Centre girls get bye in regionals despite three-point loss to White City
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
The CHS Lady Cougars lost to White City Feb. 14 by three points, 56-53.
Despite the loss, with a record of 15-4 on the season, they earned a bye in the first round Tuesday of the IA regional tournament at Burrton.
They will play Burrton at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Burrton has a record of 13-6 and also had a first-round bye. If Centre wins, the girls will play for the championship at 6 p.m. Saturday.
What could have been a resounding win at White City turned into a rout in the fourth quarter.
Comparing the game to a sandwich, it could be said the filling was good, but the bread was stale.
The game opened with Centre turning the ball over numerous times while White City completed four consecutive layups.
Teaira Turner made a three-pointer to put Centre on the scoreboard. By the end of the first quarter, the score stood at 10-15.
White City's shooting fell off in the second quarter. After two consecutive threes by Jackie Klenda, Centre led, 22-19.
White City came back with a three-pointer of its own to tie the game at 22-all. But free throws by Krista Heiser and Samantha Alvarez and field goals by Megan Gutsch and Selena Seifert gave the Lady Cougars a 29-24 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Centre held White City to 13 points while scoring 18, to take a commanding 10-point lead, 47-37.
Just when it looked like the Lady Cougars had a good chance to win, their scoring turned cold and the Lady Huskies chipped away at their lead. White City tied the game at 50-all with two-and-a-half minutes to go and then went ahead by three.
Centre trailed by two, 53-55, as time was running out. A White City free throw gave the Lady Huskies a three-point win.
A team that was used to winning went to the locker room gravely disappointed and upset at their first loss in 14 games. It was the second loss of the season to White City and only the fourth loss in a successful season.
Centre scored 34 percent from the field and 50 percent from the free-throw line while White City out-rebounded Centre 40-33.
Klenda was Centre's leading scorer with 14. Turner provided six assists.
Krista Heiser grabbed nine rebounds, and Seifert, Klenda, and Turner each stole the ball four times.
The junior varsity defeated White City, 51-30. They jumped to a 16-4 first-quarter lead and maintained that lead to halftime.
They continued to outscore White City in the second half to win by 21 points.
Bridgette Burns and Leann Pankratz scored 10 points each. Jessica Deines and Kylie Burhoop added eight each, Alisha Barney six, Amy Hajek four, Brooke Carlson three, and Kristine Jirak two.
In a non-league contest played Friday at Chase County, the Lady Cougars were defeated 57-48, ending the regular season at 15-5 overall.
Leading scorers for Centre were Seifert 13, Luna 12, and Turner 10.
The junior varsity defeated Chase County in double overtime, 47-44. Pankratz scored 19 points, Hajek and Barney 15 each, and Deines 10.
