A five-year hiatus did nothing to change the complexion of the Center Grove-Southport boys basketball rivalry.
The Trojans, led by a 21-point performance by 6-foot-8 sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis, pieced together an impressive final two quarters of play to down the visiting Cardinals, 60-51, on Friday.
This gives Center Grove 20 victories in the past 23 games against Southport dating back to the outset of the 1993-94 season.
“I thought we were pretty resilient. There was a while there where the game could have broken open either way, and I think finally at the end what happened was our guys finally made some shots,” third-year Trojans coach Zach Hahn said.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“When you make shots you get some confidence. Then your defense picks up. That Southport team has some great slashers, and the big fellow (6-9 Dut Mabok) is tough. But I really thought our guys responded well in the second half.”
Trailing 25-19 at halftime, the Trojans scored 23 third-quarter points highlighted by Jackson-Davis’s left-handed windmill dunk at 2:10 to give his team the lead for good at 33-31.
Jackson-Davis then swatted away a Southport shot at the other end, leading to a layup by Trojans junior guard Nate McLain.
Center Grove would build its lead to as much as 11 points at 48-37, but the Cardinals crept back into it, getting as close as three (53-50) with 2:18 remaining in the final quarter.
It’s here sophomore guard Spencer Piercefield drained a triple from the right wing, touching off a 7-1 scoring run to close the game.
The 6-foot Piercefield added 12 points in the win, followed closely by McLain’s 11.
Center Grove shot poorly the entire night, making only three of 15 field goal tries in the opening period and 20 of 52 (.384). However, the Trojans had only 11 turnovers compared to 18 miscues by Southport.
Eddie Schott, a sophomore backup guard, knocked down four 3-pointers — three from the baseline, another at the top of the key — in the second period as the Cardinals settled in with a 25-19 halftime lead.
His final offering at the 1:02 mark closed an 11-2 Southport scoring run to close the quarter.
The Trojans made only 7 of 26 field-goal attempts the first half (.269). Fifteen of the shots taken were 3-pointers.
A strong second-half proved to be the difference.
“It helps having six or seven guys that were actually part of our team last year,” Hahn said. “I think that’s going to pay dividends. Maybe not yet, but I think by late-December or early January when we get more experience, I really, really like this team.
“I think that we’ve got a lot of pieces to be successful.”
Center Grove (1-0) is back in action this evening at Bloomington North before opening Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference play next Friday at Pike.
After opening the season with three consecutive road tests, the Cardinals (0-3) are at Southport Fieldhouse tonight against Ben Davis.
