DANVILLE — The Danville boys basketball team came into Friday’s game with Champaign Centennial looking for a little revenge.
The Vikings lost to the Chargers 72-56 in the first game of the season at Champaign in the Lincoln RR Tournament and had a chance to get payback in the teams’ Big 12 Conference game.
Danville was close as they battled with Centennial in overtime, but the Chargers outscored the Vikings 10-4 in the extra period to get a 64-58 win.
“We have to be better down the stretch with the execution. They just wanted it more,” Danville coach David Gouard said. “We played defense for 20-30 seconds and then we take a shot and don’t finish the possession. We just have to do better, plain and simple.”
Both teams started well on offense with Centennial taking a 20-15 lead, but Danville would outscore the Chargers 15-7 for a 30-27 halftime lead.
In the second half, both teams continue to fight and Danville had a chance to win with the final shot of the game but a shot form Corey Frye went short.
“Coach told me to go straight and go for it or pass to Amir (Beasley) for a 3,” Danville sophomore DeAndre Burns said. “With (Centennial’s Jakari Myles) on me, I wanted to go for another play, so I told Corey to cut and I hit him and he tried to finesse it and it didn’t go in.”
In overtime, Centennial’s Isaiah Allen had six points and Sherrod Clark had four as Burns and Beasley each had two points.
“It was the shots we were taking and we were taking terrible shots and we were going a little fast in taking them,” Burns said. “Coach told us that we have to keep looking to make sure that we go from a better shot to a great shot and a great shot to an amazing shot.”
Burns led all scorers with 26 points, while Beasley had 15, Kindyn Mason had eight and Ajani Davis added six points.
“We rolled DeAndre back and he was cooking and got us on his back. Wherever he went, they followed,” Gouard said. “Amir and KK jumped on his back and they rolled and that’s what it takes. DeAndre had a great game offensively and a good game defensively.”
Burns said while it was an improvement from November’s game, the finish was not what the team wanted.
“In the first game, we were not coordinated at all,” Burns said. “But tonight, we played like a team until overtime and then we started to get those bad habits again. We just have to play like a team again and keep that going.”
“You have an up the road rivalry, but I don’t know if you can call it a rivalry because they have won two games against us and the last three out of four,” Gouard said. “But that’s what you get when you have teams that play close and have players that play each other through the summer.”
The Vikings did rebound on Saturday at the Peoria Manual shootout. Danville defeated Metro-East Lutheran 57-49 with Burns scoring 22 points and being named Player of the Game.
“I cannot wait to play them. I can’t wait to play there and have the challenge and the extra energy that they bring,” Burns said. “It is a blessing that we get invited and I hope we can win.”
The Vikings will return to Big 12 action against Normal Community and with the season winding down, Gouard said the chances of getting a good seed in regional play is getting tougher and a win can make it easier.
“This was a must-win game and now every game is a must-win game and we don’t want to be in the play-in game where you have to play two days in a row,” Gouard said. “We don’t want to be in that position but unfortunately, that is where we have been at lately and we have to pull ourselves out because we are running out of next games going down the stretch.”
After playing Normal Community, the Vikings will take on another Champaign team in Champaign Central on Friday.