MIDDLEBURY — How do you play stall ball and street ball at the same time?

Well, you can’t really do that, but Central showed it can play Stahl ball and Street ball all at once during its boys high school basketball season opener Wednesday night.

JJ Stahl posted a breakout performance in the post and fellow senior Terell Street glistened as well — and the Blue Blazers needed just about all they got from both while rallying for a 60-54 victory over host Northridge in front of about 2,000 fans at the muggy Middlebury Madhouse.

The 6-foot-5 and considerably bulked-up Stahl poured in a career-high 20 points on 10-of-13 field-goal shooting while riddling the Raiders in the interior, and the 5-11 Street added 18 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“New attitude, new strength, new coach, just feels like new everything,” said Stahl, who even has a new preferred reference for his first name. “We put in a lot of work in the offseason and we’re definitely a better team, definitely more disciplined.”

Troy Noble won in his debut as Central coach, while Northridge alum Ronnie Thomas fell in his debut as a varsity coach.

The Blazers trailed most of the first half, including by a high of 31-20 late in the second quarter, but netted the last six points of the period to get to within 31-26 by halftime.

Junior Nate Ritchie — on his way to a game-high 24 points and six rebounds — drained a 3-pointer to start the third quarter for the Raiders, but Central responded with a 9-0 run for its first lead since the first quarter, going up 35-34.

That set off a flurry of seven more lead changes and four ties over the next nine minutes, capped by the Blazers taking the lead for good at 50-48 on Stahl’s inside bucket with four minutes remaining.

Central stretched the lead to a high of 58-51 with 26 seconds left, and Stahl finished the closing quarter with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.

“I thought we played with toughness the last 14 minutes or so after getting pushed around the first half,” Noble said. “When we got the lead, we were able to get the first rebound instead of giving (Northridge) multiple opportunities. The other thing is we made an adjustment defensively, picked them up at the 3-point line more. Once we changed that, they weren’t able to gut us with the dribble drive so deep and the game changed.”

“I’m not down on the effort at all,” Thomas said. “The kids played their butts off, but our focus has to be better. (Going) 8 of 19 on free throws kills you. You cut the misses in half, and it might be a different story right now.”

Blake Brouwer contributed six points, a game-high seven rebounds and four steals for the winners, while fellow senior Myran McKnight had all of his six points and three assists in the second half.

Joey Ganyard and Sam Ahonen combined for 20 points, 11 boards and six assists for the Raiders, with Ganyard adding three steals.

Girls

Sophomore Taylor Miller scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to help Northridge cruise by Central 56-17 in the opening game of the girl-boy doubleheader.

Senior Madison Schrock collected seven points, five steals and four assists as coach Doug Springer’s Raiders improved to 4-0 — each of the victories by at least 23 points.

Northridge outscored the Blazers 21-1 in the second quarter for a 38-8 halftime advantage.



Central 60, Northridge 54

(Boys)

Central — JJ Stahl 10-13 0-0 20, Blake Brouwer 3-7 0-0 6, Brian Harter 0-1 0-0 0, Genoris Crawford 1-1 0-0 2, Terell Street 6-16 4-4 18, Myran McKnight 3-5 0-1 6, Tre Taylor 2-5 2-2 6, Shaneal Mackey 0-0 0-0 0, Tray Qualls 0-1 0-0 0, Derald Gray 1-3 0-1 2. Totals: 26-52 (.500) 6-8 (.750) 60.

Northridge — Nate Ritchie 9-15 3-7 24, Joey Ganyard 5-11 1-2 11, Austin Moniot 1-6 0-0 3, Pete Smith 2-6 2-2 7, Sam Ahonen 3-4 2-6 9, Arick Doberenz 0-0 0-2 0, Shannon Baker 0-0 0-0 0, Tom Morrison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-42 (.476) 8-19 (.421) 54.

Scoring By Quarters

Central 14 12 18 16 — 60

Northridge 18 13 13 10 — 54

3-point goals: Central (2-13) — Street 2-8; Northridge (6-15) — Ritchie 3-6, Ahonen 1-1, Smith 1-3, Moniot 1-4.

Rebounds: Central (32) — Brouwer 7, Stahl 5, Street 5; Northridge (21) — Ritchie 6, Ahonen 6, Ganyard 5.

Assists: Central (12) — Crawford 4, Street 3, McKnight 3; Northridge (14) — Ganyard 3, Moniot 3, Ahonen 3.

Steals: Central (10) — Brouwer 4, Street 4; Northridge (5) — Ganyard 3.

Turnovers: Central 20, Northridge 18.

Fouls: Central 18, Northridge 14. Fouled out — none. Technicals — Stahl, Moniot.

Officials: Eric Coburn, Kirk Robinson, Trent Beer.

Records: Central 1-0, Northridge 0-1.

Next: Gary 21st Century at Central, Northridge at Westview, both Saturday.



Northridge 56, Central 17

(Girls)

Central — Tusssanee Irving 0 0-0 0, Amanda Dibley 0 0-0 0, Ally Delks 1 2-4 4, Maddie Vaught 0 0-0 0, Daitriona Bonds 2 1-1 5, Regina Ritchie 0 0-0 0, Khyana Sanders 1 1-2 3, Tiara Bonds 0 0-0 0, Tia Garnett 2 0-0 5, Kelly Ronan 0 0-0 0, LaToria House 0-0 0, Jenai White 0 0-0 0. Totals: 6 4-7 17.

Northridge — Kelly Miller 1 0-0 2, Brianne O’Dell 1 0-0 3, Morgan Miller 1 1-10 3, Haley Schrock 3 2-2 9, Madison Schrock 2 2-2 7, Ellie Lengacher 2 1-2 5, Mikaela Zook 3 0-0 6, Taylor Miller 5 2-2 16, Molly Bontrager 1 0-0 3, Kim Swank 1 0-0 2, Bailey O’Dell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 8-18 56.

Scoring By Quarters

Central 7 1 5 4 — 17

Northridge 17 21 12 6 — 57

3-point goals: Central (1) — Garnett; Northridge (8) — T. Miller 4, Bri O’Dell, H. Schrock, M. Schrock, Bontrager.

Turnovers: Central 26, Northridge 10.

Fouls: Central 15, Northridge 11. Fouled out — none.

Records: Northridge 4-0, Central 1-4.

Next: Hobart at Northridge Saturday, noon JV start; Goshen at Central Tuesday.