CHAMPAIGN – It's nothing new when Rayvonte Rice leads the Centennial Chargers in scoring. The Drake-bound senior guard did so Tuesday night for the 28th time in 30 games this season.

This time, however, was hardly the same old, same old from Rice. This time, Centennial's career scoring leader outscored an opponent all by himself.

"Unbelievable," coach Tim Lavin said after his second-ranked Chargers rode Rice's 23 points and their stingiest defensive performance of the season to a 43-18 triumph against Mahomet-Seymour in the semifinals of the Class 3A Centennial Sectional. "I keep stating, it seems like a lot – Big-time player, big-time games."

The next big game for streaking Centennial – which won its 11th straight while halting the Bulldogs' winning streak at 11 – is the sectional final at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Chargers (29-1) will meet the winner of tonight's other semifinal between No. 4 Lincoln and No. 7 Springfield Southeast.

Centennial will take a 10-0 home record this season – and a two-year 19-game home winning streak – into Friday's contest.

"We just feel pretty comfortable at home," Rice said.

The Chargers made things plenty uncomfortable for the Bulldogs (22-8), limiting M-S to no more than six points in any quarter and two in the third period.

"It was tremendous tonight," Lavin said of Centennial's defense. "They didn't shoot the ball particularly well (7 of 43), but I think we challenged a very large percentage of the shots."

For a time, M-S put up a challenge while running a patient, clock-consuming offense against the favored Chargers. With less than five minutes left in the second period, the Bulldogs were still within 12-9.

Then M-S went cold and Rice heated up, scoring all of Centennial's points as it ended the half with a 10-2 run to build a 22-11 lead.

"We were right there," Bulldogs coach Chad Benedict said, "and I look up and it's a 10-point game. I liked the looks we got. We just didn't put the ball in the hole. Against these guys you've got to make open looks, and we didn't do it."

Rice again faced a box-and-one defense until M-S fell too far behind and abandoned it. Always the focal point of opposing defenses, Rice has increasingly been forced to deal with the shadowing tactics of the box-and-one during the past few weeks.

On Friday, Champaign Central's use of the defense helped limit Rice to 16 points – and 7-of-22 shooting – in the regional title game.

This time, Rice did a far better job of finishing his opportunities around the basket or drawing fouls. This time, he shot 7 of 11 and got to the line nine times, sinking eight free throws.

"He just knew that every team now is going to be gunning for him," Centennial forward Jeff Johnson said, "and he knows he has to elevate his play every night.

"And he did that tonight. They didn't have an answer for him."