YATES CENTER — The Central Heights Vikings rallied from an early 18-3 deficit to take Monday’s Three Rivers League contest over the Yates Center Wildcats 44-38.
Yates Center sophomore guard Ben Cook, Gavin Busteed and Marcus Cummings and Evan McVey were on pace for more than 70 points after ending the first quarter with an 18-3 lead, but what happened next befuddled Coach Lane Huffman.
“The first quarter, 18-3, the boys competed with anybody in the league,” Coach Huffman said. “That’s the best defense we’ve played. We boxed out. We hit shots. We got fast breaks. I don’t know if we were tired, or content, but we did not play the same way the rest of the game.”
Yates Center seemed unstoppable in the first quarter. Cook was red hot with a 3-pointer and a trio of field goals while Busteed also posted a 3-pointer and a field goal. 
Down by double-digits, Central Heights gambled by pressuring Yates Center with a stiff, man-to-man defense and in doing so threw the Wildcats off their game plan while simultaneously capturing the momentum.
“From the end of the first quarter on, we had three talking points — box out, don’t turn the ball over and make the easy play,” Huffman said. “We didn’t box out at all in the second half. I bet we gave them double-digit rebounds. We did not make simple plays. We had unforced turnovers there at the end and crumbled a little bit.”
With seven points in the second quarter, nine in the third and only four in the fourth, Yates Center could not keep up with Central Heights. Cook ended the night with a team-leading 15 points, but only four coming in the second half. McVey posted 3 points in the third with the rest of his production coming from hitting 5 of 6 attempts from the free-throw line. Busteed posted seven points while Cummings and sophomore forward Jeremiah Jones had a pair of buckets each.
“Maybe we had some tired legs there at the end, but there was a lack of focus for sure,” said Huffman, who believes his players want to get back on the court as soon as possible to move on from the loss. “The cool thing about this year’s schedule is you get to play a lot. We have Marais des Cygnes Valley Thursday, and they play in a tough Lion County League, so their record means nothing.”
With the loss, Yates Center’s record fell to 9-10 overall and 4-6 in TRL play. They host Chetopa Friday for senior night.
“We think Chetopa is a game we can get, then it’s SCC Tuesday and Crest next Friday,” Huffman said. “We’re hoping to get three in a row to set us up for a good chance at Crest at regionals.”
Tip-off will take place 20 minutes after the conclusion of the 6 p.m. girls game.
