LONGVIEW — Things got a bit wild in the second half, but Centralia parlayed a big early lead into a 79-72 win over Southwestern Oregon to take fourth place at the eight-team, 24th-annual Red Devil Classic mens college basketball tournament here Sunday afternoon.
Riding the momentum of a 30-point blowout win the previous day, the Trailblazers ran out to a 35-15 lead with 5 minutes left in the first half and didn’t let the Lakers back in the game until the final 2½ minutes. Scott Odekirk scored 7 points in a two-minute span to bring the Lakers within 7 points, but fouled out a few seconds later. After another SWO bucket, Centralia’s Jake Brown scored on a putback to push the lead back to 8 points with under 30 seconds left an effectively put the game away.
“It was a bit scary, but I knew our guys would be able to finish out the game,” Centralia coach Jason Moir said.
The win leaves the Blazers with a 2-1 record early in the season.
“It’s nice to get a couple of wins early,” Moir said. “Hopefully that gives the guys some motivation to work hard.”
Freshman Jeremiah Ridgeway, from Wapato, Alaska, scored a game-high 24 points for Centralia. The 5-foot-10 guard added 14 rebounds, shot 4 of 9 from long range and was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 20 points, over seven rebounds and almost three steals a game.
“I was kind of nervous the first day,” said Ridgeway, who scored 11 points Friday in his Centralia debut but netted 25 in Saturday’s win on 7 of 14 shooting, “but I got used to it.”
Damien Fisher scored 19 for Centralia and averaged 21 a game through the Classic, shooting a hot 22 of 33 from the field with 7.3 boards a game. Jake Brown, the sophomore center from Winlock, scored 13 Sunday to averaged 15.3 points and eight rebounds a game for the tournament.
Centralia did a better job taking care of the ball in the second half, with 12 of its 21 turnovers coming before the break, but had less opportunity to lose the ball. The teams combined for 53 fouls, shooting a total of 68 free throws — including 40 in the second half.
Ridgeway led the way in the first half, scoring 15 points and three 3-point buckets.
“We just focused on being intense,” he said. “In the second half it got a little rocky, but we held on.”
Centralia (2-1) will host Whatcom in a nonleague game next Friday.
Trailblazers 102, Trojans 72
LONGVIEW — Centralia bounced back from a tight first-round loss to blow out Everett 102-72 in the a loser-out game here Saturday in the Red Devil Classic.
The Blazers led 50-40 at halftime, but shot 62 percent from the floor in the second half (18 of 29) for the final 30-point margin of victory.
Jeremiah Ridgeway scored 25 points on 7 of 14 shooting, Brandon Semken had 20 (8 of 10 from the floor) and Fisher added 20 (7 of 10) with each grabbing nine rebounds. Jake Brown added 18 (7 of 9 shooting) with eight rebounds, and Tyler Hertz dished out eight assists.
Centralia held a 52-29 advantage on the boards.
