Centralia had plenty of offensive production from its all-state players and defensive production from all around.

Centralia vs California Photo Gallery

The reigning Class 3 third-place Lady Panthers opened this season on Monday at home against California with a 58-45 victory. Centralia stalled California in the second quarter by allowing eight points to defeat the Lady Pintos a season after beating them 56-48 in the state tournament.

California (0-1) hung around in the first quarter and only started falling behind after a 9-2 Centralia run to close the quarter. Then the Lady Panthers (1-0) locked down defensively and took their first 20-point lead in the third quarter. MSHSAA Class 3 girls basketball head coach of the year Megan Brinkmann said her team knew what to expect from California and eventually settled in.

“We knew they were going to run dribble drives,” Brinkmann said. “We did what we were supposed to do. Those guards between Ryenn (Gordon), Braylin (Brunkhorst), Madi (Johnson), Ealynne (Bostick) and Brooklyn (Hardin), man they are tough and put pressure on you and then our back side help was outstanding too. Bailey (Schuering) was exactly where she needed to be.”

California did tie the game at 14 in the first quarter but then something possessed the Centralia point guard. Gordon scored nine of her 11 first-quarter points quickly, including her rebound that turned into a coast-to-coast layup, and punctuated the quarter with a deflection on defense. 

Gordon finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals. She and fellow returning all-state guard Braylin Brunkhorst took control of the game in transition in the middle quarters, as Brunkhorst finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Before that, the spurt by Gordon to close the first quarter provided a spark.

“I don’t know,” Gordon said when asked what got into her in that time frame. “I just let loose and started playing. You’ve just got to let loose and not think about stuff going on in the crowd or anywhere else, just playing basketball.”

Brinkmann said she expects Gordon and Brunkhorst to have games like Monday because “that’s just what they do.” She pointed out, however, that Centralia's first five points came from others on a shot by Bostick and a 3-pointer by Johnson, who hit two-3-pointers and had five rebounds. Bostick added three steals to the defensive effort while her fellow freshman Hardin had three blocks. 

After a nice combined effort in the first game, Brinkmann is looking forward to those younger players gaining more confidence and believes they can help out Gordon and Brunkhorst.

“I’m really happy with our role players,” Brinkmann said. “They’ve got to step up and hit big shots too. Everybody’s going to try to take those two away. We’re going to see some junk defense and we’re going to see some triangle and two so everybody else has to step up and play their role.”

On the other hand, Centralia was good at taking away California’s main threats as returning all-state player Kierstyn Lawson finished with nine points and four steals. Hailey Rademan led with 12 points and six rebounds. 

The Lady Panthers regularly were draped around California when it tried to drive the ball into the lane, forcing them to go away from the rim. There were some bumps but not many fouls as the Lady Pintos threw up tough shots that resulted in misses and points at the other end.

“Being intentional and being early, we talked about playing without fouling,” Brinkmann said. “You know something is coming, and that’s what we practice, showing early help. If you’re early, they got to turn around and it’s not a foul. If you’re late, not paying attention and you’re not mentally tough, then it’s easy to pick up one.”

From there, Gordon said she and her teammates had to be paying attention in case California tried anything else. The Lady Pintos knocked down six 3-pointers.

“It’s just running them off the line,” Gordon said. “We know that they can shoot, and we know they’re going to pull up. It’s just talking and communicating on screens, switching, getting over and always having a hand up and being there to help out your teammates so that they can’t get good shots off.”

Centralia has about a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday before hosting North Callaway (1-0) at 6 p.m. Dec. 3. Now one game is done, Brinkmann said the Lady Panthers need to focus on being strong all around the roster and thought Monday was a good start with a “full team effort.”

“We know those two are going to get guarded really heavily up top, and their two best defenders are going to be on Ryenn and Braylin,” Brinkmann said. “We’re trying to make some entries and make some things with a little bit more creativity with how we get them the ball, and it’s giving everybody else opportunities. Ryenn and Braylin aren’t going to win games with just those two.”