By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Central has enjoyed a storybook start to the 2023-24 season.
But every good story has adversity along the way, and Central certainly faced that on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs had a humbling loss against one of the nation’s top teams, falling 68-37 to St. John Bosco (Calif.) in the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions opening round at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.
“This might have been a punch in the mouth that we needed,” said Central coach Jordan Epps. “I think we kind of took everything for granted up to this point. We knew they were a good team… I just don’t think, mentally, we thought of them as a good team just because of what we’ve been doing.”
Guards Brandon McCoy and Elize Harrington, both highly sought after Division I recruits, combined for 29 points to lead the Braves.
“As a team, we did a really nice job of sharing the ball,” said St. John Bosco coach Matt Dunn. “When we do that, we can be pretty hard to guard and it gives us a chance to get out in transition and do some fun stuff.”
The Bulldogs, who won their first Blue and Gold championship in 40 years last month, entered Thursday’s contest hoping to make more history.
No local team has won its Tournament of Champions opener since the Austin Ruder- and Jalen Norman-led Nixa Eagles in 2013.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
St. John Bosco quickly dashed any hopes of a historic Central upset, jumping out to a double-digit lead midway through the first quarter. The Braves made 11 of their first 12 field goal attempts. They shot 61% in the first half.
“Incredible environment,” Dunn said. “I’ve been looking forward to this all year, and it lived up to all my expectations in terms of the community support and the treatment we’ve received since we got here. To play pretty well is a nice bonus.”
Central, despite guard Tyrique Brooks getting into early foul trouble, did its best to handle the early onslaught. The Bulldogs trailed by just 10 midway through the second quarter, behind a supportive home crowd.
“It’s really nice coming out and seeing everyone supporting us as the local team,” said Central guard Jordan Pittman, who tied for the team-high with nine points. “You have a lot of people behind you, and you get to play great, new teams and see great, new players. That’s always fun.”
But St. John Bosco pulled away for good over the final four minutes of the first half, stretching a 10-point lead to 17 (40-23) by halftime.
The Braves finished with 26 points off 21 Central turnovers.
Central will look to bounce back when it plays Rainier Beach (Wash.) in the consolation round at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
“There’s a lot of stuff we have to fix going into tomorrow, just from an internal standpoint,” Epps said. “We know that’s not the Central’s everyone has been used to seeing. We didn’t ‘do us’ tonight. We tried to do something else.”
St. John Bosco plays Edmond North (Okla.) at 7:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
“I’m just grateful for this opportunity,” McCoy said. “Last week, we had an opportunity similar to this at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and we didn’t make the most of it. We wanted to come out here and bounce back and I feel like we did a good job.”
St. John Bosco 68, Central 37
St. John Bosco 25 15 19 9 — 68
Central 14 9 5 9 — 37
St. John Bosco – Brandon McCoy 15, Elize Harrington 14, Chris Komin 9, Jack Turner 8, Howie Wu 6, Jaison Joyce 5, Dominic Perfetti 5, Jamar Taylor 3, Max Ellis 3
Central (10-2 overall) – Jordan Pittman 9, Tyrique Brooks 9, Tayshaun Wells 8, Keion Epps 3, Trevor Wilson 3, Brody Holland 2, Dayton Huskey 2, Devin Sanford 1
