Centennial overcomes 21-points deficit; advances to Area
34-20. That was the halftime score of Oklahoma Centennial’s 65-55 win over Community Christian School — in Community Christian’s favor. But that was before Centennial went on a 21-0 run to take the lead and ultimately secure the victory over…
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Continue Reading34-20.
That was the halftime score of Oklahoma Centennial’s 65-55 win over Community Christian School — in Community Christian’s favor.
But that was before Centennial went on a 21-0 run to take the lead and ultimately secure the victory over CCS to land a spot in the Area Tournament.
As soon as I got home from the game, I immediately took to wandering the internet looking for a comparable scenario or analytic of some sort that could put this in perspective. Here’s the closest thing I found:
Back in November, , who possessed a 16-point lead at the time.
The Magic went on to take a 111-106 victory, and while the circumstances aren’t identical, Centennial’s performance today was as jaw-dropping for anybody who saw it. To lend some context, here’s a byte from the aforementioned piece.
“ . . . the Magic had just a 1.4 percent win probability when they trailed 92-76 with 10:51 to play. However, by the time their stunning 21-0 run was complete and it was improbably up 97-92, Orlando’s win probability had soared to 64.2 percent.”
From a spectator’s standpoint, I chalked Centennial’s win probability to zero at the half. Community Christian was, frankly, dominating its competition and making light work of it. CCS point guard Heath Abrahamsen had 17 first-half points and showed no signs of slowing down. Forward Josh Martin added another eight points to make the game practically unfair.
Centennial had no answer in the first half. They could hardly pay diligent attention to the inside game while limiting Abrahamsen’s shooting. It looked like the Bison were done and their season was over.
And if you’ve followed anything relating to Centennial basketball or public education in general, you may be aware of the fact that Centennial High School will likely be shutting down at the end of the 2019 school year, meaning that the final result of this season would effectively be cemented in the legacy of Centennial basketball.
Perhaps the Bison had that in mind when they stormed onto the floor in the second half to keep the dream alive.
Senior and OCHS All-Time leading scorer Moun’Tae Edmundson, Jr., who was left scoreless in the first quarter, hustled back to finish with 24 points to lead Centennial.
The most important players in this run, however, may have been Edmundson’s fellow senior guards, Ky Menifee and Salae Woodley.
While Edmundson was heavily face-guarded and heavily limited for much of the game, Menifee and Woodley took the game into their own hands.
Woodley added a pair of 3-pointers into the mix while playing terrific defensive and poking the ball out every chance he got. Menifee, on the other hand, scored 10 points in the third quarter, including the go-ahead 3-pointer from an Edmundson assist to give the Bison the 37-34 lead.
CCS didn’t score its first bucket until the two-minute mark of the third quarter, but the Royals weren’t quiet done yet.
Unprepared to go down without a fight, Abrahamsen knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game back up at 42 in the final minute of the third quarter.
But that’s when Edmundson’s heroics kicked in as he pulled up from near half-court whilst facing heavy contest to knock down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to gain the lead.
After that, Centennial didn’t look back.
The Bison open up Area play next weekend, facing off against the loser of tonight’s game between Perry and Jones, on Thursday at 3 p.m.