Central Catholic broke free from Benton Central with a 17-3 run to open the third quarter and raced to a 76-44 victory at McHale Gymnasium Friday night.
The Knights, who hadn't won a game by more than 10 points this season, led 34-23 at halftime before putting the game away. CC forced five Bison turnovers during the first three minutes of the third quarter.
"We practice our pressure and press every day, so we really wanted to do that to start the second half," said the Knights' Brett Haan, who led all scorers with 16 points. "We pressured them and we were able to get some steals and layups and that seemed to open the game wide open for us."
The Bison could not get any closer than 18 points after the big CC run.Benton Central had proven resilient in the first half. The Bison spotted the Knights 13 points to open the first quarter but chipped away at the lead, getting it down to 16-12 on a John O'Malley layup.Haan converted a three-point play and Nick Hilligoss added a free throw to give the Knights a 20-12 edge after the first quarter.
"We jumped on them pretty early, but I think we let up and they created some turnovers," Central Catholic coach Dave Barrett said. "Benton Central hit some shots and did a nice job getting back into the ballgame."
A Brandon Rooze jumper and 3-point shot, sandwiched around a Jordan Johnson free throw, to open the second quarter got the Bison within 20-18 with 5:24 remaining.
Central Catholic forced five Benton Central turnovers on the Bison's next six possessions to slow BC's momentum.
Jake Churchill and Matt Burks connected on 3-point shots while Haan added a jumper and two free throws to push the Knights' lead back to double digits. Churchill, inserted into the starting lineup by Barrett, finished with 15 points.
"The team was playing good defense and they were able to get the ball out to me on the fast break," Churchill said. "I got most of my points because we were playing such good defense."
Benton Central managed to initially show down Haan with a box-and-one defense.
"In the first half, they wanted to see if our other players could score," Haan said. "Toward the end of the first half, we started to hit more shots and that started to free me up."
Benton Central coach Kyle Rule said the Bison suffered the same problems that led to their previous 10 losses: failing to maintain momentum offensively, turnovers and rebounding. Central Catholic outrebounded BC 39-21.
"I think they had as many offensive rebounds as we had all together," Rule said. "I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but it's the same things that have been killing us all year. Until we get those things fixed, it's going to be a struggle to get a win."
Johnson knocked down four 3-point shots and finished with 14 points.
"That's the Jordan Johnson we expected to count on this season," Rule said. "He got off to a slow start because he hurt his ankle and missed a game. In these last two games he's playing like he's capable of playing. He's got more confidence and he's knocking shots down."