A slow start and hot shooting from 6'3 Freshman TreVon Smith of the Warriors found Olney Central down 36-28 at the half.
Hot shooting from 6'3 Freshman Jordan Graham would get the Blue Knights started early in the second half. On the first possession of the half, Graham connected on a three-pointer from the corner. Graham scored seven of the first ten points of the half for the Blue Knights to trim into the lead. The Blue Knights would call a timeout with 17:05 left in the half after a made layup. Coming out of the timeout the Blue Knights went on a 9-2 run through a made three-pointer from 6'3 Sophomore CE Talton, a transition layup by 6'5 Sophomore Cobie Montgomery, a layup by Graham, and a floater by 6'5 Freshman Dillon Harrison. The run tied the game at 45 at the first media timeout of the second half.
Out of the media timeout the Warriors went on a 7-2 run followed by another small run that put them up 58-51 with 8:53 remaining. The Blue Knights responded with an 8-0 run of their own to take a 59-58 lead with 7:20 remaining through a pair of made free throws from 6'8 Sophomore Elijah Farr, a made layup from Cobie Montgomery, a dunk from 6'4 Sophomore JJ Kalakon, and a pair of made free throws from Montgomery.
Wabash Valley would regain the lead at the 6:25 mark on a 6'8 Freshman Deshaun Nettles layup. The Blue Knights immediately responded on an offensive rebound put back from 6'5 Sophomore Jordan Tchuente. The Warriors would tie the game the next possession on a made free throw from TreVon Smith.
The Blue Knights would regain the lead the next possession on a pair of made free throws from Jordan Tchuente followed by a defensive stop and another made free throw from Tchuente. The Blue Knights extended their lead and would never lose it.
In the final minute of the game, 6'5 Freshman Jejuan Weatherspoon made a traditional three-point play to cut the lead to two points at 71-69. After a Wabash Valley timeout, CE Talton was fouled by the Warriors and sank both free throws to extend the lead to four points. The Blue Knights then forced two misses by TreVon Smith and secured the rebound. CE Talton went to the line again and made one out of two. Another forced miss shot by the Warriors at the buzzer made the final score 74-69.
Olney Central was led by five players in double figures: Elijah Farr (13), CE Talton (12), Cobie Montgomery (11), Jordan Graham (11), and Jordan Tchuente (10). Tchuente also had nine rebounds and five assists in the effort.The Blue Knights struggled from the field shooting 36.4% but were 21-25 from the free throw line for 84%. The Blue Knights also outscored the Warriors 46-33 in the second half.
The win for Olney Central was their fourth straight win against Wabash Valley and the fifth win in the last six matchups.
The Blue Knights next play against #8 John A. Logan at "The Dungeon" on Saturday, March 27th.
Head Coach Casey Wyllie on the game: "Our guys really gutted out a win. Wabash Valley is a tough place to play. Wabash really gets after it on the glass and they are extremely physical. I thought we had some guys step up and make some plays down the stretch. We were able to get certain guys the ball late in the game and those guys made plays. Really proud of how we came back from being down eight at halftime."