THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Central High School Athletics

The game was fast, the tempo quick and the Central Warriors looked out of control at times. That was the first half. The second half was a different story. After falling behind 34-23 at halftime, the Warriors responded with a much more controlled, fundamentally sound effort in the second half. Central's rally on the first day of the Warrior Challenge came up a little short in a 60-54 loss to Horizon on Thursday. "That was about as frustrated as I've ever been with my group of guys and that's saying a lot," Central coach Josh King said. "The second half was more of what I expected from us. I expected us to struggle a little with the speed of the game… we've got some guys whose varsity experience doesn't add up, so they're going to have to get used to the speed." Horizon harassed and pressured the Warriors in the first half and took its big lead of the game at 29-19 with 2 minutes, 36 seconds left in the second quarter. Caleb Davis was the only consistent scorer for the Warriors, scoring 26 points in the game. He went 6 of 7 from the free-throw line in the second quarter to keep the game within reach. To start the third, Davis scored five points and fellow senior Ryan Kirby had a steal and after he banked in a leaner, the Horizon lead was 34-30. Isaac Cameron, playing the high post, lobbed a perfect entry pass to Davis, who scored to get the Warriors to 34-32. Every time Central got close, the Hawks would go on a mini-run to increase the lead. Three-pointers from Elijah Leyshon and Alex Lawrence pushed the Hawks' lead back to eight, but the Warriors again chiseled the deficit to two points. Malachi Yeager scored off a putback and then King designed a perfect rotation play with Jayden Maes tucked behind a screen 3-pointer, and the lead was 44-42 headed to the fourth quarter. The Hawks went up 49-44 when Tyrese Holder hit a runner for the Warriors. Horizon again stretched the lead to 53-46, then Davis hit his only 3-pointer of the game. With the score 55-50, David Cardenas took a charge and Davis scored off another Cameron assist to cut the lead to 55-52 with 1:40 to go. But that was as close as the Warriors would get. "When the game speeds up and the fundamentals go out the window, you're going to have turnovers," King said. "We made our adjustments (at halftime), and they were coachable, and that's good to see." Cameron, who got into foul trouble early, and Maes each had six points for Central. Lawrence led the Hawks with 16. The Warriors take on Palisade in tonight's 8 p.m. game.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Central High School Athletics

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED CENTRAL RALLIES, FALLS SHORT AGAINST HORIZON ON FIRST DAY OF WARRIOR CHALLENGE

DALE SHRULL

The Daily Sentinel | 12/29/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Chancey Bush