McFarland's 29 leads Centerville over EH

KNIGHTSTOWN — Jason Searcy could not point to one person as a standout in Friday night’s Class 2A Sectional 41 semifinal.

For Jeremy Powers it was easy.

Eight days after Powers’ Eastern Hancock team defeated Centerville by three points, the Bulldogs turned the tables.

“Two words: Makayla McFarland. That’s it,” Powers said.

McFarland missed the Jan. 31 loss for Centerville, but on Friday, the junior hit six of Centerville’s seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 29 points, as Centerville defeated Eastern Hancock 68-66 in a thrilling first semifinal decided in overtime.

The Bulldogs (9-9), who won the program’s first sectional in school history last year, get to defend it today against Knightstown, which defeated Hagerstown 55-41 in the second semifinal.

“I just knew that we were going to fight back, we weren’t going to stop, we were not going to let them have the win again,” McFarland said.

Here’s two more words that Powers can point to: Morgane Chenowith.

After the Royals (17-5) got out to 9-0 lead in the first quarter and led 17-12 after the first quarter, McFarland completed a four-point play that put the Bulldogs within one.

Chenowith then stole the ball, hit a layup and gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the ball game, 23-22.

The Bulldog junior turned it on late, scoring six points in the fourth quarter and seven of the team’s 10 overtime points, for a total of 21.

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