It was a successful week of high school basketball for the Park Hills Central Varsity Team, as they rattled off three consecutive wins, which included victories over West County (Leadwood), Fredericktown and Ste. Genevieve.
Recently, no one has been able to touch them, as the Rebels are riding a four-game winning streak, and have improved their record to 14-3. More importantly, Central is currently 4-0 in their Conference, the Mineral Area Large District. Last week, the Rebels dominated their opposition in all three matches and are hoping to earn the coveted top seed in the District Tournament.
The first game of the week, on Tuesday, January 25th, saw the Bulldogs of West County come to town. Central was ready for action, and wasted no time opening up a massive early lead as they scored 24 in the first eight minutes of play. The defense shined right away too, holding the Bulldogs to only five. The Rebels kept the heat turned up by scoring 25 in the next frame, but the Bulldogs were able to come to life and scored 17, making it a 49-22 game at the half.
The third quarter was more of the same for Central, as they unloaded with 28 points, and held West County to nine. In the final quarter, the Rebels went on cruise control and easily held on to the massive 50-point spread, winning 85-35.
Incredibly, every Rebel tallied at least five points, but the two leaders were Jobe Bryant and Caden Casey who each scored 16. Just behind them with 15 points was Tristan Stewart, who also provided 10 rebounds. Also mixing it up, Freshman Jaxon Jones made his presence known with 10 points.
The next game of the week was an away game the following day against the Fredericktown Black Cats, on Wednesday, January 26th. This was another slaughter as the Rebels rolled over their foes, earning the dominant win 63-30.
This game went similarly, as Central jumped out to a commanding lead 16-9 lead after one quarter. However, the second frame was an even bigger explosion of points for the Rebels, who powered up to post 26 to the Black Cats’ meager seven. The score at halftime was 42-16 in favor of the Visitors. With the outcome inevitable, Central put up 17 more in the third, and coasted in the fourth, to win the game by 33.
Once again, every Central player earned points, with Bryant and Casey again leading the way with 16 and 13 respectively. Kendall Horton also got in on the action and tallied 11 as well. Grant Manion and Jones helped out on the boards, each with seven rebounds.
With two wins in the bag, Central was on a tear, and did not want to slow the momentum. The final game of the week took place took place at Ste. Genevieve against the Dragons on Friday, January 28th, who were by far their toughest opponent of the last seven days.
Keeping the trend alive, Central jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter, 15-6. The Rebels stayed hot in the second, adding fourteen more, but allowed the Dragons to remain alive with 12 points of their own, making it a 29-18 score at the break.
The Rebels extended the lead in the third quarter, scoring 13 to the Dragons’ 10. Not wanting to give Ste. Gen a chance to get back in the game, Central kept the pressure on in the final frame, winning by 10, 49-39.
The stats wound up being similar to the previous two games. Bryant did the majority of the work for his team, putting up 18 points while Horton helped out with 12 and Manion and Jones each notched five.
The red hot Rebels are firing on all cylinders, and will look to keep speeding along as the season nears its conclusion. Despite the winning record, Central can not afford to let off the gas in their five remaining regular season games, which feature two key home matchups next week against Farmington and South Iron. Good luck, Central!
