Strong Second Half Lifts West Allis Central Past Falls

West Allis – West Allis Central wanted to prove it wasn’t the same team that Menomonee Falls saw when the two teams met Jan. 7.

The Bulldogs proved it in a big way Friday night. They outscored the Indians, 38-24, in the second half and rolled to a 67-50 victory in a Greater Metro Conference game at West Allis Central High School.

Falls dropped to 9-10 for the season and 6-5 in the Greater Metro. Central improved to 6-12 for the season and 5-6 in the conference.

Falls rolled to an 82-59 victory over the Bulldogs the first time they met. Friday night, Central turned the tables on Falls on its home court.

“Disappointing. We just never really had it tonight,” Falls coach Ben Siebert said. “We had no emotion tonight. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

J.P. Tokoto led Falls with 21 points, and Jalen Ramey added 20 for the Indians.

In the eyes of Central coach Lou Chapman, the Bulldogs are finally putting it all together.

“Right now we’re at full strength,” Chapman said. “We run a tight ship as a coaching staff, and we’re trying to instill discipline on a daily basis.

"We’ve had guys sitting games, so now we’re getting at full strength. Guys have been practicing well. This was a team win.”

Falls had no answer for Central’s sophomore guard Jarvis Garrett, who led his team with 24 points. Garrett made only four baskets, but he took the ball aggressively to the basket and ended up making 15 of 16 foul shots.

The Bulldogs also got a solid performance from junior forward Najeal McMillian, who finished with 18 points.

West Allis Central used full-court pressure and played zone throughout the game. The Bulldogs forced a few turnovers, but the primary purpose was to keep the Indians off-balance. And it worked. 

“We knew what to expect from them, we had scouted them, and we had played them before,” Siebert said. “I think we settled for the jump shot a little too much when we should have taken the ball to the hole.”

The beginning of the end for Falls actually came in the waning seconds of the first half, when reserve forward Chris Helm nailed a three-pointer from the corner as time ran out in the first half. The shot, Helm’s only points of the game, gave Central a 29-26 halftime lead.

Neither team played well offensively in the third quarter, but the Bulldogs did just enough to hold a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter belonged to Garrett. The 5-10 point guard put together a tremendous two-minute stretch that put the game away. He scored on a drive to the basket with 4 minutes 32 seconds left and followed that up by going 6-for-6 from the foul line in the next two minutes.

The defeat was a setback for the Indians, who came into the game with a three-game winning streak.

“They played well,” Siebert said about West Allis Central.  “Our kids are hurting right now. It’s a bump in the road. We’re going to get back at it tomorrow.

"We’ve talked the whole season about not looking back.  We still have quality games ahead of us. If we play the way we’re capable of, we’ll be all right.”

Box Score

Menomonee Falls: Tokoto 7 7-9 21, Malone 0 0-0 0, J. Ramey 7 6-8 20, Ulicki 1 1-2 3, Ross 1 1-1 6. Totals 17 15-20 50.

West Allis Central: Garrett 4 15-16 24, Carson 2 1-3 5, Turkvan 1 0-0 2, Harris 3 3-4 9, Starich 1 0-0 2, McMillian 7 4-4 18, Helm 1 0-0 3. Collier 1 2-2 4. Totals 20 25-29 67.

By quarters

Menomonee Falls: 10-16-7-17 –50

West Allis Central: 12-17-9-29--67