Staff writer
In two games on the road last week, the Centre High School Cougars fell to Little River, 61-46, and Hope, 54-44.
Against Hope on Friday, the Cougars started and finished with good quarters, but the quarters in between led to their defeat.
They led 12-9 after the first quarter. Grant Srajer and Shane Methvin scored 3-pointers and Trevor Hageberg had two field goals.
Centre was outscored 17-4 in the second quarter and 17-11 in the third quarter.
Ty Simons made two 3-point shots and two field goals, Justin Deines made a 3-pointer, and Hageberg added a field goal and two free throws in the fourth quarter to outscore Hope, 17-11. Nevertheless, the team walked away with a 10-point loss.
The big difference was at the free-throw line. Centre completed 3-of-5 attempts, and Hope completed 17-of-38 attempts.
Centre was 16-of-51 from the field, including 5-of-16 from the 3-point line.
Simons was the leading scorer with 14 points, followed by Srajer with 11. Hageberg had 8 points, Deines 5, and Shane Methvin and Kyle Methvin 3 each.
James Wyatt led at the boards with 11 rebounds. Srajer provided 4 assists, and Wyatt and Kendall Harding had 4 blocks.
Little River
Despite 3-point baskets by Wyatt and Hageberg during the first quarter of the game Jan. 10 against Little River, Centre trailed, 16-10, at the end of the quarter.
Wyatt scored the Cougars’ 6 points in the second quarter on a 3-point shot and 3 free throws. The Redskins scored 9 points to lead at halftime, 28-16.
After a 5-11 third quarter, the Cougars improved their scoring percentage in the fourth to add 25 points compared with 22 points by Little River. Simons, Deines, Wyatt, Cory Brunzell, Harding, and Kyle Methvin all contributed points. However, it was too little, too late, and Centre walked away with a 15-point loss.
The team made 16 of 51 field goals and 9 of 16 free throws. Leading scorers were Wyatt with 16 points and Simons with 10. Wyatt led at the boards with 11 rebounds, Deines had 3 assists, and Wyatt had 3 steals.