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'Crest' fallen

BOYS BASKETBALL

Photo by ALICE MARY HERDEN

Central's Mike Lula dribbles up court Saturday afternoon versus Strawberry Crest in the Dunnellon Thanksgiving Classic.

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: November 28, 2009

DUNNELLON - Through two games of the regular season, things had gone well for Central.

The Bears got off to a promising 2-0 start, downing Citrus on Tuesday, 62-52, and beating host Dunnellon in Friday's portion of the Dunnellon Thanksgiving Classic, 72-62.

But Saturday, the good vibes vanished. Central suffered its first loss, 62-54, to Dover-Strawberry Crest, a first-year school that recorded the initial win in program history.

"This was a completely different team compared to the first two games," Central Head Coach Craig Witte said. "Last night 88 percent of our points were in the paint. Tonight it was all jumpers. We went away from what made us successful the last two times."

As a result, the Bears got into a shootout – literally – with the upstart Chargers (1-1), who had lost 82-40 to Nature Coast the previous day.

Strawberry Crest knocked down 10 three-pointers, four of them by Reggie Burke in a 24-point effort. Conversely, Central hit just three treys, all of them by Mike Lula.

"We didn't expect them to shoot that well," Witte said. "But when you've got kids in high school, they get some confidence and it snowballs."

It seemed to snowball in the other direction just before halftime, as Lula connected on a pair from beyond the arc to open up a 29-22 advantage with three minutes remaining.

However, the Chargers pulled back within two, 29-27, heading into the intermission.

Burke had just three points across the opening two periods, but took over in the final two. He found Michael Paynter in the corner for a three just prior to the buzzer at the end of the third quarter.

That made it 41-39 Strawberry Crest, and Burke continued his barrage with 14 points in a back-and-forth fourth.

His steal and dish to Jordan Vega for a layup with just more than a minute left made it 56-54 in favor of the Chargers.

The Bears went ice cold as the clock wound down, and were forced to put Burke on the free throw line. He went 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the closing minute to seal the victory.

Burke added eight assists and six rebounds to the cause. Devin Diggs chipped in 13 points, seven boards and five steals.

Mike Lula and Joe Lula scored 16 and 14 points respectively, with the later pulling down 10 rebounds to go with four assists and four steals.

"It's a work in progress all year," Witte said. "We're not satisfied or done learning after two weeks. We'll get ready to go back on Monday and be ready on (for the next games) on Tuesday and Friday.

"It's a learning experience with both the wins and the losses. Last night we had a big lead, they came back and we showed some heart and kept the lead. Tonight we did the exact opposite. That shows both sides of what can happen. We'll take it as a learning experience and go from there."

STRAWBERRY CREST 62, CENTRAL 54
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
Strawberry Crest 17 10 14 21 — 62
Central 14 15 10 15 — 54
Strawberry Crest (62): Fields 2 2-2 6, Diggs 4 3-4 13, Wilkerson 2 1-2 5, Gomez 0, Burke 7 6-7 24, Mathis 2 0-0 6, Pathyil 1 0-0 3, Paynter 1 0-0 3, Vega 1 0-0 2, Castillo 0, VandeWeghe 0, Carter 0. Totals 20 12-15 62.
Central (54): J. Lula 6 2-6 14, M. Lula 4 5-6 16, Stewart 3 0-0 6, Frazier 2 4-5 8, Walsh 2 0-2 4, McCarty 1 2-2 4, Davis 1 0-2 2, Bennett 0, King 0. Totals 19 13-23 54.
Three-point field goals: SC 10 (Burke 4, Mathis 2, Diggs 2, Pathyil, Paynter); CEN 3 (M. Lula 3).
Total fouls: SC 20; CEN 13.
Technical fouls: none.
Fouled out: none.
Records: Dover-Strawberry Crest (1-1), Central (2-1).

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at 352-544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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