His heart broken, Camren Easton wasn’t sure he’d play in Center Line’s district championship game against South Lake on Friday night.

But then the junior thought about how much his father, Shawn, who died Thursday night, enjoyed basketball and watching his son play.

“I know he would want me to play,” Easton said. “I knew he would be mad if I didn’t play.

“I wish he could have been here tonight.”

Easton honored his father’s memory with a key 3-point field goal in the third quarter and two steals in the fourth that helped Center Line win a second-consecutive Division 2 district championship with a 46-32 victory at Eastpointe.

“I was doing it for my dad,” Camren said.

Easton called coach Derrick Walton Thursday night with the news of Shawn’s passing.

“I told him he could play if he wanted to, but that he didn’t have to,” Walton said. “It gave us extra motivation to do it for him and his dad.

“We’ve got a brotherhood. I told the team to make sure they look out for their brother. We all wanted to rally behind him. He played on energy alone. He’s a good kid.”

Easton said his family does not know the cause of Shawn’s death.

“We’ll find out everything Monday,” he said. “There’s a lot going through my head right now.”

Senior Te’Rez Holmes led Center Line (18-6) with 14 points. Junior Kameren Higginbotham had 11, senior Caleil Spencer eight and senior Isaiah Ashford seven.

Junior Davon Molbrough scored eight points and senior Terence Mays seven for South Lake (15-9).

Center Line plays Notre Dame Prep in a regional semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Yale.

“We wanted to get back (to the regional round), and we want to go further,” said Walton, whose team lost to Goodrich in a 2024 regional semifinal.

Center Line led cold-shooting South Lake 12-4 after one quarter and extended its lead in the second.

Jy’Shaun Lucas’ steal started a fast break that led to a bucket and a 21-6 lead midway through the second quarter, and Lucas’ 3-point basket made it 24-6 with 3:49 left.

Holmes then gave the Panthers a 20-point lead over their Macomb Area Conference Silver Division rivals when he scored 3:29 before halftime.

“We had to play defense,” Easton said. “We knew they couldn’t really dribble the ball. We had to pressure up.”

South Lake, which lost two regular-season games to Center Line by a total of five points, didn’t give in to the Panthers.

The Cavaliers got to within six points on three occasions in the third quarter and had chances to get closer before Easton’s 3-pointer from the right corner gave Center Line a 37-28 lead with 11 seconds left.

Ashford assisted on Easton’s triple after scoring Center Line’s first four points of the third quarter.

His alley-oop pass led to a dunk by Holmes that put the Panthers ahead 45-32 with 1:38 left in the game.

“Me and Rez have that connection,” Ashford said. “When Rez gets on the fast break, it’s a connection. I know I’ve got to throw it. I’ve got to put it high, but I really can put it anywhere. He’ll grab anything.”

Ashford said the Panthers didn’t take the Cavaliers lightly despite beating them twice while going 9-0 in the Silver Division.

“We came out and didn’t underestimate,” he said. “We wanted it. We wanted it more than last year.

“This was a fun game, a good game. It was an amped type of game. We’ve got more amped games coming up.”

Notre Dame Prep advanced with a 55-52 victory over Pontiac.

St. Clair plays Yale in the other regional semifinal at Yale.