Staff writer
The Centre Cougars were defeated Thursday and Friday in the Herington pre-season tournament, but came away with a victory over Wakefield Saturday in a consolation game to place fifth.
Northern Heights
The Cougars might have defeated Northern Heights Thursday if they would have had a better first quarter.
After trailing 16-7 in the first quarter, they scored one point less than Heights in each of the next two quarters and outscored them in the fourth quarter, 17-14. Centre lost, 56-48.
Most of the players contributed points. Leading scorers were Ty Simons, 11, and James Wyatt, 10. Justin Deines and Trevor Hageberg scored six points each; Kordell Harding, five; Shane Methvin, four; and Grant Srajer and Kodey Johnson, three.
The team completed 11-of-39 two-point shots, 7-of-19 three-point shots, and 5-of-13 free throws.
Wyatt was the leading rebounder, four offensively and nine defensively. Simons provided four assists for eight points.
Herington
The Cougars were overpowered Friday by a tall, strong Herington Railers team. They were outscored 10-4, 21-9, and 12-3 in the first three quarters and trailed, 43-16.
They outscored Herington in the fourth quarter, 16-10, narrowing the gap to a 21-point deficit, 53-32.
The team was plagued by turnovers, 29 in all, and had trouble getting to the basket. None of the Cougars scored in double digits. Hageberg scored eight points, Deines seven, Harding six, Simons and Kyle Methvin four each, and Srajer three.
Wyatt had three offensive and four defensive rebounds.
Wakefield
Against league foe Wakefield, Saturday, the Cougars won, 50-44.
The two teams were well matched throughout the game, but the Cougars managed to stay a few steps ahead to clinch a victory.
Deines and Wyatt led scoring with 10 points each. Srajer had seven, Shane Methvin and Hageberg six each, Harding five, Simons four, and Johnson two.
Wyatt and Hageberg each had eight rebounds.
Herington defeated Hope for the championship, and Southeast of Saline defeated Northern Heights for third place.