Central boys run past South
Feb. 19—CHEYENNE — Sammy Shumway got his hand into the passing lane and deflected a Cheyenne South pass toward mid-court.
The Cheyenne Central junior had a chance for a transition layup but flipped the ball behind his back to Joe Sawyer, who was trailing the play. Sawyer converted the layup for a 9-0 lead.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Indians, who ran away from South for a 61-12 victory.
"We're capable of doing that all the time," said Shumway, who finished with 10 points. "If we get out and run, that's when we're at our best.
"Everyone was flying around, getting steals, running and sharing the ball. We made plays and made a lot of the bunnies we've been struggling to get to fall."
Central (15-6 overall, 4-1 Class 4A Southeast Quadrant) led 29-0 after the first quarter. Sawyer got a put-back basket early in the second to push the advantage to 31-0.
"We got up and down the floor and played well," first-year Indians coach Jim Shaffer said. "We were also pretty good defensively. Sometimes things mushroom and get away from you, and that's what happened to (South)."
Robert Pountney got the Bison (4-16, 0-5) on the scoreboard with a free throw with 4 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in the second quarter. South didn't get its first field goal until Owen Hartshorn made a contested shot inside with 2:02 left in the opening half. Gabe Hernandez added a basket in the final minute to cut Central's lead to 41-5 at halftime.
South didn't get another field goal until Jonathan Strong made a 3-pointer early in the fourth.
"We were 4-of-33 from the floor, so we didn't make many baskets," Bison coach Chad DeBruyn said. "I've never seen 31-0 before in my life. I took two timeouts in the first quarter to stop the bleeding, but nothing went our way.
"There wasn't a lot said during halftime or after the game. We just kept the post mortem short. Now, we just go back to the gym and try to get better."
Central was without leading scorer James Brown III, who was resting an injury he aggravated during Friday night's win over Laramie. Bronson Collier got the start in his place and finished with 11 points. Collier scored seven of those in the first quarter.
"He did a really great job inside," Shumway said. "(South was) doubling Joe Sawyer any time he got the ball. (Sawyer) did a good job of finding other people, and he found Bronson a lot early."
Sawyer scored all of his game-high 13 points during the first half. Hartshorn paced the Bison with five points.
CENTRAL 61, SOUTH 12
Cheyenne Central...... 29 12 13 7 — 61
Cheyenne South...... 0 5 1 6 — 12
Cheyenne Central: Mar. DeHoff 4, Tafoya 2, Whitworth 6, C. Brown 2, Shumway 10, Sawyer 13, Mas. DeHoff 4, Wiltanger 0, Bradley 6, Klaassen 3, Collier 11, Kaijanto 0.
Cheyenne South: Hernandez 2, Pountney 2, Gillispie 0, Strong 3, N. Haggberg 0, Parsons 0, Hartshorn 5, Hart 0, Willmart 0, Ibanez 0, Sanchez 0.
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
