There are many great female athletes nowadays.

Centralia vs Moberly Sophie Cunningham Classic Photo Gallery

The Centralia girls witnessed that firsthand late Saturday night at the Sophie Cunningham Classic at Southwell Complex at Columbia College when they lost 69-46 to Class 4 No. 10 Moberly in a rematch from a Lady Panther 62-57 victory earlier in the season. In this 9 p.m. game, Grace Billington and Asa Fanning combined for 39 points to be named co-MVPs for Moberly, and the Lady Spartans shot 44.8 percent from the field compared to Centralia’s 31.5 percent.

Head coach Megan Brinkmann said the aforementioned two for Moberly are always a concern, but the Lady Spartans have more great players besides them, including Haley Baker and Mia Faught that each scored 11 points. That’s why it’s important for Centralia not to panic when shots don’t fall, such as when the Lady Panthers had a scoreless streak of more than nine minutes from the early second quarter to the late third quarter.

“We knew they were going to have us scouted way better than they did the first time,” Brinkmann said. “We didn’t make adjustments offensively. We panicked and started taking shots that weren’t the best shot possible.”

Brinkmann said the Lady Panthers played uncharacteristically for most of the game, taking rushed 3-pointers and off-balance shots at the rim and then not locking down on the defensive end for a 27-20 deficit at five minutes in the second quarter turn into a 42-20 deficit with close to six minutes left in the third quarter. Morgan Ross knocked down a college-distance 3-pointer prior to the cold spell and completed a fastbreak off a Ryenn Gordon steal to end the spell around 3:30 left in the third quarter.

Braylin Brunkhorst led Centralia with 12 points and two steals, the Centralia MVP Gordon followed with 10 points and six rebounds, Katie Carrico had eight points and two 3-pointers off the bench, Ross had seven points, and Shelby Lewis had a game-high 12 rebounds. So Centralia has several great players on their side as well that are the reason for its nine wins going into Saturday’s game but weren’t effective offensively this specific night.

“They made us take longer possessions,” Brinkmann said. “I’ll take a longer possession and find the best shot possible. For whatever reason, we started rushing in our head a little bit. We get some reversals, we’ll get what we need. Instead of chipping away and taking it one possession at a time, we started rushing things.”

Brinkmann, whose lifelong basketball career has involved seven years as a head coach and a college career at William Woods University, said there has been growth in the amount of interest in female athletics. There have been many great players for younger girls to look up to including current college basketball players Caitlin Clark at the University of Iowa and Paige Bueckers at the University of Connecticut, and of course, University of Missouri legends Lindsey and Sophie Cunningham. Sophie Cunningham plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA.

The Lady Panthers didn’t have to look beyond Southwell’s court to see a great female player having a great moment when Billington became the Lady Spartans’ all-time leading scorer in the second half. Early in the game, Billington hit several difficult shots, such as her own college distance 3-pointer, while recording a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds and adding six assists.

“She’s a great player, and there’s going to be great players that we play,” Brinkmann said. “You put all your attention on her, and she did a good job of finding her teammates and having them score as well. She’s going to hit tough shots, and they’re going to score.

“We didn’t box well and weren’t getting 50/50 balls. That’s extra possessions we had to have that we weren’t getting. I know our girls were frustrated because they were super-excited because this is a super-awesome thing here.”

While it was a loss, Brinkmann said the Lady Panthers are honored they had the chance to play in the second Sophie Classic, and Brinkmann was able to coach in a gym she has memories of playing in when she was Columbia College rival William Woods. For her, it was yet another basketball memory that she will cherish.

“It’s something that has my best memories and my best friends,” Brinkmann said. “This game has led to the best people and the best atmosphere. I love what I do and love being able to coach these girls. For these girls to be here, this is pretty awesome for them. Everybody loves Sophie and Missouri basketball.”

Obviously. Brinkmann said the Centralia girls can learn from this loss and try to improve. She said it’s great that they and other female athletes today have the opportunity to compete and now have more people concerned about their progress. 

She said events like the Sophie Classic are good to draw more attention to female athletics, and there have been other historic events that have demonstrated growth of interest, such as the University of Nebraska’s volleyball team setting an American attendance record of 92,003 in August at the school’s football stadium for a rare outdoor match.

“These names of all these kids are just more role models for our girls to look up to,” Brinkmann said. “(Sophie) showed, ‘You guys can be successful in anything too.’ Boys sports are always on TV, but girls sports are making things happen. It doesn’t matter which sport we’re in. The fact that female sports are taking a turn, there are some really good athletes and really good programs, and gyms are packed to watch female sports is awesome for females and for athletics.”