CHAMPAIGN — The opening game for the Danville boys basketball was a tale of two halves.
In the first, the Vikings were able to go out and play focused in building a 28-22 halftime lead.
But in the second, Danville let Champaign Centennial back in the game and the Chargers would take the lead in the third quarter and not let it go in a 72-56 win in the first game of the Lincoln Round-Robin Tournament.
“We put our foot on them to get them off their game, but we let them hang around and they gained confidence,” Danville head coach David Gouard said. “They were knocking down shots and we never could come back. It was first-game jitters and that can’t be the excuse for us. The defense was not paying attention to the scouting report and we let them get some confidence.”
“We let our foot off the gas. We should have kept our foot on the pedal and kept going straight,” Danville sophomore DeAndre Burns said. “We can’t wait, we have to go through them and not around.”
It was Burns and fellow sophomore Amir Beasley that helped build the lead for the Vikings.
“I prefer to be around in the paint because I am stronger and bigger and Amir can be on the outside and he can handle the rock and shoot the ball,” Burns said. “So me on the inside and he on the outside can be unstoppable.”
“For those two guys, they are younger and it is the second year for DeAndre and really the first year for Amir and they will learn and grow,” Gouard said. “They are confident players and played enough basketball to understand what is going on. They made mistakes like when DeAndre picked up the charge instead of going for a pull-up jumper but they will learn and I am not worried about it.”
But starting in the middle of the third quarter, the Chargers were hitting 3-pointers and taking advantage of matchup situations that made any chance of a comeback from the Vikings.
“I feel like we were sharing the ball well and getting good shot selections and finishing possessions with rebounds,’ Beasley said. “I felt like we got more relaxed on defense. They had a lot of offensive rebounds and a lot of drive-bys and we didn’t get any help. We had energy in the first half and we need to pick it up in the second half.”
Burns and Beasley each led the team with 13 points, while A’Jani Davis had 10 and Corey Frye added nine.
Frye, along with Kindyn Mason, showed how important they will be at the guard position.
“Corey has to keep us level-headed. Him and Kindyn just need to make sure everyone is in the right place and get everything in control,” Gouard said. “He (Frye) played a lot of minutes and that is how it should be this season as long as he fights through adversity and get us where we need to be.”
For the rest of the week, the Vikings will play in Lincoln, starting with Tuesday’s game against Chicago Dunbar, a game against host Lincoln on Friday and their final game on Saturday.
“I have been scouring the internet and haven’t found out much about them, so we just need to lace up and play,” Gouard said. “We will play any five. Names don’t matter it is just about to stick to our plans and principles.”
“I feel like if we come out with energy and effort, it can set the tone for the game and everything else will come together from the jump,” Beasley said.
“It’s going to be great,” Burns said. “I want to go over there and be 3-1 before this tournament is over.”
The Vikings started on that way Tuesday against Dunbar. Burns had 20 points, 12 rebounds and four steals as the Vikings rebounded with a 55-49 win over the Mighty Men.
Beasley had 13 points, while Erien Smith had 11 points, Davis had six points and eight rebounds and Mason had four points and seven rebounds.