Centennial's Tom Brown may have only made one field goal against Atholton on Monday evening, but the junior forward made it count.
Getting a feed from teammate Connor Clemens at the top of the key in a tie game with time running down in regulation, Brown knocked down a deep three that ended up serving as the game-winning basket in a 49-46 Eagles victory.
"Connor dished it to me and it's a good thing he had faith in me," said Brown, whose only point until then had been a foul shot a minute earlier. "I just released it, it felt good and it went in."
Brown's late heroics, combined with a game-high 27 points from Isaiah White, ultimately were just enough for Centennial (15-1 county, 17-2 overall) to pull out the win and maintain its spot alone atop the Howard County standings. Atholton (9-7, 11-8), meanwhile, saw its own five-game winning streak snapped.
The Raiders had fought back from an early 13-point deficit to take a five-point lead midway the fourth quarter. Ultimately, though, Centennial made just a couple more big plays down the stretch.
"The kids fought hard, really stepped up the energy defensively after allowing 16 points in that first quarter, and we got a lot of production out of a lot of different guys," Atholton coach Jared Albert said. "(Centennial) just made a big play down the stretch, a deep three. Not a lot you can do … sometimes that's just the game of basketball."
Casey Kelly's season-high 16 points led the way for Atholton in the loss.
It was the Isaiah White show in the early going. The senior guard went on a personal 10-4 run to open the game and the Eagles ended up leading 16-5 by the end of the first quarter. Later, following another six straight points by White, Centennial had its largest lead of the game, 22-9.
"(Atholton was) going to collapse up top on the guards and (my teammates) just found me. I was just right there to drop the ball in the basket," White said. "I felt pretty good after a few went down, but I didn't want to get it in my head. I just wanted to keep playing and I didn't want to force anything."
Kelly and Chris Carter (11 points), however, helped Atholton show some life at the end of the second quarter with a mini 7-0 run to cut the deficit to six, 22-16, at the half.
Then, by the time Kelly knocked down a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the third quarter, the Raiders had pulled all the way back even at 31-31.
Atholton rode that momentum into the beginning of the fourth quarter. Following a lay-up by Jake Waterworth (10 points) with 5:17 left in regulation, the Raiders led 40-35.
Again, though, White had an answer. He went on another personal 7-0 run to give his team back the lead with four minutes left.
The lead then changed hands three more times down the stretch to set up the highlight finish.
Brandon Willis hit a free throw with 18 seconds left to tie the game at 46. Centennial then took its time coming down the court, passed the ball around and eventually found Brown beyond the arc.
There were 2.5 seconds put back on the clock, giving Willis one last desperation shot to force overtime. His shot from around half court, though, came up short and Centennial was able to celebrate.
"Isaiah carried us for long stretches tonight and he was especially big in that first half, but down the stretch we got that balanced production again," Centennial coach Chad Hollwedel said. "Chad (Strothers) hit one, Kevin Wilson hit a huge baseline jumper and then Tom, obviously, hit the one at the end. That entire team effort is what wins games."
Centennial 49, Atholton 46
C (15-1, 17-2): I White 27, Clemens 6, Merkey 5, Strothers 4, Brown 4, Wilson 2, E. White 1.
A (9-7, 11-8): Kelly 16, Carter 11, Waterworth 10, Willis 6, Roman 2, Mason 1.
Half: 22-16 C.