Girls basketball

Centralia continues to click in 55-19 win vs Clark County

The Centralia aren’t going to let anything stop them as districts draw ever closer.

Centralia Senior Night Photo Gallery

The Lady Panthers secured their 22nd win after defeating Clarence Cannon Conference foe Clark County 55-19, finishing its conference schedule with five straight wins as part of 11 consecutive overall victories. 

Centralia (22-3, 5-3 CCC) was formidable from the outset on Friday night during its Senior Night game, using a 10-0 run and then a 15-0 run later in the first half to take a 38-10 lead over Clark County (3-21, 0-7 CCC) at halftime. The Lady Panthers finished with 14 steals, with senior Harper Sontheimer leading with four steals and five other players coming away with at least one.

“Maybe they couldn’t handle extremely well, but we’ve also been working on pressure,” head coach Megan Brinkmann said. “Being a little bit more in the passing lanes, that was part of our emphasis tonight.”

While Centralia won Friday’s contest decisively and have been on the winning side of the scoreboard in all but three games this season — going into Tuesday’s regular season finale 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hallsville (14-10), the Lady Panthers have had to deal with some adversity. In its first game of the Harrisburg tournament late in January, Centralia lost reigning all-conference player Morgan Ross to an ACL injury. 

Brinkmann admitted Ross’ injury took some time to adjust as Ross can do many things well on the court, but she said the team has done a good job of stepping up for their fallen teammate. Freshman Braylin Brunkhorst has moved from the bench to the starting lineup more frequently, including Friday when she led the team with 19 points, six rebounds and three 3-pointers, and senior Jozelynn Bostick has been a driving force in the offense, scoring 16 points on Friday.

“She had surgery Tuesday so we’re hoping just for a speedy recovery because we miss her a lot,” Brinkmann said. “She’s been around and is still a great teammate. The kids love having her around. It shows the rest of the kids that everybody needed to step up a little bit, and I thought they have.

“Morgan’s going to make her recovery and bounce back. It’s different subbing and different lineups, but Braylin Brunkhost has stepped up. It takes all of us to win. Shelby (Lewis), Kaelyn (Walters) and Katie (Carrico) coming in off the bench and have had really good minutes. We just had to find the flow and find the rhythm.”

Brinkmann insists the team is not done yet as eclipsing 20 wins this season after finishing with 16 a season ago was not on the Lady Panthers’ minds as much as doing all the little things to get there. Still, she is glad to see Centralia’s journey take them this far as being the No. 1 seed in the Class 4 District 8 tournament in Centralia and hopes its final destination is far in the future, past facing the winner of Macon and Kirksville at 6 p.m. on March 2.

The team’s three seniors of Bostick, Sontheimer and Annie Robinson — who finished with five points, five rebounds and two steals on Friday — have provided much more to the program, as Brinkmann has noticed in her first season with Centralia. She would love to lead the Lady Panthers to a district title in their final season.

“They exhibited exactly what senior leadership is, and they’ve set the bar for senior leadership,” Brinkmann said. “They’re so unselfish, they are generally happy for each other and have led us on and off the floor. Hopefully, a district title would just be icing on top of the cake.”

Moberly 60 Mexico 19 in Moberly

Boys basketball

Centralia forces tough shots in 59-49 win vs Clark County

Defense has been the focus as of late for the Centralia boys.

That was apparent Friday night in the Panthers’ 59-49 Senior Night victory against Clarence Cannon Conference foe Clark County. Centralia’s sixth win in eight games matches its conference record this season with last year but improves its overall record to 14-10 — compared to last season’s 13-14 — going into Tuesday’s regular season finale at Hallsville.

Head coach Scott Humphrey said Centralia has definitely wanted its defense to be in good shape with districts so close as the Panthers have allowed 48.6 points per game in the previous eight games. Clark County (8-15, 2-5 CCC) was held to 29 points through three quarters before a 20-point fourth quarter.

“We played solid man-to-man defense and found a way to slow them down a bit,” Humphrey said. “We knew they struggle to score at times. The shots they hit, I thought they hit some tough shots.”

Centralia was making a habit of having hands in faces or hands on the ball as the Panthers scored some early transition buckets to take a 19-11 lead after the first quarter. 

The Panthers found some easy scoring opportunities after working inside for rebounds as senior Boen Zimmerman led the team with eight rebounds along with eight points, Cullen Bennett followed with seven boards along with a team-high 15 points and Logan Rosenfelder had six rebounds to go with 15 points and four 3-pointers.

Going into the fourth quarter, Centralia had a 44-39 lead that shrank to single digits momentarily but stayed out of reach for Clark County as the Panthers hit 9-of-10 free throws, with two being the last point of a 3-point play. Humphrey said he would have liked to see Centralia played better earlier in the game to avoid a tougher later game.

“I’d like to strung some better positions there early in the second quarter that could’ve maybe strung it out a little bit more and push it away,” Humphrey said. “They’re a good well-coached team and that’s what happens.”

On their final nights on their home court, four of Centralia’s seven seniors scored and all of them played some minutes in the game. Zimmerman and Jack Romine — eight points and three steals — started as they have done all season. Humphrey has said each of his seniors have meant something to his team and his two senior starters especially have helped the Panthers this season.

“Romine just embodies what you want out of your players,” Humphrey said. “He just plays so hard. That’s the thing about him. He’s always tried to win every sprint in practice. He’s just a hardworking kid that rubs off on everybody else. 

“Boen has gotten better and better and has had a really solid senior year and was real proud of him.”

Usually the adage is to take it one game at a time, but in Centralia’s case, its first-round opponent in the Class 4 District 8 tournament in Moberly will be Hallsville (17-7) — the same team it plays in the regular season finale. The Panthers are the No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 Indians at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 with a chance to face No. 1 seed Macon on the line.

Humphrey said Centralia not only has a talented team like Hallsville to worry about but whoever they would potentially face after that would be a tough matchup, whether it be Macon, Kirksville or Mexico.

“It’s a tough district,” Humphrey said. “I knew where we were going to fall two, three, four weeks ago. Our big thing is we got to 14 wins and it’s going to guarantee us a winning season. The kids have earned that. I really love coaching this group because there are no egos in this group.”

Mexico 85 Moberly 48 in Moberly

Harrisburg 82 Missouri Military Academy 41 in Harrisburg. Colonels finish regular season 10-14 and are the No. 5 seed in the Class 3 District 7 tournament at South Callaway in Mokane. They play No. 4 South Callaway (13-12) at 6 p.m. Monday.

Boys district wrestling

Mexico

Eight wrestling today on Day 2 of the Class 2 District 2 tournament in Mexico (tied for 9th out of 15 schools with 30 points):

Keegan Koons (113, semifinals), Watson Azdell (126, 3rd roudn wrestlebacks), Gavyn Martin (132, semifinals), Grant Van Horn (138, semifinals), Casey Minter (144, 3rd round wrestlebacks), Jayden Hodge (165, 3rd round wrestlebacks), Grant Walker (190, semifinals) and Dalton Arndt (215, 3rd round wrestlebacks)

Centralia

14 wrestling today on Day 2 of the Class 1 District 3 tournament at Lafayette County in Higginsville (1st out of 15 schools with 70 points):

Bryson Dubes (106, semifinals), Blake Bodine (113, 3rd round wrestlebacks), Brayden Dubes (120, semifinals), Weston Ward (126, semifinals), Jesse Shannon (132, semifinals), Rex Bryson (138, semifinals), Wyatt Adkisson (144, semifinals), Ethan Adams (150, semifinals), Kyden Wilkerson (157, semifinals), Brayden Shelton (165, semifinals), Mason Adkisson (175, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Ian Tuggle (190, semifinals), Payton Mabrey (215, 2nd round wrestlebacks) and Seth Hasekamp (285, semifinals)

North Callaway

13 wrestling today on Day 2 of the Class 1 District 3 tournament at Lafayette County in Higginsville (sixth out of 15 schools with 35 points):

Tristan Young (113, 2nd round wrestlebacks),  Keitan Matteson (120, 2nd round wrestlebacks) John Higgins (126, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Lane Kimbley (132, semifinals), Cashton Holloway (138, semfinals), AJ Siegel (144, 2nd round wrestlebacks),  Carson Safranski (150, 2nd round wrestlebacks) Eli Henry (157, semifinals), Wyatt Haden (165, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Justice Hancock (175, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Casper Safranski (190, 2nd wrestlebacks) Caleb Rohrbach (215, 2nd round wrestlebacks)  Justice Flax (285, 2nd round wrestlebacks)

Missouri Military Academy

12 wrestling today on Day 2 of the Class 1 District 3 tournament at Lafayette County in Higginsville (15th out of 15 schools with seven points):

Matthew Pfeifer (106, 3rd round wrestlebacks), Caleb Xamis (113, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Dallas Grantz (120, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Sam Stevens (126, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Ryan Miles (132, 3rd round wrestlebacks), Alex Snyder (138, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Trae Griffiths (144, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Bryson Powell (150, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Gabe Canonico (157, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Evan  Corley (175, 2nd round wrestlebacks), Adam Swenson (190, 2nd round wrestlebacks) and Landon Meyer (215, 2nd round wrestlebacks)

Look for the full stories in the Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.