CHEYENNE – A strong start and a strong finish helped carry the Cheyenne Central boys to a win over their cross-town rival Friday night.

The fourth-ranked Indians rallied behind their defense and topped Cheyenne East 57-40. Central held East – the No. 1 scoring team in the state – to 32 points below its season average in the win.

“We came out and treated it as any other game,” Central junior Nathanial Talich said. “We tried to keep our emotions in place and not let anything get out of control.”

Things started to get away from the third-ranked T-Birds early on as they struggled to put any points on the board, scoring only five points in the first period. It was uncharacteristic for East, to say the least, but it wasn’t just East being unable to find the bottom of the net.

“Defensively, (Central’s) tremendously long, they do a good job of moving their feet and they’re well coached,” East coach Rusty Horsley said. “I have to take this one, we didn’t have our team ready.

“We knew we were going to battle adversity and I don’t think we handled it very well.”

East (9-1 overall, 1-1 Class 4A Southeast Quadrant) bounced back in the second period, going on a 12-5 run which included a couple of 3-pointers and a three-point play from Graedyn Buell. Central answered, however, and carried a 32-24 lead into the break.

The T-Birds’ offensive woes carried into the second half. One of the reasons East struggled to score was not getting the second chance opportunities it normally gets. East is the top offensive rebounding team in the state, averaging just south of 15 per game. It was a credit to Central’s rebounding to keep East off the boards and limit those second chance points.

“We were able to limit their second shots on the offensive end, especially in the second half,” Central assistant coach Jon Will said. “And that’s huge when you play them.”

Lawson Lovering converted a 3-point play with just under 3 minutes remaining in the third period and Talich added a bucket to give the Indians a 45-34 lead heading into the final period.

East found some momentum on the offensive side of the ball as McCoy Bush hit two 3-pointers and East trailed 47-40 with 5:30 remaining in the game.

The Indians (9-1, 2-0) answered Bush’s 3s by closing the game on an 10-0 run and not letting the T-Birds find another bucket, holding them scoreless for that final 5:30.

Talich finished with a game-high 17 points and Brady Storebo added 14 for the Indians. Buell paced East with 14 points and Bush netted 12.

“Coach (Tagg Lain) preaches intensity on defense,” Talich said. “(In our timeout with 3:13 minutes to play) He told us stay calm and lock down for 3 minutes and we’ll take this game, so we locked down for those last 3 minutes and got the win.”

CENTRAL 57, EAST 40

Cheyenne East……………………………………………… 5 19 10 6 – 40

Cheyenne Central………………………………………… 15 17 13 12 – 57

Cheyenne East: Bohlman 0, G. Schlabs 0, Rayl 6, Bush 12,G. Buell 14, Goff 0, McAnelly 4, Jackson 0, Codner 4, Pafford 0, Jolley 0, Heckman 0.

Cheyenne Central: Lewis 0, Whitworth 2, C. Lobatos 3, N. Talich 17, Bra. Storebo 14, C. Talich 0, Bro. Storebo 6, Burns 6, Norrod 0, Mosely 0, Lovering 9.

Robert Munoz is a writer for WyoSports. He can be reached at rmunoz@wyosports.net. Follow him on Twitter @rmunoz307.