Hunnicutt leads Burlington Central

The term for a star collapsing upon itself is supernova.

The term for a defense collapsing upon a basketball star like Ray Hunnicutt is super risky.

The results can be explosive in either case.

Burlington Central's fourth-year varsity guard had already penetrated his way to a team-best 19 points, but the senior's ability to dish to teammates when Sycamore's defense collapsed on him in the fourth quarter sparked the Rockets to a game-sealing 8-0 run and a 55-43 nonconference victory on Rocket Hill, the third straight win for Central (11-8).

Sycamore (4-14) pulled within 45-39 early in the fourth quarter after a pair of free throws by Devin Mottet, who led the Spartans with 14 points.

Hunnicutt, who also grabbed 9 rebounds, responded by scoring the last 2 of his 19 points on a baseline drive, but that was the precursor to a more-spectacular celestial event.

On Central's next possession Hunnicutt penetrated against the collapsing Sycamore defense and dished the ball to junior Charles Horton for a baseline jump shot. Horton swished it for a 10-point lead.

Following a Sycamore miss at the other end, Hunnicutt again drove the lane and drew multiple defenders. This time he dished to the opposite baseline, where senior Clint Creal calmly drained a jump shot and pushed the lead to 12 points for the first time.

"That's been happening my whole life, so I try to find people," Hunnicutt said of the extra attention he receives from defenses. "If (my teammates) cut to the basket, they can be wide open. Sometimes I don't find them and it doesn't work out too well, but when I do it's usually good."

Hunnicutt wasn't done dishing. Central regained possession and he zoomed up the court in transition. He eventually spotted a cutting Horton with a drop-off pass for a layup and a 53-39 lead with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter.

Hunnicutt's 5 assists helped short circuit Sycamore's box-and-one defense against junior guard Ryan Ritchie, who entered the game with 47 3-pointers. Though the Sycamore chaser held Ritchie to a lone 2-point field goal, the other four Spartans were left vulnerable to Hunnicutt's penetration.

"That's what we need to see out of (Hunnicutt), especially when they try to box Ryan, which has happened a couple of times," Central coach Brett Porto said of Hunnicutt's ball sharing. "That means they're leaving him kind of unguarded to get in the lane, and he facilitated for himself and for others and it kind of got us going.

"Other people were cutting for layups, which has been one of our problems this year. We settle for 15 footers when we could be cutting for layups and we did that tonight at points."

Sycamore coach Andrew Stacy and his staff stressed the importance of keeping Hunnicutt out of the lane, but that was like telling his players to keep the sun from shining.

"It's easier said than done," Stacy said. "He's a heck of a player. He's so strong when he gets a full head of steam going. We didn't do a good job of getting two guys up there to help out early.

"Once he gets to the paint it's really hard because he draws and he'll either rise up over us and score or hit some of those shooters they have, like he did down the stretch of the game. He's really just a heck of a player."

Burlington Central led 28-26 at the half, but Bryce Warner scored 6 of his 9 points in the third quarter as the Rockets outscored Sycamore 17-11.

Malik Harris and Horton each contributed 7 points for Central, which is idle until a road game at Richmond-Burton on Jan. 27.