LA CROSSE — The Central High School boys basketball team took the court for the third time in four days on Friday, and it did so with an opportunity for a pretty good victory as the closing act for the first day of the Midwest Players Classic.
The RiverHawks were playing in their third game in four days, but that wasn’t reflected in the way they defended, hit the boards and shot the ball against Little Chute at the La Crosse Center.
Central (8-2) built its lead into double figures and never looked back in a 53-38 victory over the Mustangs (8-5) in the sixth game of the day.
The RiverHawks made 11 of 19 attempts from the 3-point line, won the rebounding battle comfortably and built more momentum heading into Tuesday’s MVC battle against Aquinas (12-1) at the Mark Sutton Memorial Gymnasium.
“Little Chute is a really good team,” Central coach Todd Fergot said. “This was a good test for our guys because once you get to the tournament, you have games back-to-back, and everybody plays good.”
“I thought we had some really athletic teams that we played this week and physical teams, and tonight was a continuation of that.”
The Mustangs have several players from the football team that was WIAA Division 4 state runner-up in November but had a tough time cutting into a deficit once it was built.
A partial reason for that was the incredible long-range accuracy for Central senior Gabe Servais and junior Gander Conrad.
Servais made 6 pf 9 3-point attempts and scored a team-high 20 points, while Conrad knocked down 5 of 7 3-point attempts and scored 15 points for the RiverHawks.
Servais made four 3s in the first half, and Conrad hit three. Conrad made all of his during a stretch of 2 minutes, 58 seconds and during a 14-0 run that took Central from an 8-7 deficit to a 21-8 first-half lead.
Servais hit one 3 during that stretch and added two more that answered Little Chute baskets later in the half.
“We’ve been shooting the ball well lately,” Fergot said. “We were pretty good (Thursday) night against Winona. I just think our shot selection has been a little bit better, just with the type of shot we’re looking for … the inside out look and those types of things.
“I think that makes it a better-quality shot over the long haul, and your percentage is going to go up.”
Servais also led Central with seven rebounds and five assists as it followed up wins over Logan and the Winhawks with another for a 3-0 week.
