FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. – The Class 2A No. 3 Northeastern boys basketball team opened its Tri-Eastern Conference schedule on Friday with a 60-38 win over Centerville.
Northeastern (3-0, 1-0) posted it 23rd TEC win in a row and 36th straight against conference teams.
“We’ve done it with four different teams in four years,” Northeastern Head Coach Brent Ross said. “(They’ve) got to find their identity and keep working every day. We’re getting better.”
The Knights started quickly in the opening period with an 8-0 advantage as Tyler Smith would end up scoring all 10 of the points for his team in the first quarter.
“We came out and played 3-4 really good possessions,” Ross said. “Then we had 3-4 possession where we would have a breakdown.”
Centerville took advantage of the mistakes and fought back to lead 11-10 at the first stop.
“I knew they’d come in here ready to play,” Ross said of the Bulldogs.
In the second frame, the Knights went on a 15-0 run building a 27-13 lead by the intermission.
“Our defense in the second quarter kind of took its toll on them,” Ross said. “Alex Reynolds came in the second quarter and stabilized our defense. He did a great job, took a couple of charges and pulled a couple of big rebounds down.”
Smith led the Knights with 34 points and 13 rebounds. Nate Reynolds tossed in 18 points.
“The seniors are carrying us right now and that’s kind of the way it needs to be early in the year,” Ross said.
The Bulldogs had three players in double digits led by Justin DuPree with 13.
Matt Stamper added a dozen, while Kody Witham contributed 10 points with five rebounds. Alex Brandon also had five rebounds.
Centerville (2-1, 0-1) is back in action tonight at Franklin County. Northeastern returns to the court next Friday at home with Eastern Hancock.
Box Score
CENTERVILLE (2-1, 0-1) – Nolan Witte 0 0-0 0, Matt Stamper 3 5-9 12, Alex Brandon 0 0-0 0, Justin DuPree 4 5-6 13, Michael Brewer 0 0-0 0, Dante Torres 1 0-0 3, Kody Witham 3 4-4 10, Myles Cunningham 0 0-0 0, Blake Shook 0 0-0 0, Tommy Fordonski 0 0-0 0. Team – 11 14-19 38.
NORTHEASTERN (3-0, 1-0) – Tyler Smith 14 6-8 34, Freeman Brou 2 1-4 5, Nate Reynolds 7 0-0 18, Harrison Rice 0 0-0 0, Jordan Stolle 0 2-2 2, Kaleb Mikesell 0 1-2 1, Jalen Hillard 0 0-2 0, Alex Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Jacob Auger 0 0-0 0, Quinton West 0 0-0 0, Cole Mikesell 0 0-0 0, Caylor Fisher 0 0-0 0. Team – 23 10-18 60.
Centerville 11 13 24 38
Northeastern 10 27 47 60
3-pointers – Centerville 2 (Stamper, Torres), Northeastern 4 (N. Reynolds 4). Rebounds – Centerville 25 (Witham 5, Brandon 5), Northeastern 31 (Smith 13, Brou 5). Turnovers – Centerville 22, Northeastern 11. Fouls – Centerville 17, Northeastern 19. Fouled out – None.