WELLINGTON — Wellington High basketball coach Matt Colin was happy to see his team dominate the second half against Palm Beach Central on Friday night.

Now he'd like to see the Wolverines play a full game like that.

"This is a team that hasn't clicked on all cylinders for an entire game yet," Colin said after the Wolverines rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to defeat their crosstown rivals 52-40 before a sold-out crowd at Wellington. "We're seeing segments of it and I'm just waiting for us to put them all together."

Wellington (15-4) went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to turn the game around and went on to avenge a one-point loss at Palm Beach Central (14-5) in December.

The Wolverines turned up the defensive pressure after halftime, forcing turnovers and blocking shots to get their running game going. The Broncos were outscored 17-4 in the third quarter.

"We were attacking the rim, going downhill, scoring layups, getting to the free throw line," Colin said. "That's what we talked about during the half — we wanted to be more aggressive. I'm not sure how many blocked shots we had out there, but it was a bunch."

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Here are three takeaways from the game:

Freeman takes control

Elyjah Freeman, Wellington's 6-foot-6 senior forward, had a quiet first half.

"I told myself I've got to pick it up, get to the basket, try and score and get to the line," he said of his mindset when the second half began.

Freeman did all that and more. He scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, and one end-to-end sequence typified the Wolverines' comeback. First, he drove for his second dunk of the game to make it 48-36, drawing a roar from the crowd. Then he raced downcourt and blocked a shot, sending the fans into another frenzy.

"He's a special kid," Colin said.

As Wellington used a four-corner offense to run out the clock — there's no shot clock in Florida high school basketball — the home fans serenaded their rivals with chants of "over-rated!"

"We had a good talk at halftime," said Freeman, who's committed to Division II Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee. "We just brought each other up. We came out, tried to score, get stops on defense, rebound, just keep the motor going."

Toney Collins and Tor-el Robinson each scored seven points in the second-half comeback. Collins finished with 12 and Robinson had 11. Senior guard B.J. Joseph led the Broncos with 11 points.

Rivalry ramps up

Wellington vs. Palm Beach Central has always been a rivalry, but it's been mostly one-sided in basketball, with the Wolverines having the upper hand.

Colin has a 2015 state championship and two runner-up finishes on his resume. While his teams have been making deep playoff runs for the past decade, the Broncos have generally been little more than bumps in the road.

But John St. Juste, Palm Beach Central's first-year coach, has the program on the rise. The Broncos put together an 11-game winning streak from early December to mid-January, highlighted by a 53-52 upset of the Wolverines, a game that also drew a capacity crowd.

"A lot of our guys and a lot of their guys play travel basketball together, so they know each other," Colin said. "That always makes this rivalry unique, but this year they're a really good team."

Freeman said players from both teams bond during the summer. He describes the relationship as "love off the court, but on the court it's competitive. We go at 'em."

There's a chance the teams will meet for a third time in the playoffs. Wellington is currently ranked second in District 8-7A, behind Lake Worth, and Palm Beach Central is third.

"We definitely expect to see them again," St. Juste said. "It's hard competing with a team three times. We knew today was going to be rough, but we'll be ready next time. We'll watch the film and we'll prepare."

Aiming for the playoffs

Colin put together an ambitious schedule to help the Wolverines prepare for the postseason.

"I think this team can be pretty special," he said. "The good thing is we play a competitive schedule, where it really challenges us. This week, we played three games. We had a very tough Miami Senior team on Monday (a three-point loss), Suncoast with an overtime win on Tuesday, and then tonight going against Palm Beach Central."

Only two weeks remain in the regular season. The Wolverines' five remaining games include their first meeting with Lake Worth (Jan. 26) in a rematch of last year's district championship game — and a possible preview of this year's.

"We're trying to groom our guys to be ready to go to battle each and every night," Colin said.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Wellington basketball takes over in second half vs. Palm Beach Central