Bishop Montgomery routed by Centennial
CORONA >> It was four and a half minutes of near perfection for the Centennial boys basketball team.
Centennial was locked in another tight battle Friday night, this time against a hungry Bishop Montgomery squad, but the Huskies put together an 18-3 run in the second half to turn a close game into a runaway 83-55 victory.
With that win, Centennial finished as the only undefeated team in CIF Southern Section Open Division pool play and punched a ticket to the championship game Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim. The Huskies (283) will be trying for an unprecedented third consecutive Open Division section championship when they square off against St. John Bosco (26-5).
“It feels amazing to get back there, but like Kobe always said ,,, job's not finished,” said senior guard Jared McCain, who received his McDonald's All-American Game jersey prior to Friday's contest. “... We still have work to do.”
Bishop Montgomery (264) had a chance to secure a spot in the Open Division championship game with a win, and the Knights knocked down 6 of 7 shots to start the game and held a 16-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. This marked the third consecutive game Centennial fell behind early and trailed when the second period began.
“I don't know if it's just us been lackadaisical coming in and trying to settle into games or that teams are coming out aggressive and it shocks us a bit,” McCain said of those recent slow starts. “We will have to fix that for these last few game. Yeah, just come out with more energy. When we come out with energy, get stops and play possession by possession, we are hard to stop.”
Mike Price knocked down a 3-pointer to give Centennial its first lead at the 5:10 point of the second quarter.
Centennial was clinging to a 42-38 lead with 2:27 remaining in the third quarter, but the Huskies rattled off 10 straight points in a span of two minutes, highlighted by a long 3-pointer by McCain. Bishop Montgomery's LaQwon Cole knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to slow down the bleeding momentarily and get the Knights within 52- 41 at quarter's end.
Bishop Montgomery turned the ball over on its first three possession of the second half, and Centennial took advantage with an 8- 0 run to extend the lead to 60- 41. The Huskies led by 25 points when their five starters exited with two minutes still on the clock.
“We were turning the ball over way too many times, and there was a timeout in the third quarter when I said, `Fellas, if we stop turning the ball and get some shots, we should be fine,'” Huskies coach Josh Giles said.
Aaron McBride scored a game-high 20 points to lead another balanced attack for Centennial. Eric Freeny took advantage of mismatches throughout the game and recorded his second consecutive double- double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Price and McCain scored 13 and 11 points, respectively, and Devin Williams added nine more points for the Huskies.
Xavier Edmonds, Bishop Montgomery's 6-foot-8 senior forward, scored two quick buckets in the opening quarter and drew a handful of fouls during the game, but Williams and McBride combined to hold Edmonds to six points and six rebounds Friday.
Christian Jones led Bishop Montgomery with 16 points and seven rebounds, and Kelcy Phipps added 15 points for the Knights ,who will return to action in two weeks for the CIF State playoffs.