Girls lose to Goessel

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

There could have been nothing sweeter for Centre than avenging a four-overtime heartbreaker by crusing past the state’s No. 1-ranked Class 1A Division 2 Elyria Christian by a 56-44 final.

Centre had to settle for second in its home tournament when Elyria came out on top in the marathon January battle, but the February rematch was decisively Centre’s.

Four Cougars scored in double figures, including Cody Svoboda, 16; Xavier Espinoza, 14; and CJ Thompson and Cole Srajer with 12 each.

The Cougar girls lost an earlier contest 34-30.

Friday

After suffering their first league loss of the season earlier in the week to Solomon, 59-53, the Centre Cougars defeated Goessel on Friday, 71-50.

The week was just the opposite for the girls. They defeated Solomon 44-32 but lost to Goessel 71-36.

Cougars C.J. Thompson, Cody Svoboda, Cole Srajer, and Xavier Espinoza all contributed to the 22-10 lead after one quarter. They continued to score consistently throughout the game, and all four ended with double-digit totals: Svoboda, 17; Srajer, 16; Thompson, 15; and Espinoza, 14.

Centre shot 44.4 percent from the floor and 55 percent from the free-throw line.

Espinoza led in rebounds with 8, and Svoboda had 7. Srajer had 7 assists, and Thompson had the most steals.

Centre’s record stood at 6-1 in the league and 10-4 overall.

Girls

According to girls coach Alan Stahlecker, Goessel has not lost a Wheat State League game in the last four seasons, and Friday was no exception.

Goessel jumped out to a 19-2 lead with two minutes remaining in the first quarter, but the Cougars “scratched and clawed” their way back, closing the gap to 23-18 by the middle of the second quarter.

That was as close as they got. They fell farther behind and were outscored 19-2 in the final quarter, resulting in a 35-point loss.

Kate Basore led scoring with 12 points.

The girls’ record was 3-4 in the league and 8-6 overall.

They played Elyria at home Tuesday and