01/08/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
ULLIN - None of the of the statistics from Thursday night's battle of South Egyptian Conference rivals Century and Dongola would win any awards.

However one statistic stood out in the Centurions' 60-33 victory at home over the Demons.

Offensive rebounding.

Head coach Jake Parr's club cleaned up their own messes, or misses, as the case would be.

Century grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, getting second and sometimes third chances on trips down the floor.

This helped trigger a game-changing and first half ending 17-3 run that broke open the early close game as the Centurions improved to 4-0 in the conference and 17-2 on the season.

The win for Coach Parr's squad has them tied for first place with Mounds Meridian, who also won on Thursday night at home against Joppa-Maple Grove.

Century had balance on offense with 6-2 senior guard/forward scoring 11-points to lead the team.

Two other players scored 10-points each; juniors Mason Rentfro and Landyn Walshon, for the Centurions.

Freshman Izzy Sampson added eight-points while three other Centurions scored five-points each; freshman Noah Wittaker, junior Tyler Windings and freshman Henry Wright.

This balance proved to be too much for Coach Russ Marsh and his Demons to handle in the loss, the first league defeat for Dongola as their mark slipped to 2-1 in the SEC, 9-6 overall.

Two players, junior Caleb Gaddis and sophomore Isaiah Lieberman, scored 15 and 10 points respectively for Dongola in the loss.

The two didn't get much help offensively as the rest combined for just eight-points in the defeat, which was the third at the hands of the Centurions in the 2025-26 season.

The previous two losses were in tournaments at Cobden and Dongola.

The numbers for Dongola just didn't add up to enough for a victory.

They ended up just 11-of-42 from the field, 1-of-10 from long range and were out-rebounded 46-27.

“We have emphasized keeping them (opponents) off of the defensive glass. We gave up a couple of rebounds early but we made some adjustments and we won the rebounding battle, which is very important to us,” said Coach Parr, who was missing a starter with senior Drew Dillow out with an ankle injury. “That's our identity, going and getting the offensive glass.”

However in the early going the Demons hung in with Century, scoring first for a brief lead, and when Lieberman hit the the teams' only 3-pointer of the game from the left corner with 5:02 left in the first, the game was even at 5-5.

Century responded by scoring eight of the games' next nine-points.

Two of the scores were on offensive rebounds, an omen of what was going to be the difference in the contest.

Both Rentfro and Wittaker scored the second-chance points and Taake scored on an inbounds pass from freshman Dalton Hartline as the Centurions led 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

“They (Century) are a good basketball team. You have to get them credit. They're a tough team. They rebound and do a good job,” said Coach Marsh. “But we just need to do a better job rebounding. Tonight we did a poor job of it. Tonight it was tough because their defense made it tough for us to run our offense.”

Dongola's best scoring stretch opened the second quarter, with five-straight points.

A steal and fast break score from Lieberman was followed by a drive for a basket by Gaddis and 1-of-2 free throws by junior Eyen Sheppard.

That closed the gap to just 13-11 with 6:34 left in the second quarter.

It turned out to be as close as Dongola would get to Century the rest of the night.

Century got yet another offensive rebound on the next possession with a basket by Sampson inside.

A 3-pointer from the left wing by Taake was followed by a Rentfro score on an assist from Wittaker.

A driving lay in by Windings and a rebound by Wright off of his own missed shot turned into a score and a 24-12 advantage.

Dongola also had issues at the foul line in during that stretch and the contest.

The Demons made just 3-of-11 free throws in the second quarter, getting to the line but not being able to convert.

Century closed the half with a pair of 3-point bombs from Wright and Wittaker.

Wittaker's trey from the right wing got a friendly bounce and closed the second quarter at 30-14 Centurions.

“Our bench is getting deeper and deeper and at this point of the season. Late in the year legs are getting tired and we have to get more guys in who can play at a high level of varsity basketball,” said Coach Parr. “Henry Wright came in and gave us good minutes tonight and made some plays for us.”

Gaddis scored eight of his points in the third quarter but Dongola couldn't cut into the deficit.

Century put up more points in the paint with Taake scoring inside and Walshon getting points on a drive in the lane along with another of the Centurions 3-pointers.

A fast break score by Wittaker off of a long defensive rebound gave Century a 44-21 lead.

Gaddis closed the third quarter with three consecutive made free throws after being fouled attempting a long shot at the buzzer but Dongola still trailed trailed by 20 heading to the fourth quarter.

A Windings 3-pointer from the right corner and a free throw by Sampson pushed the lead to its largest at 52-28 before reserves took over late to run out the clock.

Century hit just 21-of-59 from the field but the offensive work on the glass helped right the wrongs.

They were 7-of-16 from the 3-point line.

Century was better from the foul line, also.

They hit 11-of-17 compared to just 10-of-22 for the Demons.

Dongola will host Cairo Friday night for their homecoming game while Century will play next Monday at Joppa-Maple Grove.

Meridian and Century won't play until February 2nd at Century, a game that will likely decide the South Egyptian Conference championship.

Century hasn't won a SEC title since 2004 while Meridian is on a streak of four-consecutive titles.

“Defensively we kept them to 33 points, Johnston City we held them to 32 points. It will be hard to lose games when you keep opponents under 40 points,” said Coach Parr. “We get a lot of second-chance points and we get a lot of touches in the paint. If we keep people under 40, we have a chance to win a lot of ballgames.”