It isn’t often that teams win three straight championships in a row.

Centralia vs Harrisburg Photo Gallery

Still, the Class 3 No. 3 Centralia girls felt prepared as it went into Saturday night as repeat Harrisburg Tournament champions and left as three-peat Harrisburg champions by defeating the host Lady Bulldogs 61-47. The Lady Panthers (17-1) owned a lead over 20 points in the second half against Harrisburg (15-3), who received votes in the most recent Class 2 state poll.

While Centralia has won three straight Harrisburg tournaments, it completed a three-peat earlier this season when it won its own tournament for the third consecutive year. Head coach Megan Brinkmann has been at the helm for every one of those title teams and believes the girls were ready for Saturday as they have always been.

“It is having the girls believe in a process and have the girls continue getting better one game at a time,” Brinkmann said. “I say that a lot, but I think they really believe in it and try to focus on that. No matter what game it is, we always prepare.”

In the case of Harrisburg, the Lady Bulldogs are on pace to have their best season since their most recent state championship campaign in 2012. They went into the day only one loss worse than Centralia so Brinkmann said there were some key points about them to keep in mind.

Centralia played its best defensive quarter in the first by outscoring Harrisburg 18-7. The number of 3-pointers the Lady Bulldogs hit (seven) almost equaled their 2-point buckets (nine) as Centralia closed off easy shots in the lane. Brinkmann said it is difficult to determine what Harrisburg is going to do since the Lady Bulldogs don’t always know.

“Their offense is a lot of five-out motion, or read-and-react, so you can’t really prepare for that,” Brinkmann said. “It’s more about what we do defensively. We did really good in the first half, but in some defensive transition, I thought we could do better at. I liked seeing it now that we won because that is something we can work on.”

Brinkmann had the rematch on Feb. 10 in Harrisburg in mind following the victory and knows what to expect in the second matchup. Lorelai Hunziker led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points, and Avelina McKinzie had 12 points as they were named to the all-tournament team with Macie Ellis. Brette Ackman added 11 points and three 3-pointers off the bench.

Ryenn Gordon knocked down four 3-pointers in the first half for Centralia as she finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. She, Braylin Brunkhost and Madi Johnson each made the all-tournament team for the Lady Panthers. Brunkhorst led with 22 points and seven rebounds, Johnson had eight points and Ealynne Bostick added seven points. 

“None of this would be possible without our coaches and the community supporting us,” Brunkhorst said. “Everyone’s really supportive of all the support we have gotten.”

Brinkmann said she knew Harrisburg runs 1-2-2 and 2-3 zones on defense under head coach Jaret Hunziker and added the Lady Panthers knew where to be to score. When Gordon wasn’t scoring from long range, she and others found open girls near the rim on, sometimes, diagonal passes in the pockets of Harrisburg’s zone.

“It was our best night of zone offense versus a zone defense,” Brinkmann said. “What a good night to showcase versus a really good defensive team. Versus the 1-2-2, we talked about being diagonal and being in the right spot and ready. We executed that extremely well early.”

When Harrisburg used a 2-3 zone in the second half, Brunkhorst said Centralia kept its “pedal to the metal” to prevent Harrisburg from cutting into the Lady Panthers’ lead. Brunkhorst scored 15 of her points in the second half, including two 3-point plays on transition layups. 

“It is definitely having a good mindset of staying calm under pressure,” Brunkhorst said. “When we go into tournaments, people are going to give us their best.”

Brunkhorst and Gordon scored in double digits in every game last week, leading Centralia to a 61-24 win over Fulton and a 70-29 win over Fayette. The third Lady Panthers all-tournament member Johnson had a solid week with seven points, 11 points and then eight points and two 3-pointers against Harrisburg.

Brinkmann said the junior who has been part of every tournament title team along with Brunkhorst brings much value to the Lady Panthers. For instance, Johnson hit timely shots to counter Harrisburg momentum and made a bounce pass to Madilynn Hunter to beat the third-quarter buzzer after Harrisburg’s Ackmann drained a pair of 3-pointers.

“She’s an awesome kid and awesome leader,” Brinkmann said. “I think everybody thinks of her as a defensive player, but she’s really good offensively. She understands things and is able to hit shots. She played every minute tonight. We would not be where we are without her.”

Centralia plays at district foe Bowling Green (5-11) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.