin DuPree finishing with 14 points each.
For the Golden Eagles, Hunter Ferris led the way with 16 points. Chase Southerland had 14 points and Garrett Pumphrey added 10 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks.
Centerville won the JV contest 54-37 with Dalton Stevens leading the way with 17 points. Clete Schilling and Kobe Brown added 11 each. Seth Morris led Lincoln with 11 points, while Hayden Pierce tossed in nine.
Both teams play in the Class 2A sectional next week in Hagerstown. Centerville faces Union County on Tuesday, while Lincoln meets the winner of that contest next Friday night.
Box score
LINCOLN (14-7, 4-3) – Bryant Hilbert 1 2-2 4, Caleb Craig 2 0-0 5, Chase Southerland 4 4-6 14, Hunter Ferris 6 2-2 16, Garrett Pumphrey 4 2-2 10, Josh Gardner 0 0-0 0, Austin Lanich 0 0-0 0, James Pugh 0 0-0 0. Team – 17 10-12 49.
CENTERVILLE (13-9, 4-3) – Myles Cunningham 0 2-2 2, Matt Stamper 5 2-3 14, Alex Brandon 5 5-6 15, Justin DuPree 4 5-7 14, Blake Shook 0 0-0 0, Michael Brewer 0 1-4 1, Kody Witham 2 0-1 4, Dante Torres 2 0-1 5, Nolan Witte 0 0-0 0. Team – 18 15-24 55.
Lincoln 7 20 35 49
Centerville 5 21 41 55
3-pointers – Lincoln 5 (Southerland 2, Ferris 2, Craig), Centerville 4 (Stamper 2, DuPree, Torres). Rebounds – Lincoln 33 (Pumphrey 11, Ferris 7), Centerville 33 (Brandon 11, DuPree 7, Brewer 6). Turnovers – Lincoln 15, Centerville 8. Fouls – Lincoln 20, Centerville 12. Fouled out – None. JV score – Centerville 54, Lincoln 37.