Darren Kinnard
Section618.com
CENTRALIA — In a matchup of two conference champions that ran the table in their respective leagues, the Centralia Orphans throttled Fairfield 60-36 on the final day of the pandemic-shortened basketball season.
The Orphans jumped out to a 16-8 lead after one quarter and never really looked back. The lead was 28-16 at the half.
After the Mules cut it to 32-24 early in the third, Centralia closed the third on a 14-0 run to put it out of reach. The Orphans led 46-24 after three.
Fairfield scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter but could get no closer than 14, eventually falling by 24.
The Mules ended up playing 19 games in the five and a half week season, finishing 17-2, including 10-0 to win the Black Diamond–East. The Orphans played 15 games, finishing 14-1, including 10-0 to win the South 7. Centralia’s only loss was by one point to Carterville.
The two rosters had a total of 13 seniors who saw their basketball careers come to an end. The Mules had six: Noah McElravy, Lucas Halbert, Brandon Lane, Colin Massie, Blake Pruitt, and Landon Zurliene. Fairfield’s seniorw were the part of close to 80 wins the past three seasons.
The Orphans had seven seniors: Ethan Dobbs, Crue Walker, Eli Barrow, Mason Blakemore, Will Pryor, Justin Glenn and Cory Fleeman.