High school basketball: Ron Holland stars again to lead No. 2 Duncanville over No. 3 Centennial 59-57

In an early-season showdown between high school basketball heavyweights Saturday night at the Thanksgiving Hoopfest outside of Dallas, No. 2 Duncanville (Texas) took down No. 3 Centennial (Corona, Calif.) 59-57. The Panthers used four consecutive defensive stops in the final minute of play to seal the victory.

Five-star Texas signee and reigning MaxPreps National Junior of the Year Ron Holland was again the catalyst for the Panthers, scoring a game-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals while shooting 10 of 22 from the field. Holland put up 25 points Friday against Columbus (Miami) in another win over a top 10-ranked opponent.

The loss for Centennial was its first since a 75-70 defeat at the hands of Duncanville on the same day exactly one year ago. Duncanville jumped out to a 7-0 run to start the contest behind a pair of baskets from Holland and a 3-pointer from the right corner from sophomore Bugg Edwards.

Centennial chipped away at the early deficit and took a 13-11 lead mid-way through the first quarter after a 6-0 run was sparked by a pair of baskets from UCLA signee Devin Williams.

After the two public school powerhouses traded baskets, a Holland layup at the end of the period tied things up at 16-16.

A frenetic and somewhat sloppy second quarter saw Centennial take control of the game as the Huskies went on multiple small runs throughout the period to take a 36-31 advantage into the intermission. An Aaron McBride dunk in the final minute capped a 10-5 run to end a competitive first half of action that saw six ties and seven lead changes.

Edwards opened the scoring in the third quarter by knocking down his fourth 3-pointer of the night on the first possession of the second half to cut the deficit to 36-34. Baskets from McBride and Eric Freeny put Centennial back up six points before buckets from Arizona signee K.J. Lewis and Holland cut the lead back to two points.

A pull-up 3-pointer from the right wing by Duke signee Jared McCain extended Centennial's advantage to 45-40 before Duncanville received a 3-pointer out of the under four-minute timeout from Jackson Prince followed by a pair of free throws from Holland to tie things back up at 45-45 with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

A layup from Mike Price followed by an underhanded scoop shot by McBride quickly made things 49-45 in favor of Centennial with over two minutes remaining.

Holland put an exclamation point on the end of the third period with a thunderous one-handed dunk down the lane in the closing seconds of the quarter to cut Centennial's lead to 49-47 with eight minutes remaining. Price opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a mid-range jump shot before Holland completely took over for the Panthers down the stretch. He scored the Panthers first eight points of the final frame and threw down a pair of hammer dunks down the lane in the process to tie things up at 55-55 headed into the under four-minute timeout.

After a pair of free throws from Lewis gave Duncanville a 57-55 lead before a forced turnover resulted in a layup in transition for Lewis to extend the advantage to 59-55 with just over two minutes remaining in the contest.

McBride knocked down a pair of free throws at the other end to make it 59-57 with 1:28 remaining. Following a missed free throw by Duncanville with just over one minute remaining, four defensive stands expired the final minute of the contest as the Panthers pulled out another gritty victory to begin the season.

McBride led Centennial with 17 points, Williams had 12 points, Price chipped in 11 points, Feeny scored nine points and McCain tallied eight points.

Duncanville (5-0) continues its brutal early-season schedule Friday with a showdown against Bartlett (Tenn.), the top-ranked team in the Volunteer State.

Centennial (4-1) looks to rebound from its loss next Saturday against No. 21 Modesto Christian (Modesto, Calif.).