Bogan advanced to Centralia semifinals

Bogan, which defeated the hosts 41-38 on Wednesday night in the Centralia Holiday Tournament quarterfinals, had two big defensive goals against the Orphans.

Both defensive goals came to fruition. First, cut off the normal driving lanes and make the Orphans beat them from the outside. Second, take R.J. Kwiatkowski, Centralia's leading scorer against St. Laurence, out of his game.

Centralia only hit 3-of-17 from beyond the arc and made only 5-of-10 free throws. The Orphans hit 15-of-42 from the field.

In the second half, Bogan never trailed and Centralia constantly chased. Centralia got within two points on a short jumper Daniel Westbrook with 11.9 seconds to play.

Trailing 40-38, Centralia called timeout and set up a play that resulted in a bad pass. Bogan's Stanley Malcom added a free throw with 5.7 seconds to play, forcing the Orphans to go for a three-pointer. The Orphans missed their final shot of the contest.

"This is a big win for us," Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin said. "I was confident that we could win as long as we concentrated on the defense. We prevented them from running those cuts tonight."

From the start of the contest, Bogan ran Centralia up and down the floor and made sure there was not much payoff. At the end of the first, Bogan led 9-8. Bogan led by as much as eight points in the second quarter, going to the locker room with an 18-12 lead.

At the end of the third, Bogan's lead was cut to two, 26-24. Malcom nailed a trey with no time left on the clock.

"We were going to force them to beat us from the outside," said Malcom. "We knew if we did that, we had a shot at them. Kwiatkowski is such a great player. If he gets you to play his game, he can make it tough on any team."

Bogan (8-2) did not have anyone score in double figures. Malcom, Kendall Wesley and Ronnell Buckner each had nine points. Devaughn Johnson added eight. Kwiatkowski led Centralia with 12 points. Bogan will face McClure North at 2 p.m. Thursday in the second semifinal of the day.

Marist 60, Jacksonville 53: Marist survived a disastrous third quarter and went on to defeat Jacksonville in a consolation quarterfinal.

Marist used the free-throw line to put the game out of reach. With 38 seconds to play, Jacksonville trailed by four points, 55-51. Lexus Williams and L.J. McIntosh each traveled to the free-throw line in the final 32 seconds of the contest. Williams nailed two with 32 seconds to play and another with seven seconds left on the clock. Williams hit his charity tosses with 21 seconds left.

Jacksonville's game defense held the RedHawks to a single bucket in the third quarter. The RedHawks were held to only seven points in the third quarter. At the end of the third stanza, Marist led by only four points, 42-38.

"They extended their defense and left huge holes in the middle," Marist coach Gene Nolan said of Jacksonville. "We could have driven and gotten some easy layups but we did not. We stopped pushing the ball on transition. Jacksonville impressed me. They are a good team now and they are young. They put us in a bad position and that is to their credit."

L.J. McIntosh scored 30 points for Marist. He was the only player in double figures for the RedHawks. Josh Peak, a 6-4 sophomore for Jacksonville, scored 24 points.

Marist (9-6) will face Champaign Central in the consolation semifinals Thursday morning.

Wooddale (Tenn.) 56, St. Laurence 54: The Wooddale Cardinals got a inside bucket from junior guard Arterrious Tate with only two seconds to play to end the Vikings' tournament run.

"We had a foul to give and I believe we tried to foul the shooter," said St. Laurence coach Mark Sevedge. "We played a great game for 28-of-32 minuted and then we let it slip away. We have to play a full 32 minutes to beat anyone."

St. Laurence (2-7) got 21 points from Tim McGinty. Phillip Mays scored 21 points for Wooddale, while Cordero Mack tallied 12 points.

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