Balanced attack propels Rebs to 20th straight win
Southern Sports & Travel, By Darron Thomas
All five Central Private starters hit double digits scoring as the top ranked team in Class AA pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Trinity 81-62 in Central last night. Central Private won its’ 20th straight game in improving to 25-2 on the season.
Unlike the December 29th double overtime meeting between Central Private and Trinity in which the Saints ran out to a quick 10-0 lead, last night’s first quarter went back and forth and produced nine lead changes and was tied twice.
Trinity would grab their fifth lead of the opening quarter at 16-15 on a Kevin Brown jumper from 15 feet. A transition lay in from Tip McKenzie and Tanner Cage’s soft floater in the paint at the 1:07 mark gave Trinity their biggest lead at 20-15. Lance Wicker of Central Private closed out the first quarter scoring on a fast break basket to pull the Rebels to within three points at 20-17 heading into the second quarter.
Central Private exploded with a 20-2 run through the first seven minutes of the second quarter to take a 37-22 lead. Jake Flaggert spear-headed the run as the 6’5” sophomore contributed with seven points in the quarter and the Rebel defense held Trinity scoreless until a Tip McKenzie free throw at the 2:59 mark.
Trinity closed with baskets from Tanner Cage and senior LJ Trimble to pull the Saints to within nine points at 37-28 by the half. (Above) Taylor Fletcher (#23) of Central Private attempts to alter the shot of Trinity's Givonni Dent (#24)
Trinity’s nine point halftime deficit was quickly erased as the Saints came out of halftime on fire. Scoring came from five different players as Trinity produced a 9-0 run to knot the game at 37-37 with 5:28 remaining in the third quarter. Tip McKenzie’s driving basket gave Trinity a 41-39 advantage at the 3:34 mark but that would be the Saint’s last lead of the night.
Simpson Anderson’s 3-pointer from the wing broke a 43-43 tie with just over two minutes left in the quarter and the Rebels finished the quarter with a 6-2 run to take a 53-46 cushion into the final quarter.
A Givonni Dent basket in the paint to begin the fourth quarter narrowed the margin to 53-48 but Central Private erupted with a 22-5 run capped off with a Simpson Anderson 3-pointer to extend the lead to 75-53 with 2:30 remaining en-route to the 81-62 win.
“Pregame I felt our guys weren’t on the same wavelength,” said Central Private head coach Ed Palubinskas. “We’ve had a few guys sick and I had to make some adjustments on what we did as compared to what we were able to do when we played before. Trinity is a very good athletic team and are capable of giving us trouble but it was a nice win for us. We eliminated their outside game and didn’t think they could sustain things by just doing it inside.”
Jake Flaggart of Central Private led all scorers with 20 points, Simpson Anderson added 19, Taylor Fletcher 16 and Dave Jackson and Lance Wicker each had 13 on the night. (Above) Trinity's Tanner Cage (#5) goes airborne
Central Private will close out the regular season at ASC on Friday and will host Bowling Green on Saturday.
Givonni Dent led Trinity (21-5) with 14 points, Tanner Cage added 12, Tip McKenzie 10, LJ Trimble 8, Kent King 7, Trae McKenzie 4, Jake Winston 3 and Kevin Brown and Zach Rachel with 2 apiece.
Trinity will travel to Parklane on Saturday to close out their regular season play.