UNLV recruiting target Troy Brown Jr. narrowly misses triple-double, helps Centennial advance in playoffs

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014 | 9:52 p.m.

What a difference a half makes.

The Centennial High basketball team led by just one point today at halftime against visiting Palo Verde in the Sunset Regional quarterfinals, struggling against the Panthers’ guard-heavy lineup.

The Bulldogs dominated the second half, though, in outscoring Palo Verde by 29 points in what wound up to be a convincing 79-49 victory to advance to Thursday’s regional semifinals.

“It was a game of two halves,” Centennial coach Todd Alllen said. “We really turned it on in the second half.”

Freshman Troy Brown finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists in missing a triple-double by one assist. In the first half, the UNLV recruiting target — and one of the nation's top players for the class of 2017 — had just two points in his first playoff game.

“We weren’t playing our game in the first half,” Allen said. “We told them at halftime that we had to make better decisions. We went out and did that in the second half.”

Garett Scheer led five Centennial (24-3) players in double figures with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Eddie Davis scored 11 points in the second half to finish with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Khalil Thompson had 13 points for Centennial and Rayquan Stewart contributed 11 off the bench.

“He was a real spark for us,” Allen said of Stewart.

Centennial, which was the state runner-up last season, plays Arbor View in the semifinals. Earlier this season, Arbor View beat Centennial by seven points, pulling away late.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.