CENTERBURG — Despite the cold and snowy night outside, the Centerburg High School gymnasium was heating up on Friday night. The Centerburg boys basketball team made short work of the visiting Johnstown Johnnies, defeating them, 73-46.
Centerburg (3-0, 2-0 Mid-Buckeye Conference) jumped out early thanks to Skyler Simpson. Simpson scored the Trojans’ first five points, and Centerburg built an early lead in the first quarter. It led 15-10 when the quarter ended.
“We jumped out to a great start,” said Centerburg head coach Jim Simpson. “When you hit shots like that, it’s key. It was a great start and built up a lot of confidence in our kids and they took off from there.”
In the second quarter, Centerburg began to pull away from the Johnnies (1-1, 1-1 MBC) and build a 12-point lead going into the locker room. The Trojans lit up the three-point shot on the evening, hitting 11-of-18 and shooting 61 percent from downtown.
“I think we were patient and got good looks and good shots,” said coach Simpson. “It was important that we weren’t saying, ‘We got one shot, so now we have to go down and force another one.’ I feel like we kept our heads in the game and played within ourselves.
“This was probably the best team basketball our team has played in a long time. Everyone that stepped into the game for us contributed, whether it was a pass or a rebound or making some shots. Everyone did something to help us out.”
Johnstown attempted a comeback in the second half, but was quickly overwhelmed by Centerburg and the one-two punch of Skyler Simpson and Brandt Lambert. Skyler Simpson lead all scorers with 23 points and Lambert added 19.
“Skyler hasn’t been playing real strong and tonight was a huge confidence builder for him,” said coach Simpson. “He hit some big buckets and played very well tonight. He needed this game and really stepped it up.”
Skyler Simpson had seven rebounds, four assists and three rebounds to go along with his impressive scoring display. He also made five three-point shots on the night.
“My team really did a lot for me tonight,” said Skyler Simspon. “They helped me out and I couldn’t have had the game I did without them. We played together and were really motivated by playing a rival like Johnstown.”
Lambert added six rebounds and six assists.
“These early games are really important to us,” Lambert said. “We have to get out to a good start; we need to get rolling. We have been working really hard in practice. We don’t think we were playing as well as we should have been so we worked hard to get to where we should be.”
Centerburg’s season doesn’t get any easier as it travels to East Knox to face the Bulldogs on Tuesday. Johnstown moves on to face Northridge Tuesday night at home. Both games start at 6 p.m.
“We know that everyone in this league is going to be a battle,” said coach Simpson. “No matter who we play, it’s going to be a lot of equal balance. I think tonight was just our night and we need to continue to make it that way.”
In junior varsity play, Centerburg defeated Johnstown, 53-27. Centerburg was led by Jacob Anderson with 10 points. Ryan Burke added eight points.
Johnstown coach Kevin Martin was not available for an interview.
