Central boys, girls sweep Rutland in home openers

The Central boys basketball team snagged a thrilling 62-58 win over visiting Rutland to cap a sweep for the Chargers after the girls team defeated the Hurricanes 72-19 earlier Tuesday evening.

It was the first win of the season for the Central boys, who edged out Rutland after a back-and-forth contest despite the Hurricanes maintaining a four-point lead for a significant portion of the fourth quarter.

“The biggest takeaway is the fight. They just kept fighting. I’ve seen a lot of teams where they get down more than one score late, they hang their heads,” Central head coach Andre Taylor said. “This group fought even when we had guys who fouled out that we were depending on. They stuck together and they finished.”

Clutch layups and free throw shooting fueled the Chargers’ comeback. Juju Williams, the team’s star shooter who dominated from beyond the arc last season, switched gears when the threes were not falling. He poured in all 13 of his points in the second half, most of them via crucial drives in the lane and foul shots.

“We were trying to get (Williams) going. The way they were playing him, they were just denying him the ball, and when we tried to scheme him open they were sending two and three at him,” Taylor said. “He just stayed patient. He’s a guy that never gets flustered.”

Williams had help from an emerging dynamic duo. Twin juniors Montae and Vontae Rembert each scored 18 points. Vontae chipped in 10 of his points in the opening quarter while Montae came in clutch with 8 points in the fourth, including a great play on an inbounds pass with about 25 seconds left to sink a layup and draw a foul to give Central a two-score lead.

“Those two have the capability of putting up big numbers. Them two with Juju is a great combination. I was looking forward to them coming into this year,” Taylor said. “They’ve had to step into a position that I really wasn’t looking for them to be in yet.” 

Despite the eventual loss, Rutland had plenty of clutch plays on the other end. Kyriq Stallings made several key shots en route to a game-high 21 points. Jace Harris pitched in with 12 points and Kyle Howard rebounded with poise in the paint.

“We competed, these guys stepped on the floor and knew what their assignment was. That’s the main thing. They had good energy and they had good effort. You hate the result, but that’s just how it goes sometimes,” Rutland head coach Charles Gordon said. “We know and Kyriq knows that he can have that type of game, too. He had a bad night last game and he showed how well he can bounce back.”

Central grabbed the early edge, but Rutland climbed back into the contest with some slick shooting from long range. The Chargers took a 14-11 lead into the second quarter before Stallings got hot, connecting on some threes and coast-to-coast layups to help the Hurricanes bounce back and grab a 24-22 lead at halftime.

The second half was a back-and-forth spectacle with scrappy defense by both teams and some timely shooting. No one player truly carried things for either squad, with multiple people contributing big shots and steals.

Rutland pulled even in the third and eventually took a four-point lead with about five minutes in the fourth, but Williams and the Rembert twins would have none of it. Central took a narrow lead with about a minute to play and fended off the Hurricanes to pull out the win.

Central girls hang 72 in bounceback win

The Lady Chargers dominated on defense and eventually found their stride on offense to secure a 72-19 victory over the Lady Hurricanes, riding a stellar 33-point performance from JaMyree Simmons in their first win of the season.

The Lady Chargers started slow — by their high standards, at least — with 13 points in the first but put up a smooth 23 points in both the second and third quarters to extend their commanding lead.

“The one thing I was most proud of tonight was that the beginning of the game, to me, wasn’t going the way we wanted offensively. We were getting all the defensive things we wanted but we couldn’t put it in the hoop — but the girls just continued to play through it,” Central girls head coach Tamara Bolston-Williams said. “They figured it out, settled in and let it come to them.”

It was the defense that truly shined for Central, as Rutland could not get past halfcourt without significant effort. The Lady Chargers regularly picked their pockets in transition.

The first quarter was a defensive standoff as both squads struggled a bit to get on the scoreboard, though the Lady Chargers fared better than the Hurricanes did. 

Rutland drew first blood but failed to score again for the remainder of the quarter. Central took a 13-2 advantage into the second period, but the Lady Hurricanes looked solid on defense.

The advantage would not last, as the Lady Chargers exploded in the second and held Rutland without a field goal to take a 36-7 lead into halftime.

“We have to be more disciplined. A lot of things that happened were caused by some self-inflicted things, just executing,” Lady Hurricanes coach Erica Moore said. “We can make stops all we want in the beginning, but with a team like this you can’t continue to make stops and come down and not score or take care of the ball.

Simmons scored 11 in that second quarter as part of her big night.

“JaMyree has to get the shoutout tonight, she was pretty dominant,” Bolston-Williams said. “I love each and every one of the girls, they all continue to just try and grow every game.”

The third quarter was more of the same, though the Hurricanes did hit a clean shot from beyond the arc to start the period. Even with a shortened fourth quarter, the Chargers poured it on to take the 72-19 win.

It was a much-needed performance for Central after starting the season with a difficult matchup against 6A Grayson that ended in a 77-35 loss. Bolston-Williams was still pleased with the results of that game despite the final score, though, as she’s made a habit of scheduling significant challenges for her team early in the season.

“That first game, we always accept a challenge with a team like Grayson, that really showed us a lot of things that we need to refine,” Bolston-Williams said. “Any time you face a coach like Tim Slater, it just helps you as a coach sharpen your tools.”

It was Rutland’s first loss after defeating Crawford County in the season opener. The young Lady Hurricanes squad has already matched their win total from last year’s 1-20 campaign.

“It comes down to knowing if this is something you love or something you like. That’s what they have to take away. Like I told them in the locker room at halftime, ‘It’s y’alls job to be able to make the decisions on the court,’” Moore said.

One player exemplified that for Rutland, the head coach said.

“Jakayla Hairston is little out there, I don’t know if you saw that, but she steps up in every game regardless of her minutes. She’s never scared, she’s like, ‘Coach, where do you want me to go?’” Moore said. “She’ll always step up and do her best, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”

The Central girls play Bacon County at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in an invitational game, while the boys take on New Hampstead on Nov. 29 as the season gets into full swing. Both Rutland squads will face Howard on Thursday.