Mount Vernon News

HOWARD — The Centerburg High School boys basketball team improved to 2-0 on Tuesday night, defeating Mid-Buckeye Conference rival East Knox, 57-41. This is the first time the Trojans have started out 2-0 since the 2002-03 season. The Trojans, who started last season 0-9, have only won a combined eight games the last two years. From the opening tip, Centerburg controlled the board, and as the game progressed, so did the team’s lead.

“I thought as a team we did a good job. We had a let down there in the fourth quarter and we had a let down at times in the second quarter, but I think we stuck with it and everyone contributed who played tonight,” said Centerburg head coach Jim Simpson.

The Bulldogs headed into the locker room at halftime trailing by 12, 36-24, a deficit that could have been avoided if it weren’t for the number of fouls East Knox racked up. Centerburg capitalized on the situation, shooting 11-of-13 from the free-throw line in the first half.

“I think it would have made a big difference if we had not fouled them so much; that was the big thing we harped on at halftime,” said East Knox head coach Christian Toombs.

The Trojans dominated the boards, led by Nick Hartley and freshman Skyler Simpson, who each pulled down 11. Centerburg outrebounded East Knox 40-17.

“I think in the second quarter the score was 12-11 at one point and then they went on that 7-0 run and made it 19-11,” said Toombs. “We just gave up way too many offensive rebounds, getting called underneath the basket and not turning around boxing out, things like that.”

On defense the Trojans ended the evening with 12 steals to the Bulldog’s four. Guilherme Lotufo contributed four for the Trojans, fueling Centerburg’s constant momentum.

Offensively Zac DiMarco led the Trojans in scoring, shooting 3-of-3 from behind the arc, including a foul on a breakaway jumper that resulted in a four-point play. DiMarco shot 9-of-11 from the free-throw line, ending the evening with 18 points. In his third varsity contest, Simpson contributed 12 points.

“He’s young and just like all of our kids, we are still learning and getting better and better. Hopefully this is a start of what’s to come with all of these kids if we keep getting better. He’s going to keep stepping up,” said Simpson.

Centerburg senior Paul Crego feels that Simpson and fellow freshman Brandt Lambert are coming along fine in their transition to the varsity level of play and as big contributors to the team’s success.

“I think they are fitting in pretty well. They are starting to gel, they are still really inexpereienced, but it seems like everyday at practice they are working harder and harder along with everybody else, so I think we are gelling pretty well,” said Crego.

Leading the way for the Bull Dogs was Adam Renshaw, scoring 11 points with one assist and one steal.

“Defensively, I thought we didn’t do a very good job on help side defense. We were worrying too much about our man and not helping out,” Toombs said. “I liked our intensity. We are still improving and I know we are going to win some games this year, but we’ve just got to keep up on the defensive end and really work on the rebounding.”

In junior varsity action, the Trojans edged out the Bulldogs by one point, 25-24. Leading scorers for Centerburg were Collin Bumpus with six points and Aaron Collins with five points. East Knox was led by Justin Willis with eight points, and Quentin Cottrell and Colten Tucker scored six points apiece.

Centerburg hosts Johnstown on Friday at home with junior varsity tipoff set for 6 p.m, while East Knox travels to Danville in MBC play.

“We got the ‘W’ and that is all that matters, but we’ve got some work to do to get ready for Johnstown on Friday because they are pretty good,” said Crego.