The Moberly boys won the program’s first tournament championship since 2019 with a 64-58 victory over Hallsville to capture the Centralia Tournament on Saturday. That last title was at the Macon Tournament and the win denied Hallsville a third straight Centralia title.
Moberly led 24-14 at halftime, but the Indians came out of the locker room with a 12-2 burst to tie the game at 26. The Spartans had an answer:
Brad Boyer with the call on NEMOPressbox.com. Their lead would increase to as much as 12 early in the 4th quarter. Despite a furious finish from Hallsville’s Keilin Dorman, who scored 23 of his 27 in the second half, the Spartans avenged a 33-point drubbing in the same game one year ago. Ethan Land led a balanced attack with 16 points. Collin Knox scored 13 and both Cameron Doubrava and Amar’e Hawkins added 11. Moberly is now 5-1 and will start NCMC play at Hannibal on Tuesday. We will have the broadcast. Hallsville drops to 3-2.
The Salisbury Panthers defeated Van-Far 51-44 in a gritty 3rd place game. In a first half that saw five ties and six lead changes, Van-Far led 13-11 after one and Salisbury took a 22-21 advantage into halftime. The Panthers were held to five points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter before exploding for seven in the final 60 seconds.
Van-Far tied the game twice in the fourth but never recaptured the lead. Salisbury’s Gage Clark and his eight points in the final frame were a key part in that.
Jake Peiffer and Austin Cravens each scored 17 for the Panthers, who move to 3-1. Van-Far, which drops to 2-2, got a game-high 25 from Pacey Reading.
Centralia used a strong finish to avenge an earlier loss to North Callaway and win the consolation game by a score of 55-41. The Thunderbirds led until late in the third quarter when Centralia scored the final seven points of the frame:
It turned into a 12 point run into the 4th quarter. Hunter Hull scored 18 and Ethan Ross chipped in 15 for Centralia. The Panthers improve to 4-3. Jamarion Glover paced North Callaway with 16. The Thunderbirds drop to 4-2.
Outstanding Players of the Games, brought to you by Freeman Financial and Insurance of Moberly:
-Ethan Land of Moberly
-Jake Peiffer of Salisbury
-Hunter Hull of Centralia
You can listen to any of our broadcasts by going to the Game Archive section on our website.
Moberly postgame Brett Boyer:
Hallsville postgame Michael Smith:
Salisbury postgame Alex McFadden:
Centralia postgame Brandon Crites:
North Callaway postgame Matt Miller:
