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Harrisburg Tournament

Falcon boys narrowly lose third-place game to Class 4 Centralia

Justin Addison, Editor/Publisher
Posted 1/31/21

The Fayette boys fell by just five points to Class 4 Centralia in the third-place game of the Harrisburg Tournament on Saturday. 

Centralia was the second Class 4 opponent faced by the …

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Harrisburg Tournament

Falcon boys narrowly lose third-place game to Class 4 Centralia

Posted

The Fayette boys fell by just five points to Class 4 Centralia in the third-place game of the Harrisburg Tournament on Saturday. 

Centralia was the second Class 4 opponent faced by the Falcons in three days. On Thursday, they upset Hallsville 79-78 with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Fayette fell to the tournament host by just three points on Tuesday. Although the Falcons lost two of three games during the week, they were only outscored by a combined eight points in both losses.

Fayette coach Jon Bishop said that he hopes these three tough games set up his team for conference and district play in the final stretch of the season. One big reason why Bishop chose to enter his team into the Harrisburg Tournament was because of the stiff competition. That’s why we got into this tournament. We played with those guys very solidly. I still think we had a chance to beat (Centralia). Hopefully, that progresses us through the rest of the year.”

Fayette was the first to get on the scoreboard Saturday on a steal and layup by senior Kyle Schleeter. But the lead wouldn’t last and the Falcons found themselves trailing by seven points after one quarter. Centralia big man Gran Erisman scored 10 points under the basket in the first quarter.

“Those bigs, are not just long, they’re athletic and they can shoot and do things really well,” Bishop said. “I think that hurt us early.”

Fayette inched back in the second quarter, taking the lead, 24-22 on a 3-pointer by Schleeter midway through. The two teams traded baskets throughout the period, but it was Centralia that emerged with a one-point lead, 31-30, at halftime.

The Panthers increased their edge in the third quarter on 4-for-5 free-throw shooting, while holding Fayette to 10 points. 

Heading into the last quarter ahead 48-40, Centralia was able to stay in front of Fayette by just enough to keep the game out of reach. The Falcons narrowed the gap to four points on a bucket by junior Dalton Collins with 33 seconds remaining, but Centralia banked three-of-four free-throw attempts to stay just out of reach and win 72-67.

“We showed a lot of fight,” said Bishop. “I think we’ll be able to learn from this.”

Senior Kyle Schleeter led the Falcons with 31 points, passing the 30-point mark in a single game for the fifth time this season. Schleeter has a way of racking up points without a great deal of fanfare. “We’ve seen that several times this year. We’ll look up and all of a sudden he’s got 31 points,” Bishop said.

The same can be said for Collins, who finished with 18 points. Two nights prior, he set up Fayette’s win over Hallsville with 20 fourth-quarter points.

“I think that’s a testament of their play,” said Bishop. “They just do a lot of really good things.”

Cody Hildgedick, who hit the 3-point buzzer-beater on Thursday, finished with 10 points against Centralia on Saturday. “He’s played really solidly. He hit the game-winner on Thursday. That just builds confidence.”

When opponents prepare to face the Falcons, they focus heavily on Schleeter as the team’s leading scorer. But Hilgedick and Collins have each turned in multiple double-digit finishes this season. “If we can get all those guys their averages and Kyle still gets his average, that’s going to set us apart,” explained Bishop.

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