If you ask Centennial boys basketball coach Chad Hollwedel, he'll tell you that he has three go-to players all capable of leading his team on any given night.
On Friday, in a hostile environment on the road against Atholton, it was Chad Strothers turn.
The senior guard delivered a career-high 24 points, including what ended up being the game-winning put-back with 1:29 left in regulation, as Centennial pulled out a 47-44 comeback victory over the Raiders to stay undefeated (5-0, 6-0) on the season.
"We have three captains and we expect a lot from each of them, and this isn't the first time that Chad has picked us up," Hollwedel said. "He's proven that he's more than capable and it was just a matter of him being the one that was feeling it tonight."
With Isaiah White (6 points), who came in having scored 14 or more points in each of the team's first five games, battling foul trouble all evening, Strothers says he and Tom Brown (10 points) knew they had to carry more of the load.
"Me, Tom and Isaiah have a nice little thing going, where usually if someone is off the other two will step up," said Strothers, whose previous career-high was 18 points against Long Reach earlier this winter. "I know (Isaiah) wasn't feeling it, so I think my shots were just feeling good and I was confident so I just stepped up and did what I had to do."
While Centennial ended up prevailing on the strength of a 14-3 run to close the game, Atholton (3-2, 4-2) certainly gave the Eagles all they could handle.
The Raiders raced out of the gates to a 10-2 lead in the opening six minutes and never trailed at any point in the first half on the way to a 23-19 lead at the break. Noah Mendelsohn, who finished with 10 points, led the scoring in those opening 16 minutes for the Raiders with seven.
"The energy was huge in the gym right from the beginning and that made things really hard for them and led to a lot of our momentum," Mendelsohn said. "We had a lot of guys coming off the bench contributing, feeding into our energy, and we were sharing the ball."
The Raiders continued to keep the Eagles at arms length throughout the third quarter and into the fourth. Following back-to-back threes in the opening two minutes of the final period by Brandon Willis (11 points) and Casey Kelly (5), Atholton had opened up its largest lead of eight, 41-33.
"We were in a hole and that was a spot where we just needed a stop … something to stop their momentum," Hollwedel said. "We knew, with how low scoring the game was, every little run was going to magnified."
Strothers started the comeback with a lay-up, followed by a three-point play by Isaiah White and then Strothers made another lay-up to make it a one-point game. Roughly two minutes later, Centennial grabbed its first lead on a made foul shot by White.
With 1:49 left, Willis gave the Raiders back the lead, 44-43, with a lay-up in traffic. That, however, was the last points Atholton would score.
Strothers made his put-back with just under 90 seconds to go to put the Eagles in front and then Elijah White provided a little breathing room with just under a minute left on a transition dunk.
Atholton had one final chance to tie the game with time ticking down by Willis' three from the top of the key rimmed out and Centennial grabbed the loose ball as time expired.
"That's the best defense we have seen all year and it took everything we had to battle back," Hollwedel said. "I was extremely proud of our guys for weathering the storm against a really good basketball team."
Centennial 47, Atholton 44
C (5-0, 6-0): Strothers 24, Brown 10, I. White 6, E. White 4, Clemens 3.
A (3-2, 4-2): Willis 11, Mendelsohn 10, Kelly 5, Mason 5, James 4, Washington 3, Roman 2, Carter 2, Holtzman 2.
Half: 23-19 A.
Others scores:
Long Reach 75, Oakland Mills 63 (CLICK HERE FOR STORY AND PHOTOS)
LR (3-2, 3-3): Avery 9, Carter 14, Clark 10, Duckett 22, Lamar 10, Menusan 4, Stamatiades 4, Brodnax 2.
OM (4-1, 4-1): Kiely 9, McFadden 2, Hopkins 6, Williams-Day 15, Robinson 20, Aaron 2, Stanfield 6, Smith 3.
Half: 32-31.
Howard 71, Glenelg 67
Ho (2-3, 2-3): Dargan 4, Shuart 12, Greene 23, Noble 1, Dawkins 17, O'Malley 10, Robinson 4.
G (1-4, 1-4): Napolitano 5, Hammert 13, Mills 6, Conners 9, Oates 22, Richardson 6, Wade 6.
Half: 40-36 Ho.
Reservoir 60, River Hill 49
Re (4-1, 5-1): Mierzwa 18, G. Garcia 15, Phillips 13, Henry 12, Weith 2.
RH (1-4, 1-4): Thomas 20, Sandler 9, Borucki 6, DeSimone 6, Martin 6, Mentle 2.
Half: 27-19 Re.
Marriotts Ridge 51, Wilde Lake 47
MR (3-2, 4-2): Clipp 15, Caffes 14, Speelman 6, Talentino 4, Koller 4, Dar 4, Morath 2, Skogmo 2.
WL (0-5, 0-5): Trevon 12, Austin 8, Tyrell 6, Jordan 5, De la Rosa 5, Kyle 4, Nri-lante 3, Bowie 2, Nick 2.
Mt. Hebron 51, Hammond 50
MH (4-1, 4-1): M. Smith 17, Bryant 16, A. Smith 12, Maloney 2, Schroeder 2, Linsenmeyer 2.
Ha (0-5, 1-5): Wilcher 15, Whong 10, Johnson 9, Moore 5, Ridgell 2, White 2, Nicholas 2.
Half: 27-11 MH.
Calvert Hall 72, Glenelg Country 59
CH: Gorham 17, Phoenix 17, Edwards 16, Clarreth 14, Ducket 2.
GC (1-5, 4-5): Williams 19, Hightower 12, Longpre 9, Wilson 8, Bernetti 5, Walsh 3, Burnett 3.
Half: 36-26 CH.