Senior Eli Greenberg had a team-high 19 points, senior Ethan Greenberg had 12 and sophomore Sam Keely added 10 for Centerville, which fell to 7-6 overall.
“We’ve just been in this situation several times in the last two weeks and we have not gotten to the point where we’re finishing the game the way we need to finish it,” said Elks coach Brook Cupps, “and until we do that against really good teams like this, we’re going to lose. It’s a choice we’re going to have to make or be content with where we are. We’ve got to do a better job of teaching them and understanding what we want at the end of games because we haven’t been able to close out games here the last couple weeks. We’ve got to figure that out.”
Reynoldsburg junior Xavier McKinney, an Ohio University commit, had a game-high 22 points, hitting four 3-pointers as the Raiders improved to 13-0. Reynoldsburg juniors Jordie Bowens and Jordan Fisher, another Ohio University commit, each had 13 for Reynoldsburg, which is ranked No. 2 in the Division I MaxPreps Ohio basketball rankings.
The Elks trailed by 27-25 at the half, despite shooting 9-for-26 from the field in the first two quarters.
“Their length and their athleticism does that to you a little bit,” Cupps said. “I felt like when we got shots in rhythm, the shots we wanted to take, we shot them really well. Part of the reason you shoot a low percentage is because you don’t take great shots. Our last three or four 3s that we took were not good shots in those situations. The basketball gods aren’t down with that, they just make you miss it and you learn tomorrow, so that’s where we are.”
The Raiders led 44-43 after the third quarter. Centerville fought back to take a 53-50 lead on a bucket by Keely, but the Raiders would go on a 6-0 run, capped by a McKinney dunk to give them the lead for good with 1:57 remaining.
The Elks cut the lead to three points at 60-57 on a basket by Ethan Greenberg with 19.6 seconds to go, but Centerville was forced to foul three straight times to send the Raiders to the free throw line. Fisher hit two free throws and senior Toby Nwokolo, a Toledo commit, added another to seal the victory.
Centerville was outrebounded 36-22 in the game, allowing 16 offensive rebounds for 18 second chance points.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Centerville. They travel to Northmont on Tuesday before hosting Springfield — which beat them 65-60 earlier this season — on Friday night. They also play Covington Catholic (Ky.) on Saturday at Thomas More University.
“We’re not going to flinch,” Cupps said. “We’re going to keep doing our stuff. I think the other part to recognize is that we’re pretty close. Reynoldsburg is one of the best teams in the state. We were up at (St. Ignatius) on Thursday, one of the best teams in the state, and we’re right there with two or three minutes left in the game. We’re just going to keep pounding at it, working at it and try to get better.”
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