Despite a much stronger fight from Harnett Central than in the last meeting between the two, South Johnston’s varsity boys basketball team stayed unbeaten on the season with a 48-38 win at Central on Thursday night.

“I said the other night (after South beat visiting Central 63-41 on Friday) that team (Central) was better than what they showed the first time,” said South Johnston coach Brody Massengill. “They’re gritty. They made it hard on us to score. That extended zone that they play gave us problems. It was hard to score on. It’s the worst night free throw shooting that we’ve had (South was a combined 4-for-16, or 25 percent). But, one thing I saw was, we were up 10 with about 50 seconds to go and C.J. (Ray) and Jeremiah (McLean) both dive on the floor after a loose ball. These guys, they’re making hustle plays when it’s ugly and I feel like that’s what continues to keep us going. Effort was what won us the game tonight, I thought.”

Harnett Central coach Will Gage liked his team’s effort, but said second-chance points for South was a major factor.

“I thought that our guys competed,” Gage said. “We didn’t get a lot of rolls, but I thought a lot of that was kind of self-inflicted. If you drive into traffic, more often than not, nothing good’s going to happen. I really think over the course of the game, the tell-tale sign was second shots that they got that they made. There were at least six or seven shots that they made on the second shot. When you lose by 10, that’s five shots. So, it could have been a different ball game. Their guys rebound well. They go after the ball aggressively. They just outplayed us on the boards, as a whole. To me, that was one of the biggest factors in the game.”

Senior C.J. Ray paced the visiting Trojans (7-0) with 22 points.

“I think we just got him some good looks,” Massengill said. “The one thing we did do while it was tough to score was, we stayed patient on the offensive end. A lot of times when you stay patient like that, you’re going to find something you want to do.”

Thomas Dees had nine points. Jeremiah McLean had eight points. Colby Norris had four points. D.J. Carter had three points. Cole Winborne had two points.

“Thomas has come on,” Massengill said. “He’s here now. And Jeremiah’s getting more consistent when he’s playing. And we had nine, 10 guys give us good minutes tonight.”

Massengill praised senior Sam Webster for his efforts on defense and running the point on offense.

“I thought Sam had a good night for us tonight,” Massengill said. “I thought Sam stayed very composed and got us into what we needed to be in. He was as solid as you could ever ask him to be.”

Senior Justin Perkins had 15 points and senior Anthony Tomlinson had 11 points to lead the homestanding Trojans (4-5).

“(Perkins) played well and I still think he can play better,” Gage said. “So, that’s a good thing.

Tre Williams had eight points and Richard Edwards had four points.

The game was close throughout the first half, with South edging Central 12-8 in the first quarter and both teams scoring 13 points in the second quarter.

South controlled the third quarter, outscoring Central 12-5 in the period.

Central came back stronger in the fourth, but South was able keep Central from rallying back for a win. Central outscored South 12-11 in the quarter.

“There were a couple of times where we could have cracked it down to single digits in the fourth quarter,” Gage said. “But at the same time, they had it well in hand. They’re not going to self-destruct, South Johnston’s not.”

Harnett Central hosts Fuquay-Varina (2-6) for its last game before the holiday break on Friday night.

“There’s no games on our schedule where we can just show up and win,” Gage said. “Tomorrow’s a prime example. Fuquay’s playing well and to beat them, we’re going to have to play well ourselves.”

South Johnston travels to North Johnston next Friday night, Dec. 20. South routed North 61-27 to open the season on Nov. 22.

“After five games in 10 days, I think we need a little bit of a rest,” Massengill said. “We aren’t going to practice but about 45 minutes to an hour next week. Just a lot of shots up. And then Wednesday and Thursday we’ll start fine-tuning stuff again and get ready for North.”