LEDGER SPORTS ROUNDUP 12/07/2022

By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor
Posted 12/8/22

Girls basketball

Centralia buys in, shuts down Harrisburg 54-25

The Centralia girls didn’t allow any points during the first quarter Wednesday night.

In fact, the Lady Panthers …

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LEDGER SPORTS ROUNDUP 12/07/2022

Posted

Girls basketball

Centralia buys in, shuts down Harrisburg 54-25

The Centralia girls didn’t allow any points during the first quarter Wednesday night.

In fact, the Lady Panthers prevented then-undefeated Harrisburg, who received votes in the first Class 3 state poll, from scoring for almost 12 minutes as Centralia won 54-25 in the semifinals of the Centrali Invitational Tournament. Limiting the Lady Bulldogs (54 points per game) to a new season-low earned the Lady Panthers a spot in the championship game at 8 p.m. Friday against Hallsville (3-1), who defeated Salisbury 63-52 on Wednesday.

Head coach Megan Brinkmann, who installed a new system in her first-year at Centralia, said the Lady Panthers (4-1) have “bought in” sooner than she anticipated as their defense has been strong since the 63-41 season-opening loss to Class 4 No. 9 California. In the next four games, including Wednesday’s results, Centralia has kept opponents to 24.8 points per game and has averaged 57.5 in that stretch.

“To play anybody and not having them score a bucket, especially when Harrisburg has some really good offensive threats, it’s just absolutely outstanding,” Brinkmann said. “We guard like that, we have a chance to beat anybody.”

Morgan Ross led Centralia with 12 points and two 3-pointers, Shelby Lewis had 10 points and 10 rebounds, Annie Robinson finished with nine points and nine rebounds, and Raegan Anderson had eight points and two 3-pointers. 

For Harrisburg (5-1), Carli Ellis, who had a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds against North Callaway on Monday, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Ellis scored 10 of her points in the second half, going 8-for-10 at the free throw line. Brecca Thornhill, who finished 11 points on Monday, followed with six points and six steals.

Brinkmann said Ellis and Thornhill were a big focus because of Ellis’ “soft touch” and skill in the paint and Thornhill being Harrisburg’s “best guard.” Centralia had the players to match, though.

“We put Harper (Sontheimer) on (Ellis) because she is our best defender,” Brinkmann said. “Sometimes, her stat line doesn’t have a ton of points, or whatever the case it, but you have to have her on the floor because she guards the best player. I thought she did an outstanding job. It’s the same thing with Jozelynn Bostick as we put her on (Thornhill). I thought Joz shut her down and did a good job.”

Lewis made an impact in the first quarter, finishing with six points and four rebounds off the bench in the first quarter. Centralia led 14-0 after one as Harrisburg could not throw up a shot without being contested.

The Lady Bulldogs tried desperately to find an answer as they were forced to call another timeout after Anderson drained a 3-pointer to make it 19-0 about three minutes deep into the second quarter. At about 4:15 in the second quarter, Abby Rosson finally gave Harrisburg points on a layup she had in a one-on-one situation off a pass to the interior.

“I didn’t see a ton of defensive breakdowns,” Brinkmann said. “We were just talking and communicating. We went over their sets, and I think we took them out of everything they wanted to do and then they didn’t know what to do.”

Coming out of a 25-7 Centralia halftime lead, the Lady Panthers surged to a 12-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers by Ross and Anderson and a steal-and-score by Bostick. Harrisburg then gained some life with a 10-0 run, stealing the ball away on three straight possessions. Ellis found ways to cut to the rim and draw fouls to earn free throws until Centralia took a 43-23 lead into the fourth quarter.

Robinson had the last say in the third quarter, scoring six points near the end of the quarter. She added to her total in the fourth quarter along with Lewis, who clinched her double-double with free throws and a rebound she grabbed before stepping out of bounds. Ellis led Harrisburg with eight rebounds while Centralia had two players go north of that total.

“Shelby’s obviously tall, long and lanky, but she’s also really strong so we want her jumping and going to get them,” Brinkmann said. “It’s the same with Annie. She’s super-strong, so shot goes up, go box and go get it.”

Centralia didn’t know who  it was going to play after its game as Hallsville and Salisbury tipped off afterward, but Brinkmann said it doesn't matter as long as the Lady Panthers continue guarding the way they have.

“They earned the one seed, and now they have to earn the championship trophy,” Brinkmann said. “We’ll take whoever and prepare.”

North Callaway holds off Van-Far 43-38 to advance in Centralia tournament

Maintaining adequate breathing room proved difficult for the North Callaway girls late Wednesday night.

In the consolation semifinals of the Centralia Invitational Tournament, the Ladybirds defeated Eastern Missouri Conference foe Van-Far 43-38, surviving a 17-6 third-quarter onslaught from the Lady Indians. Van-Far (1-4) trailed by one point in the fourth quarter, but 3-pointers and free throws down the stretch were enough to eliminate Van-Far and send the Ladybirds (2-3) to a 5 p.m. Friday game against Macon (3-2), who defeated Boonville 51-45 on Wednesday.

North Callaway head coach Tim Turlington said he was thankful that the Ladybirds built a 14-point cushion in a 23-9 halftime lead because Van-Far stormed back in the second half. Turlington said he thinks North Callaway wanted to win and stay in the tournament so bad that the mistakes started piling up.

“I think, in their heads, they wanted to win, so we started playing careful — both ends of the floor — not wanting to make a mistake,” Turlington said. “Therefore, we made all the mistakes we could make and let them back in it.”

Van-Far head coach Heather Minter said the Lady Indians played like they were fully capable in the second half, and all it took was to trust each other.

“The difference is, we settled down and they did what they were supposed to do,” Minter said. “The only way we are going to get good is we have to learn to trust each other and grow. It's tough, but I know we have it in us.”

Shryock scoring 11 of her team-high 19 points in the first half helped build North Callaway’s halftime lead and her two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter gave the Ladybirds a 37-32 lead with almost two minutes left in the fourth quarter. She also finished with eight rebounds and two steals.

Faith Cash had 12 points off the bench, including two free throws in the fourth quarter that pushed North Callaway to a 42-36 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the game. Abrielle Burgher had six points and five rebounds, with all of her points happening in the fourth quarter. Ellie Bedsworth led the team with six rebounds, pulling down most of them in the fourth quarter to prevent Van-Far from gaining possessions and giving North Callaway a 34-25 rebound advantage.

North Callaway was down one Ladybird as reigning all-conference and all-district point guard Riley Blevins was unavailable due to personal reasons, altering North Callaway’s offense where Lakyn Hartley had the start and Cash played more minutes. Turlington admitted, despite working without Blevins in practice, the offense’s timing was still “broke a lot of times,” but the girls made the necessary plays when they mattered.

“I had a sophomore, Faith Cash, step in and cash in two free throws at the end to seal the deal,” Turlington said. “That was good for her because she works so freakin’ hard, and she did a really good job tonight at both ends of the floor.”

Minter said other Ladybirds stepping up filled in nicely for the Blevins absence, which Van-Far didn’t know about until gametime. She said the Lady Indians were focused on Shryock but lost her too many times.

“We wanted to contain Natalie, but she was still able to get points,” Minter said. “My kids are learning, but we have a lot of work to do.”

For Van-Far, Mara Jensen recorded her third double-double in five games, finishing with 27 points and 15 rebounds along with five steals. McKenna Engh-Hoffman followed with six points and nine rebounds, and Carmen Wilburn had three points and three steals.

Turlington said Jensen was clearly a problem but thought his girls did a nice job defending her. North Callaway will have to defend her again Monday when the Ladybirds host Van-Far in a conference matchup.

Jensen carried the Van-Far offense again with her footwork in the paint as he had all of its points when it trails 9-6 after the first quarter and eight of them when North Callaway took its halftime lead.

The third quarter started with the Lady Indians scoring the first two buckets and snowballed until a 17-2 run gave them its first lead at 26-25. Engh-Hoffman secured an offensive rebound before putting it back for a 3-point play and then the next bucket by Jensen gave the lead that immediately disappeared after Shryock scored at the other end. 

“We went through periods tonight where we did struggle a little bit, but overall, we shot much better than we have the past two games,” Turlington said. 

Paris 26 Mark Twain 20 in Monroe City Basketball Tournament consolation semifinals. Lady Coyotes play the winner of Marion County and Louisiana (game today) at 6 p.m. Friday in the Monroe City middle school gym

Boys basketball

Mark Twain 53 Paris 25 in Monroe City Basketball Tournament consolation semifinals. The Coyotes are eliminated from the tournament and are schedule to host Marceline at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday for its Lewis and Clark Conference opener.


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