Centennial boys basketball defeats Las Cruces, wins district title
· Yahoo Sports
The Hawks now rule the district.
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Centennial (18-8, 8-2) captured an outright District 3-5A championship with a 65-53 road victory over Las Cruces (22-4, 7-3) on Friday, Feb. 20. It's the Hawks' first district title under second-year coach Vincent Carillo and their first since the 2015-16 season.
The win means Centennial has won the District 3-5A championship in both boys and girls basketball this season and will hold the No. 1 seed in both district tournaments. The Lady Hawks earned theirs with a win over Organ Mountain this past Tuesday.
The Hawks allowed the Bulldawgs to score only five first-quarter points and took a 30-24 halftime lead after scoring 15 points in each of the first and second quarters. Centennial then outscored Las Cruces 15-11 in the third quarter and 20-18 in the fourth quarter to seal its win, maintaining a lead of six points or more throughout the fourth quarter.
Three Hawks scored in double figures. Kouliebchen Tou led the way with 28 points on 10 2-point shots and eight free throws, while Anthony Eres and Tracen Huntsman added 15 and 10 points, respectively. Eres drained three 3-pointers and Huntsman earned two 3-pointers.
Centennial has now avenged its loss to Las Cruces at home from earlier this season and enters the district tournament having won four of its past five games. The Hawks have lost only two games in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Centennial boys basketball clinches district championship with victory