Those Centurions played a great second half.

In the case of this game – the first half success of the Spartans overshadowed the second half of Century.

Just barely.

Jumping out to a 20-point second quarter lead – Waltonville had just enough left to hold off a surging Century team, 66-61 in a make up game that was snowed out from January 8.

As they had done on the previous night – Coach Mike Denault’s ABV second ranked 1A team cruised to an early lead but relaxed just enough to allow the visitors back into the contest.

But some clutch free throw shooting down the stretch and key steal from senior guard Brock Wheatley allowed the Spartans to end the regular season with a 21-6 mark.

“Well we had them put away and we didn’t do it and let them back in,” said Waltonville head coach Mike Denault. “To there (Century) credit – they used their athletic ability to get some second chances on missed shots. They were going and getting the rebounds. We didn’t do as good of a job on the boards in the second half as we did in the first half.”

In the programs’ first season of being an independent – Waltonville’s won-loss record is very impressive considering the caliber of the opposition.

Century (15-11) turned out to be no pushover.

After falling behind 38-18 at one point in the second quarter – Coach Tyson Bormann’s team rallied and got to within one point in the final three minutes of the contest but ran out of time and played the final two minutes without its best player – 6-foot-3 senior Chris Baker who fouled out.

“We needed a game like this tonight because we have struggled defensively in the past five games but tonight we came out and did some good things,” said Century mentor Tyson Bormann. “But the game changes when Chris (Baker) comes out of the game. We are a lot better when he is on the floor. He would have taken some of those shots there at the end. I don’t know if it would have made a difference or not.”

Joseph Lewis led the Spartans with 18-points on the night while teammates Gavin Bassett, Dylan Johnson and Skyler Witges added 17, 11 and 10 in the win.

After Witges hit the second of two free throws with :07.6 left in the fourth quarter – Wheatley stepped in front of an inbounds pass and made the steal.

Wheatley was fouled with :02.4 remaining and cashed in both free throws to end the drama.

And there was a lot of drama in the second half as Century mounted a huge rally after trailing for most of the contest.

Waltonville – after falling behind 3-1 in the first two minutes – went on an 11-2 scoring march to lead 12-5 at the 2:49 mark.

Johnson scored six points in the first quarter on a conventional three-point play during the 11-2 run and then closed the quarter scoring by draining a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Waltonville a 20-12 margin.

A 9-0 run late in the second quarter gave the Spartans the cushion that they would ultimately need.

Bassett hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and followed that score with a steal and fast break lay in for a 38-18 advantage with 1:51 to go before the break.

At this point in the game – Century decided it was time to make a run.

Coach Bormann saw his club close the half by scoring the last four points.

Jacob Wyatt – Century’s 6-foot-1 senior guard – topped all scorers with 19-points and his play at the end of the second quarter sparked the Centurions to the comeback that nearly got themselves a victory.

He picked up an assist on a pass to Antwaun Salley and then canned a mid-range shot from the right corner to beat the second quarter buzzer to close the gap to 38-22 at intermission.

Waltonville’s advantage seemed secure enough even though Century cut into the lead in the third quarter.

Century committed 11 first half turnovers but took much better care of the ball in the second half during its comeback.

Baker scored 14 in the contest for the Centurions and hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter as Century outscored the Spartans 17-11 to cut the lead down to just 49-39 heading into the fourth quarter.

Waltonville turned the ball over seven times in the second half including four mistakes in the fourth quarter as they saw their once sizeable lead shrink to one.

“We got a little bit too comfortable and we thought that they (Century) were going to quit but they didn’t,” added Coach Denault. “They didn’t quit. And if we can learn something from this and still survive and win a game we are better for it. We will find out down the road here next week.”

Baker again helped out the Centurions as part of a 13-4 sprint.

Six-foot-one junior Josh Wright finished with 11-points – one of four Century players in double-digits.

Wright scored six of the 13-points – including a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Baker scored on a fast break dunk with 3:19 left to cut the lead down to 55-54.

However Baker picked up his fifth personal foul on a reach in on Wheatley that started a free throw parade for the Spartans.

Waltonville hit 9-of-12 charities in the final 1:58 starting with Wheatley.

Without Baker on the floor – Century missed three consecutive shots on the next three possessions.

All three resulted in rebounds for Waltonville and free throw points to push the lead back to 61-56.

However the Centurions had one last run left – with Salley scoring on a lob pass on a baseline inbounds play and then a 3-pointer from Wyatt cut the margin down to 63-61.

Wheatley and Witges secured the win as both teams closed the regular season and now head into regional play.

The Spartans finished 22-of-53 from the field (41.5 percent) but were just 4-of-17 from behind the arc.

Century – on the other hand – weren’t much better from long range in hitting just 5-of-21 from beyond 19’9” while ending up 24-of-53 overall.

Following Wyatt and Baker on the scoring sheet for Century was Wright and Salley with 11 and 10-points respectively.

Waltonville edged Century on the boards 30-25.

“They (Waltonville) are very good and well coached. They have a good group that everybody knows about,” added Coach Bormann. “I’m impressed with them. Every time we made a defensive change tonight they knew just what to do and went right into it.”

Waltonville is the top seed at the Crab Orchard Regional and drew a first round bye. They will hook up with the winner of the Zeigler-Royalton/Galatia winner this Wednesday night.

Century is the number three seed at Mounds Meridian and will open with Cobden – a team they fell to 73-70 on Friday night.