Cougars split pair
with Rural Vista
Staff writer
After taking a beating on the road at Stafford, Centre’s boys bounced back Friday to defeat visiting Rural Vista, 55-43.
Centre had played Rural Vista in a pre-season tournament earlier and defeated the Heat by 19 points, but the Heat came out stronger this time and created an exciting contest.
The Cougars turned the ball over three times in the first two minutes, but Mikey Silhan got them going in the right direction with a three. Luke Hudson followed with a two and a free throw, and Santiago Knepp made a free throw to give Centre a 7-0 lead.
A field goal and a three by Rural Vista at the buzzer made the score 7-5 after one quarter.
The Heat took a brief lead at the beginning of the second quarter and continued to play aggressively, but Kyle Peterson made two consecutive shots and Silhan made another three. Gentri Holub got hot after that and scored nine points, helping Centre to a six-point lead at halftime.
The Heat didn’t let up in the second half, coming to within three points before gradually falling farther behind, to lose by 12 points.
Holub led Centre’s scoring, with 19 points. He also had nine rebounds before fouling out near the end of the game. Luke Hudson scored 14 and had five steals and five assists. Silhan had 10 points, five steals, and four assists.
Going into Tuesday’s game at Solomon, Centre was 5-2. It’s next contest will be a home game Jan. 7 against Canton-Galva.
Girls
After recording their first victory of the season earlier in the week at Stafford, Centre’s girls fell 48-27 Friday to Rural Vista.
The game was tied at 10 early in the second, but Rural Vista scored seven unanswered points enroute to a 10-point halftime lead.
Carly Deines scored 4 points for Centre in the third quarter, but from then on, it was all Rural Vista. Centre struggled at the free-throw line.
Deines led Centre, scoring 13 for the game.