Big third quarter propels red-hot Centralia to win over Highland
Few prep basketball teams in southern Illinois are hotter than the Centralia Orphans.
The Highland Bulldogs found that out firsthand on Friday night.
Highland gave the undefeated Orphans all they could handle for the first 20 minutes of play but that all changed midway through the third quarter.
Dustyn Collins drilled a three-ball kickstarting a 21-0 run over the last five minutes of the third quarter and the Orphans ran away for an easy 67-47 nonconference rod win at Highland High School.
Centralia, which moved to 12-0 on the season, picked up its second consecutive win over the Bulldogs since 2019. Orphans coach Lee Bennett was pleased with his club’s finish against HHS.
“I thought we came out of the gate alright but they were making shots and the second quarter it seemed like nothing really went our way,” Bennett said. “Then I thought we came with really good urgency in the third quarter.”
In the first quarter, the teams traded buckets early but a Michael Organ triple and a pair of Cruz Harlan free throws gave Centrala an 18-15 at the end of the quarter.
Highland (6-6) got out to a 22-18 lead in the second quarter on a Holthaus drive for two and a Trey Koishor free throw but Harlan drilled a three-ball with the clock running down to give the Orphans a 24-22 lead at halftime. “Cruz is a quick kid and he hit a big shot,” Bennett said. I thought that was a big shot for us that kind of lifted into halftime.”
A pair of Braxdon Decker free throws gave Highland a 27-26 lead with a little over five minutes left in the third quarter. That’s when the Orphans locked down on defense and dug in as Collins answered with a three-ball and the Orphans erupted for a decisive 21-0 run closing the third quarter in control 47-27.
“They shot and executed real well but more importantly, they got stops,” Bennett said. They got stops and got rebounds and I thought our guys were more urgent defensively and battled for rebounds and kept their heads together and really grinded. It wasn’t always easy.”
Highland coach Deryl Cunningham felt like his team played hard but wore down in the second half against the more experienced Orphans.
“I thought that they imposed their will a little bit more and I thought we wore down and I told our guys that,” Cunningham said. “When teams get up more defensively there are certain things that you have to do and we certainly did not do that.”
Cunningham was not frustrated or down about the team’s effort but he knows handling such momentum swings will be key for the team to get where they want to go later in the season.
“I told the guys that it’s nothing to get down about but it’s something that we’ve got to get corrected playing teams like that down the road and stay on each other in practice, so we’re prepared,” Cunningham said. “I just thought we were worn down.”
Harlan paced Centralia with a game-high 21 points while Collins added 15 points.
Garrin Stone led Highland with 10 on before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Jake Ottensmeier added 8.