Mason Byler

By John Hartsock

jhartsock@altoonamirror.com

WILLIAMSBURG — In the game of basketball, dead-eye shooting can become contagious for a team.

That was the case for Central Friday night, as the Scarlet Dragons came out of the starting blocks with their guns blazing, scoring the game’s first 24 points en route to posting a 65-43 non-conference victory over Williamsburg at the Williamsburg High School gymnasium.

Central connected for 15 total 3-pointers in the game, with eight different players scoring at least one trey. The Dragons rifled in five 3-pointers in both the first and second quarters, building a 27-3 lead after one quarter and a 42-16 advantage by halftime.

Senior Mason Byler scored a game-high 15 points on five 3-pointers in the game for Central, which improved to 15-4. Byler hit two 3’s in both the first and second quarters.

Senior Kyle Klotz scored three 3-pointers en route to a 13-point night for Central, which also got 13 points and a 3-pointer from senior Eli Muthler.

Bentley Dickson had a pair of 3-point goals, while Jesse Muthler, Lukas Black, Austin Bassler and Christian Heuston each connected for one 3-point fielder apiece for the Scarlet Dragons, who lived up to their nickname with their red-hot shooting.

“We just had one player get going, then another, and we build off that as a team,” Byler said of Central’s shooting extravaganza. “That really shows what kind of a team that we have, and what we can do as a team.”

Central coach Paul Frederick said that his team likes to shoot from beyond the arc, but the Dragons haven’t always been as successful doing that this season as they were on Friday night.

“We have been shooting a ton of them this year, and tonight, they were a going in at a pretty high rate,” Frederick said of all the 3-pointers. “They haven’t always gone in for us, and we haven’t been shooting particularly well overall lately, but tonight was obviously a different story.

“We wanted to play a fast-paced game, and we wanted to put the ball in the basket,” Frederick added. “We wanted to start fast, especially in this gym. The fast start was really important.”

Eli Muthler scored 11 points in the first quarter, while Byler added six, and Black and freshman Jesse Muthler – who also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds – both hit 3-point goals in the opening period.

Three players — Jesse Brumbaugh, Logan Brantner, and Evan Zehner — scored nine points apiece for Williamsburg, which dipped to 12-8.

“They came out of the gates ready to play, they jumped on us early, and they shot very well,” Williamsburg coach Jeff Detwiler said of the Central onslaught. “Paul (Frederick) does a great job coaching them, and they shot the lights out tonight.”

CENTRAL (65): E. Muthler 4 4-5 13, Byler 5 0-0 15, Black 1 0-0 3, J. Muthler 1 0-0 3, Klotz 4 2-2 13, Heuston 2 0-0 5, Lingenfelter 1 0-0 2, Bassler 1 0-0 3, Dickson 2 0-0 6, Hoover 0 0-0 0, Hartman 0 0-0 0, Beach 0 0-0 0, Schank 1 0-1 2, Rhodes 0 0-0 0. Totals – 22 6-7 65.

WILLIAMSBURG (43): Brumbaugh 3 0-0 9, Brantner 3 3-3 9, Parks 2 3-5 7, Reffner 2 0-0 5, Isenberg 0 0-0 0, Zehner 3 1-1 9, Mock 0 0-0 0, Uplinger 0 0-0 0, Becker 1 0-0 2, Merritts 1 0-0 2. Totals – 15 7-9 43.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central 27 15 13 10–65

Williamsburg 3 13 8 19–43

3-point goals: Central (15): Byler 5, Klotz 3, Dickson 2, Black, E. Muthler, J. Muthler, Bassler, Heuston. Williamsburg (6): Brumbaugh 3, Zehner 2, Reffner.

Records: Central (15-4); Williamsburg (12-8).

Officials: Joe Scialabba, Ed Habbershon, Clayton Heffner.

JV: Central, 40-34. High scorers–Hoover, C, 20; Becker, W, 11.