Despite a nearly full gym and a 10-point lead, Central basketball coach Rick Rogers sensed a general lack of excitement at halftime of his team’s Best of Preps tournament first-round game against Boyd-Buchanan.
Enter Ryan Montgomery, the Purple Pounders’ one-man highlight show, who needed only a few words from Rogers to get the fans on their feet and Central on its way to a 66-46 rout.
“I told Ryan if he could get just one dunk early it would open up, and he did — then added a few more,” Rogers said with a laugh after Montgomery threw down three dunks in a three-minute span to open the second half. “He got the crowd back into it, and the guys picked it up around him.”
Montgomery scored 20 points.
The three stuffs included a Dominique Wilkins-style windmill dunk followed by a throw-down after a pass to himself off the backboard as the 10-point lead grew quickly to 17. With momentum secured, the Pounders (8-2) quickly pulled away, with Rodney Benford scoring eight straight points to end the third period and push the lead to 61-37.
Photo Gallery
Cornerstone Pub – Special Olympics Fundraiser
Crowds filled tables and the bar at Cornerstone Pub Thursday during a fundraising event for Special Olympics.
A smothering Central defense caused 23 first-half turnovers, but a cold-shooting start and strong work by the Bucs (4-8) on the boards kept it a 10-point game. The high-flying Montgomery soon changed that. The junior was happy to do his part, though he clearly was most pleased with one of his highlights.
“I started doing the windmill dunk back in the summer, but I was kind of scared to try it in a game,” he said, “but now I’m getting it. I just let loose and did it. Everybody has been sleeping on Central. We know we have a good team, and now we have to prove it to the rest of them.”
Benford added 16 points for the Pounders, while Austin Jackson and Damaris Macon topped Boyd-Buchanan with 13 points each.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.