Centre boys defeat St. Xavier in first round of regionals

By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Centre girls ended the regular season with a record of 11-8 after defeating Canton-Galva Feb. 12, 60-48, at home. The boys’ team ended the regular season with a record of 8-11. Non-league games scheduled for Friday at Chase County were canceled because of bad weather.

The girls are seeded second in the IA regional at Lebo next week. They have a first-round bye and will not play until 7:30 p.m. Thursday against third-seed Burlington, which also has a first-round bye.

The boys’ team is seeded fifth in the regional tournament. Centre played fourth-seed St. Xavier (11-5) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Junction City and won 66-44. They will play Burlingame in the semi-finals at 6 p.m. Friday at Lebo.

The girls played a close game with Canton-Galva during the first half. They trailed 28-25 at halftime.

After a third-quarter 30-30 tie, Centre went on a 13-point run to take a 43-32 lead. The Cougars were outscored by the Eagles 16-11 in the final quarter but won by 12 points.

Three players scored in double digits.

Summary: Alyssa Espinoza, 22; Kelsey Hett, 20; Samantha Espinoza, 12; Carly Deines, 4; and Allie Hird, 2.

The boys’ teams were evenly matched and played a close game throughout. Centre lost, 38-35.

Xavier Espinoza was injured near the end of the third quarter. Centre led, 35-29, but fell behind in the fourth quarter. However, the Cougars remained within two or three points before losing by three.

Dalton Stika scored 14 points including four treys. Jacob Hird also scored 14.

Summary: Stika, 14; Hird, 14; Lane Methvin, 7; Espinoza, 6; and Jensen Riffel, 4.