The Centerville Bulldogs evened their Tri-Eastern Conference record while handing the Hagerstown Tigers their first conference loss in a game played at Centerville on Thursday, Dec. 19. The Tigers had control early, leading 15-8 in the final seconds of the first quarter with possession of the ball, before a costly mistake tightened the game.
With eight seconds to play in the initial period, the Tigers were called for stepping over the line on their inbound pass under the Bulldog basket. The Bulldogs passed to Landyn Keiser, who quickly hit a 3-pointer. Jace Hollendonner stole the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Bulldog deficit to 15-14. The Bulldogs scored the first 8 points of the second quarter to cap off a 14-0 run. The Tigers battled back to cut their deficit to 24-20 before Hollendonner buried a three-pointer late in the period to propel the Bulldogs to a 27-20 halftime lead.
Back-to-back baskets from Kaagen Kendall to open the third quarter brought the Tigers to within 2 points at 27-25 before the Bulldogs went on another extended run, capped off by a breakaway buzzer-beater dunk from Bryson Brown that gave the Bulldogs a 42-28 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Consecutive baskets from Griffin Doerstler and Jaykob Troutwine made the score 44-34 early in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers never got closer, with the ‘Dawgs eventually taking a 63-44 win.
The Bulldogs placed four players in double figures. Landyn Keiser led with 15 points, Jace Hollendonner scored 13 points, Ethan Vecera scored 12 points and Keith Plyley Jr. added 11 points. Landon Lawson led Hagerstown with 15 points and Kaagen Kendall scored 13 points.
The two teams will meet again in the first round of the Wayne County tournament, but both head coaches agreed that the game would have no impact on the tournament rematch.
Centerville head coach Brian Keiser said his team capitalized on opportunities. “We were fortunate to hit shots after Hagerstown made mistakes at the end of the first quarter,” Keiser said. “We started slowly, but that sequence changed momentum. We shot well and had runs in both halves that were big. Every game is different. When we see them again this game will not matter; we will have to be ready to play.”
Tiger head coach Mark Doerstler said his team is looking forward to the rematch. “We told our kids to move on from this loss,” Doerstler said. “We will play again in a few weeks, and the results of this game will not impact the results of that game. We were not disciplined tonight and Centerville took advantage of that.”
Centerville (4-2, 1-1 TEC) 14 13 15 19 63
Plyley 11, Keiser 15, Vecera 12, Brown 6, Kaden McCord 4, Landen Schlotterbeck 0, Hollendonner 13 — Total 63
Hagerstown (3-4 1-1 TEC) 15 5 8 16 44
Jaykob Troutwine 8, Isaac Schmitz 4, Graham Vinson 2, Kendall 13, Lawson 15, Ronin Dickey 0, Griffin Doerstler 2, Kaden Hall 0 — Total 44
JV Results: Hagerstown 49 (Jonny Howard 16, Kaden Hall 10), Centerville 48 (Coltyn Keiser 18, Kyle Dickenson 10)
A version of this article appeared in the January 1 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.