By Michael Shipma:

EUFAULA – The Charles Henderson boy’s basketball team cruised to a victory in the first round of the 5A Area 3 Championship Tournament, defeating Rehobeth High School 73-34 on Tuesday.

Sophomore guard Jalen Tuck was a force for the Trojans, leading the team with 18 points in a game that was never in doubt. With the win, Charles Henderson will advance to the Area 5 championship game and will have the opportunity to earn home-court advantage in the first round of the AHSAA playoffs.

Charles Henderson jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to an up-tempo offense that took advantage of poor shooting from the Rebels. Rehobeth struggled to hit shots from the perimeter, something they’ve been able to do very well as team this season. Those misses gave the Trojans the opportunity to push the ball out in transition and score in bunches to develop a comfortable lead.

At the end of the first half, Charles Henderson owned a commanding 24-13 lead, despite turning the ball over a few times.

Charles Henderson rode its momentum from the first half into the second. In the final two quarters, the Trojans outscored Rehobeth 19-11 and 20-9, respectively.

Charles Henderson had three players scoring in double figures, with senior guard Cyree Foster scoring 13 and junior center Josh Roberts scoring 10 to go along with Tuck’s scoring.

“This one really puts us in a good position to win the area,” head coach Carl Hollis said after the game. “At this point, all we need to is just play, even without a whole lot of practices left. It’s like having a knife. Right now we can’t throw the knife away, we got to sharpen it.”

The Trojans will await their next opponent, who they will play at Eufaula High School on Friday.