By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

The Centre Cougars’ record improved to 8-7 overall and 5-2 in the Wheat State League after Friday’s 42-25 victory over Solomon on the road. The girls lost 46-35 and had a record of 8-7 overall and 3-4 in the league.

They played Goessel Tuesday and will play Elyria Christian Friday for the final league games of the season.

Boys

Aiden Svoboda kicked off the game with a trey, which was matched by Solomon. Both teams shot poorly the rest of the quarter. The game was tied 8-8 at the end of the quarter, with three points by Jacob Hird and two by Xavier Espinoza.

Jensen Riffel scored the team’s only two points in the second quarter, and Centre trailed 13-10 at halftime.

The second half saw a turnaround by the Cougars as their scoring improved and Solomon’s fell flat. They outscored Solomon 13-5 in the third quarter and 19-7 in the fourth for a 17-point victory.

Hird had five steals. Espinoza had nine rebounds and scored a game-high 13 points, including seven of eight free throws. The team shot 68.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Scoring summary: Espinoza, 13; Hird, 11: Svoboda, 9; Stika, 5; and Riffel, 4.

Centre played at Wichita Classical on Monday in a non-league makeup game. The Cougars were defeated, 59-45.

The boys faced a quick, aggressive team that made it difficult to get inside shots. They trailed 38-21 at halftime but fought their way back to a nine- point deficit before losing by 14 points.

Girls

After trailing 14-6 in the first quarter, the Cougars picked up their scoring. They were within one point, 25-26, at halftime after outscoring Solomon by seven points.

That’s when things fell apart. Solomon outscored Centre 14-7 in the third quarter and 6-3 in the fourth, handing the Cougars an 11-point loss.

Scoring in double digits were Kelsey Hett with 16, including nine from the free-throw line, and Alyssa Espinoza, 10.

Scoring summary: Hett, 16; Alyssa Espinoza, 10; Samantha Espinoza, 5; and Allie Hird, 4.

The girls played at Wichita Collegiate on Monday. The game was close throughout and had an exciting finish. Centre trailed 29-27 with seconds to go when Kelsey Hett made a trey, giving Centre a one-point victory.