Central rolls on to regional title tilt, while Southeastern is unable to navigate tough second half

CAMP POINT, Ill. — A highly anticipated postseason matchup between the state’s preseason No. 1-ranked team in Class 1A and the area’s most consistently successful squad isn’t going to happen.

Bushnell-Prairie City and a nagging injury saw to that.

After the top-seeded Central boys basketball team pushed its way into Friday’s regional championship with a 63-47 victory over Unity on Wednesday night, third-seeded Southeastern couldn’t follow suit. Playing without injured all-state forward Danny Stephens, the Suns fell 43-31 to Bushnell-Prairie City.

So the Panthers (25-4) will face the Spartans (19-16) at 7 p.m. Friday in the title game of the Class 1A Central Regional.

“I think that they’re as talented as any team we’ve got around the area,” Unity coach Keith Carothers said of Central, which was ranked ninth in the final Class 1A state poll of the regular season. “They’ve got size. They’ve got shooters. They’ve got speed. They have guys that can handle it. And they play well together.”

Although much of that was on display in the first half of Wednesday’s first semifinal — Central led Unity 34-22 at halftime — Panthers coach James Barnett expected and demanded better.

“We were playing very selfish,” Barnett said. “We weren’t playing the way that we’ve been playing all year, what’s gotten us to where we are. We were dribbling too much. We’re trying to take our guy one on one too much. We weren’t making the extra pass. We weren’t finding the open guy. 

“And everything is a struggle when we’re taking shots that are not within the flow of the offense. We scored 34 points, but it was ugly. And it was a hard 34 points.” 

Forcing 12 first-half turnovers helped overcome some of the offensive struggles.

“(The turnovers) absolutely crushed us,” Carothers said. “We had a good game plan coming out, but we just got a little antsy and just weren’t patient enough to make it happen. Give credit to Central.  They defended well. They got a lot of guys that defend a lot of positions really well.”

The third quarter belonged to Central’s Nick Moore. On the first possession of the quarter, the junior nailed a 3-pointer and finished the frame with 11 of his team’s 18 points.

“Anytime we can get Nick going, it’s always good to kind of come back to him, remember that he’s there,” Barnett said. “And then we got to get him the ball.”

The Panthers (25-4) had five players score in double figures. Isaac Genenbacher finished with 17 points, Moore with 14, Carter Eyler had 12 and Drew Paben chipped in 11. Gavin Blewitt scored 13 points off the bench.

“Gavin comes in and gives us scoring and he gives us a little bit of energy, a little bit of attitude out there,” Barnett said. “Sometimes it’s not always the best attitude, but it’s attitude. And sometimes that’s what you need. You just need a little bit of attitude.”

In the nightcap, after rallying from an 11-point second quarter deficit to take the halftime lead, Southeastern went without a field goal for more than seven minutes of the fourth quarter. 

Without all-stater and Mizzou signee Danny Stephens, who had not played suffering a hip injury the first weekend of February, the Suns (23-8) managed just six field goals in the second half.