Centerville, Ohio — Quite possibly the best thing that has happened to Centerville this season was a three at the buzzer from Evan Logan which handed the Elks their first conference loss of the season. Since that loss, Centerville has been in a different mode. They’ve rattled off five straight wins coming into Friday with an average margin of twenty-five points per victory.
Even after a quarantine, the Elks went on the road an hour away and knocked off Paul McMillan and Woodward. Coming into Friday’s matchup against Miamisburg, Centerville had a lot to prove. Could they beat the team that beat them earlier in the season? Could they keep up the hot streak even after a long and tiring game just two days prior?
Sophomore Gabe Cupps tried to answer those questions early as he got off to a hot start, scoring Centerville’s first four points. Then Tom House drilled a deep three and then dished off an assist to Ryan Keifer to give them a 9-4 lead. Evan Otteson got an and-one for the Vikings to keep it close as Miamisburg trailed 11-10 at the end of the first quarter.
Rich Rolf started off his night by getting an and-one down low for the Elks. Then after a bucket from Cupps and a corner three from House, Centerville was suddenly up by double-digits. They extended that lead to twenty after a Gabe Cupps and-one and a Rich Rolf putback. That gave Centerville a commanding 37-16 halftime lead.
The second half started off pretty pysical as Tre Johnson and Evan Logan exchanged blocks. The Gabe Cupps took a charge, and Miamisburg’s Jackson McGohan got an and-one on a play that could’ve gone either way as the defender’s feet were slightly moving.
All of that drew Miamisburg closer, but then Tom House got hot. The sharpshooting junior nailed two threes in a row. He then threw a pass across the court to Jayson Hayes who hit a corner three to put the Elks back up by twenty.
Despite the score, Miamisburg junior Anthony Coppock played well throughout the night. In the third quarter, he had a solid sequence where he got a tough bucket on one end and then drew a charge on the other end. Coppock played hard the entire night despite being down by a lot in a game that Miamisburg thought they could compete in. Tom House’s jumper at the buzzer gave the Elks a 50-29 lead at the end of the third.
House continued to go off in the fourth quarter. He hit a three over multiple defenders to start and then swished a fadeaway three from the corner. Then Tom House hit a three in the mouth of the defender to finish off his game-high 27 point performance en route to a big 71-49 win for Centerville.
Like mentioned before, Tom House led the way with 27 points as he made 7/9 threes and shot 10/14 from the field. Gabe Cupps added on 18 points and 5 assists. Centerville will improve to 9-2 (5-1, GWOC) and will host Beavercreek next Tuesday.