On its way to an undefeated county record so far this winter, Centennial has proven it can win in a number of different ways — relying on its offense, defense or both.
So, when faced with the prospect of a grind it out, possession-oriented game Wednesday night against River Hill, the Eagles knew what had to be done.
Capitalizing on a mini 8-0 run out of halftime, Centennial (10-0, 12-1) grabbed the lead for good and never looked back en route to a 49-39 victory over a River Hill team (4-5, 7-5) that came in riding a six-game winning streak.
"Low-scoring games are something we've come to expect when we play (River Hill) and we talked a lot the past couple days about how important it is to stick to the program," said Centennial interim head coach Chris Sanders, who was filling in for coach Chad Hollwedel who was serving a one-game suspension for the two technical fouls he received against Hammond on Monday.
"We believe in what we run and we felt if we stuck with it, we would be OK."
It was the usual faces leading the way for Centennial, as the trio of Chad Strothers (17 points), Tom Brown (12 points, 8 rebounds) and Isaiah White (10 points) set the tone all evening.
After struggling from the floor during the first two quarters on the way to trailing 19-18 at the half, Strothers said it was simply a matter of the Eagles becoming a little more aggressive.
"We didn't really change much besides just telling each other that we needed to light a fire within us and remember that they are a good team," he said. "We just had to play how we always do, and we came out and found that energy and it was just all easy going from there."
River Hill had things going its way in the first half behind a balanced effort. Gary Sandler (14 points) was the leading scorer during the early stages of the game, but overall there were five guys that got into the scoring column in the opening 16 minutes.
Things bogged down in the third quarter, however, and that's when Centennial seized the opportunity to take control of the game.
"Our defense held things together and kept us around, but when they went on that run in the third quarter it kind of put us in a very difficult situation where we had to get out of our comfort zone," Graves said. "We started to rush, became more individualistic and got away from our team principles."
Centennial's patience on offense after intermission was also a difference.
"We did expect a lot of zone even though we have seen a lot of man from other teams, so we had to just go back and dust that off a little bit," Sanders said. "We wanted to make sure we set solid screens, took care of the basketball and didn't give them opportunities to leak out on the other end."
River Hill senior Charlie Thomas, who came in averaging 22.5 points a game, was held to just nine points and 10 rebounds. It was the first time all season he had failed to score at least 15 points.
Centennial's defense collapsed on Thomas all night, challenging the Hawks' other players to beat them. Other than Sandler, no other River Hill player scored more than six points.
"We just couldn't score and when Charlie is getting double- and triple-teamed, we have to get some production from the outside to start to open up the floor," Graves said. "Gary is doing a solid job for us, but we need a third or fourth person that can space things. And I give Centennial a lot of credit. They did a great job with 50-50 balls and they wanted it a little more than us in the second half."
Centennial 49, River Hill 39
C (10-0, 12-1): Strothers 17, Brown 12, White 10, Clemens 5, Wilson 3, Geist 2.
RH (4-5, 7-5): Sandler 14, Thomas 9, Borucki 6, Martin 3, Mitchell 2, Gabel 2, Clark 2, Mentle 1.
Other scores:
Long Reach 47, Glenelg 44
Andre Brodnax hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Lightning to the victory over the Gladiators at home.
"Huge win for us at home. Definitely wasn't a pretty game, but we got it done and we needed one badly," Long Reach coach Al Moraz Jr. said.
Ron Carter had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Dakwonte Avery had six points and 10 rebounds to lead the way for the Lightning overall on the night.
LR (5-4, 6-6): Avery 6, Brodnax 5, Carter 11, Clark 7, Duckett 9, Menusan 2, Statamtides 7.
G (3-6, 5-6): Oates 13, Mills 6, Conners 10, Koele 3, Richardson 10, Monroe 2.
Half: 27-24 G.
Reservoir 55, Mt. Hebron 46
The Gators snapped a four-game losing skid with the victory over the Vikings. Jon Mierzwa (15 points), Alec Obering (14) and Seth Henry (12) all scored in double figures.
Re (6-3, 7-5): Mierzwa 15, Obering 14, Henry 12, J. Garcia 7, Phillips 5, G. Garcia 3.
MH (6-3, 9-3): A. Smith 24, M. Smith 14, Trapuzzano 5, Schroder 2, Bryant 1.
Oakland Mills 82, Wilde Lake 46
OM (8-1, 10-2): Robinson 20, Hopkins 15, Stanfield 12, Kiely 8, Ndiaye 8, Seyfried 5, Aaron 4, Smith 4, Graves 3, Campbell 1, Harris 1, Williams-Day 1.
WL (1-8, 3-9): David 11, Jordan 10, Morgan 6, Stubblefield 6, Lamptey 5, Barnes 4, DeLaRosa 3, Ichrist 1.
Atholton 62, Marriotts Ridge 44
A (4-5, 6-6): Willis 20, Carter 10, Kelly 8, Roman 6, Mendelsohn 4, Rodgers 4, Waterworth 3, Jackson 2, Myers 2, Mason 1, Washington 1.
MR (3-6, 4-8): Morath 9, Speelman 8, Clipp 7, Koller 7, Caffes 4, Dar 4, Ingersoll 3, Beschner 2.
Half: 27-20 A.
Howard 62, Hammond 45
Ho (4-5, 6-6): Dawkins 15, Shuart 12, Greene 10, O'Malley 7, Savage 6, Okoye 4, Dargan 2, Ajayi 2.
Ha (1-9, 2-11): Wilcher 10, Wheatley 6, Whong 6, N. Moore 6, Johnson 6, White 6, A. Moore 2, Thomas 2.