At the end of the first quarter, Centennial led last place Kellis by four points. Junior guard JoJo Rincon said he felt his team needed a boost.

“I told everyone, 'Look, let’s ball now. Like, ya’ll playing. We’re going to win this, but let’s make a statement and win,' ” Rincon said.

After losing back-to-back contests for the first time all season, the Coyotes improved to 16-6 Tuesday with a 76-41 victory over the Cougars (2-19).

Centennial led for the entire contest.

Coach Randy Lavender said his team showed much more determination in the 35-point blowout.

“The last game, I think our guys weren’t really out there focused enough,” Lavender said. “Tonight, they were more focused, especially in the second half.”

Lavender also spoke highly of his pair of junior guards, JoJo Rincon and Malcolm Daniels. The latter finished with a game-high 17 points.

“JoJo always stands out and he always plays hard,” Lavender said. “And tonight, we got what we needed from Malcolm. He came out and played harder, which he needs to do every night.”

Next on the schedule are the Ironwood Eagles on Thursday. The last time these two teams met, Centennial narrowly escaped with a 73-72 victory, handing Ironwood its first loss of the season.

“I know they’re not going to make it easy and they’re going to be pumped up and amped to play us,” Lavender said. “So, we just got to come out there and be ready for a fight."