Mount Vernon News

CENTERBURG — The Centerburg High School boys basketball team started the season off with a bang, defeating the Mansfield Temple Christian Crusaders, 56-14, on Friday night.

Both teams started off slow. The Trojans only scored nine points in the first quarter and held Temple Christian to three. Centerburg picked-up the intensity in the second quarter with a 16-point run. Freshman guard Brandt Lambert started off the quarter for the Trojans, driving to the basket scoring two and picking up the foul. He hit the free throw for a three-point play. Lambert finished with seven points, four rebounds and two steals.

Senior guard Paul Crego contributed early in the game, scoring on an out-of-bounds play and then hit a jumper, assisted by senior Zac DiMarco. Junior guard Taylor Schneider hit two back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Trojans up by 21 with 1:45 left in the half.

“I think the big thing was we got a lot of people in tonight,” said Centerburg head coach Jim Simpson. “Everybody got to play and everybody scored and we got the first-game jitters out of the way.”

The Crusaders only scored twice in the first half. Justin Hayes hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter and Jeff Fulton scored on a jumper to give Temple Christian five points to end the half, 32-5.

“We just had a lot of open looks and we just took advantage of it,” Simpson said. “We kind of got out of our offense sometimes because we had some open looks and just scored with that.”

Centerburg took it to the Crusaders in the second half. With all 10 players scoring for the Trojans, Temple Christian couldn’t stop Centerburg from putting the ball in the hoop. Temple Christian struggled on offense also, but more than doubled its first-half output by scoring six points in the third quarter. Centerburg kept the momentum on its side with tough defense complimenting its offensive efforts. The Centerburg defense didn’t lie down even with a 35-point lead.

“Just basically stay after everybody and not let up,” said Simpson of his defensive strategy. “They (the players) set goals of how many points they want teams to score and that kind of stuff. I think they had it in their mind what they wanted to do. They just had to go out and play and they did. It’s a win and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Centerburg continued scoring, racking up 10 more points in the fourth quarter and holding Temple Christian to three. However, Simpson wants to see his team sharpen up their play before they get into tough conference play.

“There’s a lot of things we’ve got to get better at and we didn’t do a lot of very good things tonight,” said Simpson. “Yeah, we won, but there was a lot of sloppy play out there.”

However, the Trojans only turned the ball over six times and the Crusaders committed 22 turnovers. Centerburg outrebounded Temple Christian, 38-18. The Trojans also had 12 steals and 14 assists in the game.

The leading scorer for Centerburg was Crego with 16 points. He also chipped in with five rebounds and two steals. Junior Sam Daubenspeck finished with 10 points and three rebounds. Schneider put up eight points and senior Eric Doyle contributed with six points and seven rebounds.

“Right now we’re looking at about anybody to do some things,” said Simpson. “I don’t know if we have that one person, that go-to person yet right now. We’ll find out as the season goes on, but I think we’re looking for everybody to contribute.”

For Temple Christian, Fulton had six points and seven rebounds. Hayes finished with four points and four rebounds.

“Well, a win is definitely a positive thing for us,” Simpson said. “We just got to take that into our next practice and realize that that game is over with and we’ve got another one coming up. And every game we play is going to be a tough game and we’ve got one coming up Tuesday.”

The Trojans go on the road Tuesday for their first Mid-Buckeye Conference game against the East Knox Bulldogs. Game time is set for 6 p.m.