Centre Boys lose two, win one at tournament
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Centre High School boys' varsity was seeded sixth in the Eisenhower League tournament. They lost the first two games and won one to place seventh among 10 teams.
Centre vs. White City
The boys lost to third-seeded White City, 45-31, in the opening round Jan. 18 at Hope.
The Cougars came out strong in the first quarter. After a 3-3 start, Justin Garrard made a field goal and two free throws to give Centre a 9-5 lead.
Continued good shooting, including threes by Tad Remy and Bryant Gutsch and a steal and runback for two by Dustin Burnett, left the Cougars up 16-13 at the end of the quarter.
They maintained their lead during the second quarter. With 35 seconds remaining in the half, they led by eight points, 25-17. A last-second White City three-pointer resulted in a 25-20 halftime score.
White City began to creep up on Centre during the third quarter as the Cougars sought to stay out in front. They fell behind, 29-31, at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter appeared to be a give-away, as the Cougars abandoned the inside game and missed numerous three-point attempts. White City's scoring improved, and the game ended with a 14-point win for the Huskies.
Centre vs. Wakefield
The loss to White City put Centre in the consolation bracket. They played 10th-seeded Wakefield Friday at Herington Middle School and were defeated 57-34.
The Cougars fell behind early and never recovered. They trailed 10-18 at the end of the first quarter and 16-27 at halftime.
Wakefield scored 15 points in each of the final two quarters compared to eight and 10 by Centre for a devastating 23-point loss.
Each team completed 16 field goals, but Wakefield made seven three-pointers compared to none by Centre. Wakefield was four of 10 from the free-throw line, and Centre was one of three.
Andrew Hajek was Centre's leading scorer with 10 points.
Centre vs. Elyria
As a consolation prize, the Cougars defeated fifth-seeded Elyria Saturday, 64-41, to place seventh.
They pulled out to a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Seth Jirak hit three three-pointers in the second quarter for nine of Centre's 20 points, to give the Cougars a 35-20 halftime lead.
They continued to outscore Elyria in the second half, resulting in a 23-point win.
Jirak was leading scoring with 17 points, followed by Burnett with 14.
