Rebels outclassed by Cape-Notre Dame

PARK HILLS — The Central Rebels hung with the heavily touted Cape-Notre Dame Bulldogs for a little over one half of play, but the  Bulldogs shifted gears in the third quarter to run away with an 80-47 win.

Trailing by only 13 at the break, the Rebels matched the Bulldogs basket for basket to start the third for the first four points, but the Bulldogs went on a 16-2 run that lasted most of the quarter to put the game out of question.

Quinn Poythress scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the first quarter to help Notre Dame take a 20-11 start. The Bulldogs pushed the ball up the floor on each possession to prevent the Rebels from setting  any type of pressure or trapping defense.

The Rebels struggled to get the ball inbounds from under their own basket as twice in the quarter the pass went to a Bulldog player instead. Central Coach Mike Harlow called time to adjust the inbounds play after the second throw away.    

Jake Bridges and Brayden Manion both hit from beyond the circle to keep Central within 10 in the first frame of play, but the Rebels were unable to penetrate the Bulldogs zone with any consistency as they managed only two other baskets in the quarter.

Notre Dame continued their hurry-up offense in the second quarter, scoring five baskets  with lay-ups on transition. Manion nailed his second three for the Rebels and Bridges scored four more in the quarter of his team leading 11 to keep Central within 10 of the lead.

Dean Crippen cut though the key to lay the ball in for Notre Dame at the 3:00 mark, and Trenton Schumer swiped a Central pass to feed the ball to Thomas Himmelberg for a second lay-up and in seconds the lead jumped to 14.

Will Scherffius finished off the half for Central by driving across the top of the key to find room to pop a two at the buzzer.

Scherffius was crucial to the Rebels second half of play as he came off the bench to stop the Bulldogs run in the third quarter with a pair of eight-foot jumpers. Scherffius scored seven points in the quarter to end up  with 11 in the game to share scoring honors with Bridges.

Both teams received help with from their benches in the fourth quarter for their final scoring totals. Brendan Boswell made good on two threes for the Bulldogs and Brandon Caldwell connected with one three for the Rebels. Central also was 6-9 from the line down the stretch.

Central (11-6) will host North County in a conference game on Friday     

Notre Dame  20  16  26  18 – 80

Central  11  12  13  11 – 47

SCORING:

Notre Dame – Quinn Poythress 24, Dean Crippen 12, Jordan Barber 8, Brendan Boswell 8, Derek Hulshof 7, Grant Ressel 7, Trenton Schumer 5, Thomas Himmelberg 5, Hunter Eftink 3, Chase Urhahn 1.  3-point FG – Boswell 2, Poythress, Ressel. (FT: 10-19).

Central – Jake Bridges 11, Will Scherffius 11, Alaric Jones 7, Brayden Manion 6, Scottie Richardson 4, Brandon Caldwell 3, Colin Bess 2, Hunter Courtois 2, DJ Buckhanan 1. 3-point FG – Manion 2, Bridges, B. Caldwell. (FT: 11-18).

Will Scherffius (11) leaps to make a shot for Central that puts an end to Notre Dame’s run in the third quarter. Scherffius scored five more points in the quarter to finish with a team-high 11.