Centralia basketball split its Clarence Cannon Conference opening night on Friday at home. The Lady Panthers dominated South Shelby 62-28 to win their seventh straight game while the Panthers lost their fourth straight 56-42.
The Lady Panthers (7-1, 1-0 CCC) played the South Shelby (6-2, 1-1 CCC) tight with a 15-10 lead after the first quarter but ramped up their efforts in the second quarter with a run that stretched to 18-0 until a 35-13 halftime victory, Belle Roush gave prevented South Shelby from being held without a field goal in the second quarter by a mere second due to her hitting a shot at the buzzer. Still, Centralia became the first team to hold South Shelby to less than 30 points since the Ladybirds' 61-26 state championship loss to El Dorado Springs two seasons ago. Morgan Ross led the Lady Panthers with 20 points and five rebounds, Braylin Brunkhorst had 13 points and four assists, Ryenn Gordon had 10 points and four steals, and Shelby Lewis finished with eight points and six rebounds. Charlie Roush led South Shelby with 10 points.
The Panthers (4-5, 0-1 CCC) were tied with South Shelby (3-5, 1-0 CCC) at 25 going into halftime. Then, the Cardinals eventually closed the third quarter on a 10-0 run, including a half-court buzzer beater by Gabe Bowen to put South Shelby ahead 38-30 after three. Centralia pulled within 44-39 about halfway through the fourth quarter but was outscored 31-17 in the second half. The loss was Centralia's third straight in which its was either tied or leading at halftime and three of its losses in this stretch have come against winning teams. Cullen Bennett led the Panthers with 13 points and 13 rebounds, Logan Rosenfelder had nine points and three steals, and Noah Kropf had six points. Bowen led South Shelby with 18 points and four 3-pointers and Chance Rainey had 14 points.
The Lady Panthers host Moberly (6-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a rematch from the Centralia Invitational championship, which Centralia won, and the Panthers have their own rematch with Moberly (5-2) at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Look for a roundup of Centralia this week on Saturday with full stories.
