Warriors take 4th at Lodge Tourney

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard

Tyler Keaton of the Centertown Warriors drives the baseline against Manchester Westwood’s Blake Welch during Friday’s consolation game. (Rob Nunley photo)

Centertown’s seventh- and eighth-grade boys had to settle for fourth place in the third annual Warren Lodge Christmas Tournament, after falling to Manchester Westwood 41-36 in the boys’ consolation game on New Year’s Eve.

Taking on the Rockets in Friday afternoon’s third-place game, the Warriors, who hit the floor with just seven players, built an early lead, only to see Westwood come back to tie the game by halftime, then escape with the win after a nip-and-tuck second half.

Up by a single point — 29-28 — at the end of the third period, the Rockets pulled ahead by five with back-to-back buckets from Craig Jarrell.

Centertown’s Tyler Keaton, who led all scorers in the Warriors’ losing effort, pulled his team back within three with Centertown’s first basket of the period, but Jarrell answered with a putback of a missed shot, and Sam Miller scored his only bucket of the game to give Westwood a seven-point advantage — its largest lead of the contest.

In the closing moments of action, Keaton hit a pair of free throws and Bradley Steg scored after an Ethan Turner steal, once again bringing Centertown within three at 39-36.

But after three missed 3-pointers on the Warriors’ end of the floor, Jarrell intercepted a Centertown pass, finding Jesse Henderson, who scored at the five-second mark to seal the victory for the Rockets.

Jarrell led the way for the Rockets with 20 points, while Jordan Lusk had 12 and Henderson finished with five. Miller and Blake Welch added two each.

Keaton’s 21 points paced Centertown, which got nine points from Steg and five from Turner, while Cameron Bond added a free throw.

Turner scored four of his points in the first quarter, helping Centertown to a 9-5 lead by the period’s end. Jarrell took over in the second for Westwood, however, nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Centertown relied on Keaton for its first six points of the period, and tied the game at halftime — 18-18 — when Steg buried a “3” with 32 seconds left before intermission.

The third quarter was a see-saw battle, with Keaton scoring back-to-back baskets to open the period and posting seven of his team’s 10-point total over the six-minute span. Jarrell answered with five in the period, including a 3-pointer of his own, and Lusk scored on a put-back to give his team the lead heading into the fourth.

Centertown returns to county-league action Thursday night, traveling to Irving College.