Burlington Central 65, Sycamore 64

They knew the run was coming. Burlington Central led Sycamore 39-25 in the third quarter, but the Rockets knew the Spartans would not go quietly.

Sure enough, led by Josh Howells, the Spartans came roaring back, eventually tying the game at 59-59 with 1:16 to play. But the Rockets survived, thanks to 6 clutch free throws by their own senior leader, Mike McCurdy, holding on for a 65-64 nonconference boys basketball victory in Burlington.

Central (13-5) avenged a Thanksgiving tournament loss to the Spartans. A rubber match could happen in regional play, a point not lost on the Rockets.

"We'll see them again in the regional, but it's really something to look forward to," said BC's Jason Wagner. "We've already played them before. We lost to them, but beating them for a second time later in the year would be so much better."

After the Spartans tied the game, McCurdy made 2 free throws with 52 seconds left to put the Rockets ahead to stay. He added 4 more in the final minute.

"You knew they were going to make a run," said Central coach Chris Payne. "We had such a big lead and they came all the way back and tied it. But our kids did a real nice job of keeping their composure."

The Spartans' box-and-one defense frustrated McCurdy for most of the first 3 quarters. But Wagner, back in the lineup after an ankle injury, picked up the slack with a team-high 23 points. Jake McNutt scored 19 and McCurdy finished with 19 for the Rockets.

"We had other players coming up big," said Mike McCurdy. "Jason and Jake were hitting huge shots. Shane (Larkin) was playing well, Matt (McCurdy) was playing well. I didn't really need to do anything until the end."

The Rockets stormed out to a 12-2 lead in the first 2 minutes as McNutt buried a pair of wide-open 3-pointers and Wagner added another. Sycamore got within 2 in the second quarter, but the Rockets rebuilt the lead. They led by 14 in the third period before an 11-0 run by the Spartans again made it a close game.

Howells scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. Sycamore hit 9 of 12 shots in that period, outscoring the Rockets 26-23.