Burlington's Payne wins 200th

Posted February 03, 2009 10:00 pm

Daily Herald Staff Report

Burlington Central's boys basketball team snapped a two-game losing skid with a 58-34 Big Northern-East victory against Marengo on Rocket Hill Tuesday, marking career victory No. 200 for coach Chris Payne.

Payne's 10-year coaching career began at 149-student Mt. Carroll, where he went 107-15 in four seasons and led the Hawks to a runner-up finish in Class A in 2002-03. His teams have gone 93-54 in six seasons at Central.

"First, I think I've had really good players over the years," Payne said of the milestone. "I think when coaches win a lot of games, the common theme is that they've had good players. I've been blessed with that over the years."

Junior forward Shane Larkin scored 16 points for Burlington Central (10-9, 4-3), a total matched by freshman guard Ray Hunnicutt. Senior guard Mark Maisto scored 13 points, including four 3-pointers.

The Rockets led 14-7 after one period, thanks to a pair of baskets by junior Matt McCurdy, and took a 24-16 advantage to the break.

Central blew the game open in the third quarter, when Larkin and Hunnicutt each scored 9 points, and the Rockets outscored the Indians 22-7.

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