Ryan Roddy
Section618.com

CARBONDALE — Junior Koby Wilmoth scored 26 points and senior Jeremy Dalton added a dozen as the Centralia Orphans completed a perfect South Seven conference season with a 58-48 win at Carbondale Wednesday night. Centralia hasn’t lost a conference game since Carbondale beat the Orphans back on February 28, 2020. Since that loss, the Orphans have gone 20-0 in the South Seven, with back to back undefeated championships.

The Orphans made 13 three-pointers in the win over the Terriers–six from Wilmoth, four from Dalton and two from Daryle Jones who finished with nine points. Decarl Payne led Carbondale with 10 points.

Centralia is now 26-3 on the season and the No. 1 seed at next week’s Centralia 3A Regional. Carbondale falls to 7-15 and will travel to Waterloo for a regional quarterfinal matchup Saturday. The Orphans will face the Carbondale/Waterloo winner in the regional semifinals next Wednesday at 6:00 pm at Trout Arena. Mt. Vernon is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Herrin in the second semifinal Wednesday, following the Centralia game. The championship game is scheduled for Friday night at 7:00.