Aurora – As Aurora Central’s Ronald Scarbrough tossed his head back and roared into the air Saturday night, one could almost feel the demons leaving the Trojans.
“It feels good, baby. It feels good,” shouted the 6-foot-9 senior after the ninth-ranked Trojans knocked off No. 3 Grandview 69-61 to avenge their only Class 5A defeat from last season.
Guard Stephen Franklin scored 22 points and backcourt teammates Marcus Johnson and Sean Cunningham scored 18 and 13, respectively, as the Trojans (4-0) stifled the Wolves with a quick zone defense and patient offense.
Grandview (3-1) ended the Trojans’ 24-game winning streak last season with a 57-56 upset in the Sweet 16 round of the state tournament.
“I’ve been thinking about it ever since that game last year,” said Scarbrough, who had eight points, six assists and five blocked shots. “I sat down and played the tape (Friday) night and I saw what we did wrong and what we needed to improve. (Saturday), we came out here and we played good defense, we closed them down and just played our game.”
The Wolves could answer only one of the two runs the Trojans made in the first half and trailed 39-29 at halftime. Grandview wouldn’t get closer than six (65-59) down the stretch.
Senior Jake Nielson was Grandview’s only consistent player, hitting six 3-pointers for a game-high 31 points.
“We didn’t have balanced scoring at all,” Wolves coach Gary Childress said. “Jake had a heck of a game and really carried us there. We didn’t attack the zone very well.”
Grandview 17 12 14 18 – 61
Aurora Central 17 22 13 17 – 69
Grandview – Olmstead 0 0-0 0, McClung 0 0-0 0, Childress 1 0-2 3, Mason 2 2-2 6, Gentry 4 0-0 11, Nielson 11 3-3 31, Crader 0 0-0 0, Fernandez 3 0-0 6, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Flanagan 0 0-0 0, Sweet 2 0-5 4. Totals 23 5-14 61.
Aurora Central – Johnson 6 2-7 18, Woahene 2 2-2 6, Cunningham 4 4-5 13, Franklin 9 1-6 22, O’Conner 0 0-0 0, Ray 0 0-0 0, Neal 0 0-0 0, Martin 1 0-0 2, Schult 0 0-0 0, Scarbrough 3 2-4 8. Totals 25 11-24 69.
3-pt. goals – Nielson 6, Gentry 3, Childress; Johnson 4, Franklin 3, Cunningham. Total fouls – Grandview 23, Aurora Central 18. Fouled out – Flanagan, Childress. Technicals – None.
