Tigers top Oakville, assure winning mark

Central's boys' basketball team bounced back from a tough loss to clinch its first winning season since 1998-99.

The Tigers shook off Tuesday's one-point setback to rival Notre Dame by hammering visiting Oakville 69-48 Friday night and raising their record to 14-6.

"It's a good feeling," said Central coach Derek McCord, whose first Tigers' team went 4-21 last year. "Everybody is working hard and we feel like the program is really headed in the right direction.

"After the heartbreaking loss to Notre Dame, we really bounced back and showed a lot of character. Our goal was to be 15-6 by week's end."

Central can attain that by beating visiting Riverview Gardens tonight.

Friday, Ryan Delph paced the Tigers with 18 points and eight rebounds. Scott Chestnutt, a 6-foot-8 sophomore center, came off the bench to score 16 points and grab nine rebounds. Chestnutt did not start because of disciplinary reasons.

"Scott kept his head up, came off the bench and played well," McCord said.

Jay Ruark added 10 points for the Tigers.

Oakville (7-12) got 22 points from 6-6 sophomore Drew Martin.

Central led 17-12 after one quarter, 34-25 at halftime and broke things wide open in the second half.

"Oakville is a good team, but we played well," McCord said.

Central's junior varsity improved to 13-3 with a 50-20 victory. Alex Ray scored 10 points.