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Prep Confidential

Champaign showdown

Posted by: Marcus Jackson

Saturday, February 2, 2008 12:22 AM

I experienced my first Champaign Central-Centennial boys' basketball game on Friday night and boy was it more than I expected. First of all, there was a capacity crowd less than 24 hours after a snow storm that left most, if not all, area schools closed for the day. That lets you know just how much folks were anticipating this game.

-- Both student sections were terrific and no matter what was happening on the court, at least half of the place was making noise.

-- It was nice to see the Chargers come out fired up for their rivals just three weeks after suffering a lopsided defeat at home.

-- Sophomore big man Jeff Johnson rebounded from a rough outing the first time around and was a key contributor for Centennial. The 6-foot-6 center scored 14 points and grabbed six boards.

-- Verdell Jones was solid for the Maroons but his counterpart, Centennial junior James Kinney, continues to improve his stock. If Kinney were 3 inches taller, he'd be a well-known name on the national recruiting scene. That's not to say the 6-footer might not gain more recognition before his senior season. He made a pair of circus layups on Friday that had the head coaches from each team smiling and shaking their heads at one another.

-- Johnson's classmate, Rayvonte Rice, is another underclassman to look out for. He fought through some foul trouble to make an impact on the game. He was especially efficient in the fourth quarter when the Chargers pulled away while the game was still in doubt.

-- Centennial coach Tim Lavin made it known that there was another pretty good basketball team playing in Champaign, too. He said Central gets a lot of attention, and deservedly so, but there's a pretty good team playing on the West side of Champaign. After Friday's win, folks will start to take notice.

-- Hopefully Friday wasn't the last time we see these two top-10 teams butt heads. There are no more scheduled games, but here's hoping we see the heavyweights butt heads in the postseason. What a game it will be.

MJ
mjackson@news-gazette.com