Thursday, January 18, 2007 10:58 PM CST
Trojans can’t find offense
By RICK DAWSON Staff Writer
rdawson@jg-tc.com
SALEM —- Trevor Doughty probably would have laughed if you insisted that his Charleston basketball team would score 33 points in its Salem Invitational opener.
Were you to tell him it would lose by 18 to the team with the second worst record in the tournament, it probably wouldn’t be so comical.
Doughty certainly wasn’t in a cheerful mood after Centralia ushered the Trojans into the consolation round with a 51-33 rout Thursday.
Charleston (9-7) must forego a rematch with Salem, a winner in Friday’s second contest, to play Triad (4-11) in a consolation semifinal Saturday at 2 p.m. Salem (12-6) had dealt Charleston one of its earlier setbacks.
The Wildcats defeated Triad 58-44 after building a big first-half lead.
According to Doughty, a quick trip into the loser’s bracket was precisely what should have happened to the lethargic Trojans, who scored 12 points and were outrebounded 16-5 in the second half by a team that was badly outsized.
“We got what we deserved, I’ll tell you that, the way we played,” he said. “That was the most disappointed I’ve been in a basketball team in a long time of coaching.
“You have to give Centralia credit because they played the game. We just didn’t play hard, we didn’t play together, we didn’t play smart. It was a total team effort, that’s for sure.”
Owning a height advantage at every position, Charleston was nonetheless dominated on the glass, losing the rebounding battle 29-12. Switching from a zone defense to a man-to-man in the second half didn’t help much, either, as Centralia started pulling away early in the fourth period.
The Orphans (4-10) won their third straight game by working for layups while Charleston settled for low-percentage shots on the opposite end. Ben Kracht hit his first four field goals, all from two feet in, in the first quarter, giving Centralia a 13-10 lead.
It was a wonder that Charleston managed to remain tied through the first two periods and midway through the third quarter, but the close score was partly the result of a Centralia team that virtually lulled the Trojans to sleep.
“I think we were part of the tempo,” Doughty said. “We didn’t execute the offense early and didn’t score. And then we were standing on defense, too.
“We did a lot to hurt ourselves.”
Kracht led Centralia with 16 points, while Carlton Westbrook scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
Charleston had no one in double figures. Jamel Johnson, replacing Nathan Zuniga in the starting lineup, finished with nine, but he rarely touched the ball in the post as Centralia limited the Trojans’ looks inside.
Michael Ostreich found himself wide open for a layup with 5:47 left in the game to put the Orphans ahead 37-29 and Derrek Teitsort followed with an awkward, off-balance bank to give them their first 10-point lead.
Charleston, long since frustrated by that point, made four turnovers and launched only one 3-point in the last five minutes as Centralia got its remaining subs into the game.
“They struggled to score,” Centralia coach Randy Lincoln said. “They didn’t make an outside shot the whole night, it looked like. I want to give all the credit to our defense.
“We played pretty well the second half.”
Contact Rick Dawson at rdawson@jg-tc.com or 238-6855.
CENTRALIA (4-10)
Player FG FT Reb F TP
Westbrook 5-9 2-3 4 0 12
Thomas 1-4 2-2 2 1 4
Kracht 6-9 4-4 7 3 16
Smith 0-1 0-0 1 2 0
Dabney 1-4 0-0 2 1 3
Baker 0-2 1-2 4 4 1
Ostreich 4-5 1-3 1 0 9
Johnson 2-2 0-0 1 0 4
Wells 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Teitsort 1-2 0-0 4 0 2
Keef 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Team 2
Totals 20-38 10-14 29 51
CHARLESTON (9-7)
Player FG FT Reb F TP
Miller 1-6 0-0 3 2 2
Buxton 2-5 0-0 2 4 5
Hutchinson 3-8 2-5 3 2 8
Ryan 2-3 0-0 2 3 4
Johnson 4-6 1-1 2 1 9
Zuniga 1-4 2-2 0 0 5
Gentry 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Murphy 0-0 0-0 0 3 0
James 0-1 0-0 0 0 0
Team 0
Totals 13-33 5-8 12 15 33
Centralia 13 8 14 16 — 51
Charleston 13 8 8 4 — 33
3-point shots: Centralia 1-4 (Dabney 1-2, Westbrook 0-1, Thomas 0-1); Charleston 2-13 (Zuniga 1-3, Buxton 1-4, Hutchinson 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Miller 0-4); Shooting percentages: Centralia .526; Charleston .394. Turnovers: Centralia 18; Charleston 18.
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