The Selma Times-Journal

Saturday nightss boys area championship game between Central Christian and Sumter Academy was played for 32 minutes, but it was all but over after just eight.

Central Christian (16-4) pounded Sumter of 68-29 for its second area championship in as many years.

“We played defense,” said CCA coach Carl Rawls. “Our defense starts our offense. The kids played hard, and I’m so happy for them in spite of having only seven players.”

The “Magnificent Seven,” as Coach Rawls affectionately calls them, never let up on the defensive side of the ball, even with a rather large lead.

“In addition to playing hard, they rebounded the basketball,” added Rawls. “I believe conditioning had a lot to do with it. We practiced on a college court.”

CCA took the ball into the lane in the first quarter and came to go out front 19-6. It was all Warriors in the second quarter, as they improved their first-quarter output by dropping in 25 points. Again, they held the Eagles to single digits. The Warriors led 44-15 at halftime.

Sumter tried to get something going in the third quarter. The Eagles netted the first five points of the quarter, while CCA went on a scoring drought for four minutes. An Akeem Ghantt free throw with 3:44 left in the quarter got things going again for the Warriors. It was a 30-point CCA advantage after three quarters of play.

The Eagles had nothing left in the final eight minutes. They scored just one field goal in the quarter, that with 14 seconds left in the game.

Ghantt, who was the tournament MVP, finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots for CCA. Bryant Rawls added 16 points and Rodrelle Anthony contributed 13 points.