Central McLean’s Jase Utley goes up for a layup past the outstretched hand of Nelson County’s Jack Hefta during the first half of the Class B boys basketball state quarterfinals on Thursday, March 19, at the MSU Dome. Mike Kraft/MDN

The Central McLean boys basketball team didn’t look like a team making its debut at the state tournament as its current co-op program.

Instead, the Cougars looked exactly how they have all year, dominating the competition and showcasing why they have been the top-ranked team all season.

Central McLean remained unbeaten on the season, racing out to a big lead with a combination of sharp shooting and forcing turnovers in a 68-42 victory of eighth-seeded Nelson County in a quarterfinal round game at the Class B state tournament on Thursday, March 19, at the MSU Dome. The Chargers were also making their state tournament debut as their current co-op.

“They’re actually pretty calm,” Central McLean coach Joi Anderson said. “They don’t get that nervous, I’ll be honest with you. As freshmen, they had five or six wins and then every year they picked up a few more wins. They’ve been playing together for so long and they’ve been down before, and I just tell them to keep playing basketball and the outcome is what it is.”

In the blink of an eye, the Cougars had already surged to a double-digit advantage. Ethan Hanson and Ty Makeeff knocked down 3s and Aiden Hanson hit a pair of jumpers and Jase Utley added another, giving Central McLean a 12-2 lead midway through the opening quarter. The Cougars hit their first four shots from the field.

“We just stayed focused and knew we had to come out hot and play well and we did that,” Aiden Hanson said. “We came out and played team ball and it was a good game. We don’t overhype anything or overlook anything. We take it one game at a time and focus on that one game and be calm and ready.”

The Cougars (26-0) entered the state tournament with the top-ranked defense in Class B, limiting opponents to 41.6 points per game. Central McLean forced 11 turnovers in the first half, leading to fast break opportunities and easy layups at the other end. The Cougars scored 15 points off turnovers in the first half and held a 19-7 advantage in points on the fast break.

Despite the unblemished record, Central McLean has struggled with its starts to games at times. That wasn’t the case on Thursday, scoring 23 of the first 25 points.

“We’ve struggled with starting ball games out,” Anderson said. “Last couple games we’ve been set up running plays to try and get everybody involved right away so they’re on the same page instead of just coming down, making a couple passes and shooting the ball or running a screen and role and have just two guys playing. That made a big difference in our team is that we come down and run plays and if you score it looks really good.”

Four Cougars registered at least seven points in the first 16 minutes, led by Utley with 13 on 6 of 9 shooting. Utley closed out the half with a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 41-19 advantage over the Chargers (18-8) at the break. The Cougars shot 50 percent from behind the 3-point line in the first half, led by Bridger Rittenbach, who went 3-for-6 from distance.

It was more of the same in the second half, as the Cougars led by as many as 29 with 5:50 left in the fourth quarter. Central McLean added 10 more points off turnovers to finish with 25 compared to just seven for Nelson County.

Utley (17 points), Rittenbach (15), Aiden Hanson (13) and Ethan Hanson (10) all finished in double figures for the Cougars.

“We share the ball well with each other and hit the open guy and score points,” Aiden Hanson said. “We can all hit shots and we know that.”

After the first quarter, the Chargers played the Cougars within seven points. Jaxson Joramo led Nelson County with 13 points. Rider Schmidt also finished in double figures with 11.

“It took us eight minutes and it was like we were in the deep end of a pool where we figured out we could swim a little bit,” Nelson County coach Tyson Ackerman said. “And that’s a heck of a basketball team. They didn’t beat themselves. They shot well. They shot 50 percent from the 3-point line in the first half. We had turnovers and little things like that. We beat ourselves and we knew they weren’t going to beat themselves.”

Central McLean – a co-op including Underwood, Turtle Lake, Mercer and McClusky – hadn’t made a state tournament prior to this year. The last time any of the schools involved in the co-op appeared in the state tournament was Turtle Lake-Mercer-McClusky in 2017. The Cougars ran through their schedule, claiming the District 8 regular season and postseason titles as well as the Region 4 championship.

Nelson County – a co-op of Aneta, Lakota, McVille, Michigan, Petersburg, Pekin and Tolna – were in the same boat as their quarterfinal foe. Tolna was the last member of the current co-op to make the state tournament, qualifying in 1985. Nelson County was the Cinderella team of the tournament, finishing fifth in the District 4 regular season. To get to state, the Chargers won a region qualifier, advanced to the Region 2 title game and punched their ticket to the tournament in a state qualifier.

“It’s cool to even be here and experience this and be able to play again,” Ackerman said. “The last two games we played were loser-out-type games, so being able to play in that play-in game, you know that if you lose you’re going home. Here, we lose and we’re going back to the hotel and we’re coming back tomorrow to play a basketball game.”

The Cougars will play the winner of Medina-Pingree-Buchanan and Midway-Minto in the semifinals on Friday, March 20, at 2:45 p.m., while the Chargers will play a consolation match against the loser of that contest at 8:15 p.m.