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Centre boys place third in Ike tournament

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Centre boys finished the Eisenhower League tournament Saturday in third place.

After soundly defeating Flint Hills of Manhattan in the first round Jan. 16 at Hope, they were hoping to defeat Hope for the second time in two weeks in the semifinals at Solomon but were defeated by the Lions.

The Cougars defeated Solomon Saturday to take third place.

Solomon 39, Centre 51

The Cougars got off to a rousing start against Solomon, jumping to a 14-point lead by the end of the first quarter. The Gorillas outscored them in two of the remaining quarters, but it was not enough to make up for the large initial deficit.

Alfonse Klenda scored 16 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars at the boards. He also stole the ball four times.

Zach Slayden, Lance Diepenbrock, and James Weber contributed nine points each.

Flint Hills 44, Centre 93

The first round game against Flint Hills of Manhattan was a cinch from the start. Centre led throughout with quarter scoring advantages of 22-11, 23-18, 29-6, and 17-9.

The team made 60 percent of its shots from the floor and 70 percent from the free-throw line. They also had 22 steals.

Four Cougars scored in double digits: Kevin Mueller 19, James Weber 18, Klenda 17, and Seth Jirak 13.

Hope 46, Centre 52

The game against Hope in the semi-finals was a struggle from the beginning. The Cougars stayed within reach of a win for most of the game, but were not able to pull it off.

After an 11-16 first quarter deficit, they trailed by nine, 19-28 at halftime after coming within one, 17-18, on a layup and free throw by Weber.

The third quarter still saw the Cougars lagging behind, but they didn't give up. They picked up their play in the final quarter and closed the gap to two points twice in the final two and one-half minutes. But a free throw and follow-up layup by Hope plus another layup and free throw on a steal gave the Lions a six-point win.

Mueller was Centre's high-point man with 17 points. Diepenbrock also scored in double digits with 10 points. Each of them had six rebounds.

The Cougars ended the tournament with an overall record of 5-8.

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