There is an adage in sports that it’s hard to beat the same team three times in the same season. On Friday, March 6, Centerville faced Hagerstown in the opening sectional semifinal game. In both of the season’s earlier meetings, the Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter to win. And Friday, Centerville won the third meeting in convincing fashion 85-57.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead before a conventional three-point play from Jonny Howard tied the game at 7-7. Landen Schlotterbeck came off the Centerville bench to hit back-to-back three-pointers and Jace Hollendonner scored in transition to push the Bulldog lead to 15-7.
Kaden Hall closed the gap with back-to-back three-pointers for the Tigers before Hollendonner hit a buzzer-beater three-pointer to propel Centerville to an 18-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs increased their lead to 30-23 at halftime, but the Tigers were still within striking distance.
The Bulldogs dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Tigers 23-7 to build a lead they would never surrender. The Tigers scored 27 points in the final quarter, but the Bulldogs answered with a 32-point quarter to run away to an 85-57 win.
Bryson Brown led Centerville’s scoring with 20 points. Shea Hollendonner scored 15 points, Jace Hollendonner scored 14 points and Coltyn Keiser scored 10 points. Isaac Schmitz led the Tigers with 18 points, Hall scored 14 points and Howard scored 11 points. It was the final game in a Hagerstown basketball uniform for seniors Howard, Braydon Sanders and Schmitz.
Centerville head coach Brian Keiser said that his team got better as the game went on. “We gave up 14 offensive rebounds in the first half. We talked about that at halftime and made adjustments. We settled in in the second half and played much better,” he said. “We are happy to advance, but I want to acknowledge that they were without the services of their best player because of injury.”
Hagerstown head coach Tyler Stotler said that the defense his team played early was effective. “We had them a little confused with our zone defense to start the game,” Stotler said. “I feel for our kids. We lost to a good team, but we competed. We got the shots we wanted, we just didn’t hit them. This program has a bright future.”
Centerville (23-2) 18 12 23 32 85
Hagerstown (13-10) 13 10 7 27 57
Centerville (85)
Keith Plyley Jr. 3, Landyn Keiser 6, Ethan Vecera 4, Shea Hollendonner 15, Brown 20, Jace Hollendonner 14, Schlotterbeck 6, Jonathan Golden 0, Coltyn Keiser 10, Gabe Boyle 5, Darius Stewart 2
Hagerstown (57)
Graham Vinson 6, Isaac Schmitz 18, Braydon Sanders 0, Lincoln Small 6, Hall 14, Ben Hokey 0, Howard 11, Elijah French 2, Nick Hileman 0, Keith Lumpkin 0, Cale Schmitz 0, Zerek Jett 0
A version of this article appeared in the March 11 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.