Boys basketball: Blue Demons hand Big Reds first loss

Dec. 15—ALBIA — The Albia High School 'A' Gymnasium.

Where the hopes of visiting teams trying to stay unbeaten go to die.

Just four days after handing Clarke its first loss of the season, holding off a late charge by the Indians to secure a 64-63 win last Friday, the Albia Blue Demons handed another South Central Conference rival its first loss on Tuesday. Cael Schofield scored 10 of his team-leading 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch lay-up with 1:15 to go that helped Albia pull away late from Centerville clinching a 60-53 win that, like Clarke, left the Big Reds leaving Monroe County with a 4-1 record instead of a perfect 5-0 mark on the season.

"I'm just so proud of our guys. We stood around a little too much in the first half. We just were not passing and just were not cutting as much as we needed to," Albia head boys basketball coach Kevin Archer said. "In the second half, we started getting stuff in the paint. We got some lay-ups. We got some dribble-drives. We started getting the easier looks that we weren't getting in the first half.

"I thought our defense was great. We really limited (Centerville) to perimeter jumpers."

Early on, those jumpers were falling for the Big Reds. Malachi and Keith 'K.J.' Rice continued to spark an impressive early-season start for the Centerville boys, combining for 35 points on Tuesday with 11 of Malachi Rice's game-high 19 points coming in the opening 16 minutes helping the Big Reds build a 16-10 lead after one quarter and a 27-21 halftime lead over the Blue Demons.

"Those Rice brothers are so athletic," Archer said. "I know they're only going to get better. We had to pinch drives and rebound the jump shots."

Malachi Rice drove in for a 3-point play to open the second half. K.J. Rice followed with a lay-up of his own opening an 11-point lead for the Big Reds in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

"We knew coming into this game this was going to be our biggest test of the year," Centerville head boys basketball coach Tyler Baze said. "I felt like at the end of last year, we were headed in the right direction as a program. We played some good teams tight, upset Central Decatur in the playoffs. Our trajectory was already headed up. When you add Malachi and K.J. to the mix, there are times that I feel like we can beat anyone in the state.

"However, I also feel like if we're a team that's going to settle for jump shots and not be patient, we can lose to just about anybody in the state."

Albia (3-2, 3-1 SCC) began to exploit those flaws as Centerville began to struggle from the field, missing 18 of their final 26 shots in the contest. Just as the Big Reds began to cool off from the field, Schofield began to heat up sinking 3-pointers on consecutive possessions igniting a 9-2 run that pulled Albia back within 34-30 midway through the third quarter.

"The halftime speech wasn't very pleasant, but it got us motivated to work harder in the second half," Schofield said. "We needed to quit turning the ball over and attack their guys with fouls.

"Malachi and K.J. are pretty good. They can make about any 15-foot shot you give them. It really came down to them starting to miss shots. We were contesting all night. Eventually, we felt like the shots would stop falling for them and start to falling for us."

Gage Chance, who matched Schofield with 15 points for Albia, sank a 3-pointer late in the third quarter before a lay-up off a feed from Casen Baker and a free throw by Cooper Bradley tied the score at 38-38 heading into the fourth quarter. Schofield gave Albia the lead for the first time since the first quarter by scoring on the first possession of the fourth quarter as the teams began to battle back and forth exchanging four lead changes and a pair of ties in the final four minutes.

Ryan Little tiebreaking free throws off a rebound gave Albia the lead for good midway through the fourth quarter. Chance drove in for a lay-up, giving the Blue Demons a 46-42 lead before a 3-pointer by K.J. Rice pulled Centerville back within one.

"It was a good back-and-forth game," Baze said. "I think, in the end, Albia was the more composed team."

That composure allowed Albia to carry the lead to the final buzzer. Luke Wynn drove in for a lay-up before Schofield answered a drive by Malachi Rice, giving Albia a 50-47 lead.

Wynn found Bradley for a basket off a Centerville miss, giving the Blue Demons a five-point lead. After a clutch 3-pointer by K.J. Rice cut the lead to a single possession in the final two minutes, Schofield drove in for a clutch baskets leading Albia on a game-closing 8-3 run that included a 3-point play by Wynn in the final minute to secure the Blue Demon victory.

"All I thought about when I got the ball in my hands was that the guy on me was in foul trouble," Schofield said. "I knew right then I was going to take the ball to the rack. It's just what we did throughout the second half. Coach Archer told me at halftime to be aggressive. I was able to knock down some shots and be aggressive on both ends."

Centerville (4-1, 3-1 SCC) wraps up the holiday break traveling to Clarke on Tuesday for conference play before hosting Fairfield in non-conference action at Lakeview Gymnasium on Thursday. Albia heads to Davis County on Tuesday.

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.