Burlington Central rolls over Morris
Zach Schutta illuminated the Burlington Central dominant first half with a play rarely seen in a boys basketball game.
Midway through the second quarter of the Rockets' first-round game against Morris in the Plano Christmas Classic, Central guard Dejsani Beamon was looking to complete a 3-point play after a gorgeous finish with his offhand in the lane.
But Beamon had his free throw bound off the rim.
Schutta, however, made a darting move to beat the defender on the inside lane and leapt with perfect timing to tip-in the miss.
Morris should have collectively realized at that point its squad had picked the wrong night to play the top-seeded Rockets.
The 4-point possession symbolically rendered the remainder of the game anticlimactic as Central cruised into the quarterfinals with a 70-49 victory Wednesday night in Plano.
The Rockets' spread was 37-11 after the Schutta two-handed putback, and the final score would be as close as Morris would come since the Rockets approximated their school nickname in racing to a 27-7 cushion after a lone quarter.
Morris (2-9) would not exceed the Rockets' first-quarter output until more than five minutes elapsed in the third quarter.
Morris would close the third and final quarters with mini-bursts to make the final score relatively respectable.
But the central element of the one-sided contest occurred in the first quarter.
Morris had a 5-point run to take a 5-2 lead early.
But the Rockets would answer with a vengeance, scoring 22 unanswered points.
Central (7-2) scored in all variety of manners as eighth-man Jake Lenschow had back-to-back 3-pointers to wrap up the Rockets' 22-0 exercise in team play.
"My teammates drove the paint," said Lenschow, one of three Central players in double figures with 12 points. "It got me open looks twice. We're always putting out effort."
Beamon added his sole 3-pointer to close out the first as Central held a commanding 27-7 advantage heading into the second quarter.
"It was a pretty good quarter," Central coach Brett Porto said in an end-of-the-year understatement. "Getting some easy looks in transition offensively kind of got it going. It started with defense. We got some quality looks. We ran our lanes in transition."
The Rockets' other starters - Schutta, Pat Mayfield, Michael Kalusa and William Hough - all scored in the opening quarter.
Schutta, who led both teams with 16 points, had his tip-in off the Beamon missed free throw epitomize the Rockets' insurmountable 47-21 cushion at the break.
"Our defense was a big part of (the first-half spread)," Schutta said. "We converted in transition."
Mayfield finished with 13 points for Central.
"(The Rockets) really played fast," said Morris' Chatten Dryfhout, who scored 8 of his 9 points in the second quarter. "We started playing with them instead of our own game."