Centre girls begin regionals at home
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Centre girls' varsity entered regional tournament play Monday with an overall record of 11-9.
They played Elyria Christian High School in the first round Monday at home and won the game, 43-36. They will play Burrton Thursday at Goessel.
The girls dropped two home games the last week of the regular season, losing Feb. 15 to White City, 66-41, and Friday to 2A Chase County, 50-43.
White City
The Lady Cougars dug a deep hole for themselves during the first quarter of the contest against White City and never found their way out.
They trailed 9-24 at the end of the quarter and were down by 26 points, 16-42, at halftime.
The team fared somewhat better in the third quarter. Megan Gutsch nailed a field goal and eight free throws, and Teaira Turner completed two field goals and two free throws. Centre outscored White City 17-9 in the quarter.
The girls couldn't maintain their momentum in the fourth quarter. Despite field goals by Alyssa Luna and Ashley Griffith as time was running out, they were defeated by 25 points.
The team shot 20 percent (12-of-59) from the field but 67 percent (16-of-24) from the free throw line.
Gutsch was the only Lady Cougar in double digits. She scored 15 points and also had 12 rebounds. Selena Seifert provided five assists. Jackie Klenda stole the ball seven times, and Luna four.
The junior varsity was defeated, 44-32. Down by five at halftime, the Lady Cougars had a disastrous three-point third quarter to fall behind by 16 points.
Although they outscored White City, 12-8, in the final quarter, they suffered a 12-point loss.
No player scored in double digits but eight contributed points. Kristine Jirak led in rebounds with eight, followed by Kylie Burhoop with seven.
Chase County
It took four quarters for Chase County to defeat the Lady Cougars.
Things were looking pretty bleak for Centre in the first quarter, as they were down 2-10 at the two-minute mark.
Luna then nailed a two and stole the ball for another basket. After two free throws by Gutsch and a basket by Seifert, the game was tied, 10-10.
Good defensive play in the second quarter included a steal and runback for two by Klenda, rebound for two by Luna, and two blocked balls by Jenna Beneke. The Lady Cougars trailed by two, 19-21, at halftime.
The battle continued in the third quarter. Centre scored 11 points and Chase County 10 to maintain a one-point lead.
Krista Heiser hit a two to tie the game, 32-32, with 6:15 remaining in the game. As the Lady Cougars once again fell behind, they fouled for a chance to get ahead, but excellent free throw shooting by Chase County gave the Lady Bulldogs a seven-point win.
Griffith led scoring for Centre with 10 points. Gutsch had 11 rebounds and Alyssa Luna had three blocked shots.
The junior varsity defeated Chase County, 48-15. Centre led by 12 at halftime and increased their lead in the second half, scoring 29 points compared to eight for the easy win.
Alisha Barney led scoring with 10 points, followed by Burhoop with nine. Jirak had seven rebounds and Brooke Carlson five.
The junior varsity played Saturday in a JV tournament at Marion. They were defeated, 45-19, by Riley County and 67-35 by Marion.
