Centre boys win thriller
The Centre Cougars basketball team began the season Friday with a bang by defeating 3A Southeast of Saline 59-53.
The game was close all the way until the very end with quarterly scores of 16-17, 29-28, 39-38, and a final score of 59-53.
Junior Todd Stahlecker led the offense, piling up 25 points including four three-pointers and four free-throws.
He was followed by two other players in double digits: Curtis Gutsch, 13 points, and Travis Burns, 11.
The Cougars shot 46.9 percent from the floor in two-pointers. They completed six out of 22 three-point attempts, including one each from Aaron Barney and Burns. They made 11 out of 20 (55 percent) of their free-throw attempts.
Individual statistics
Scoring: Stahlecker 25, Gutsch 13, Burns 11, Aaron Barney 8, Justin Garrard 2.
Fouls: Burns 5, Barney 1, Stahlecker 2, Derek Belton 4.
Offensive/defensive rebounds: Gutsch 2/4, Burns 1/8, Barney 2/4, Stahlecker 1/1, Belton, 0/1, Garrard 2/4.
Turnovers: Gutsch 4, Burns 2, Barney 4, Stahlecker 1, Belton 1, Garrard 1.
Steals: Gutsch 2, Burns 3, Barney 1, Stahlecker 2, Garrard 2.
Assists: Gutsch 10, Burns 2, Barney 1, Stahlecker 1, Garrard 1.
Charges taken: Barney 1, Belton 1.
Junior varsity
The junior varsity didn't fare so well. They were swamped 24-59.
SES jumped ahead 17-8 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back. They scored 16 points in the second quarter and 18 in the fourth compared with six points by Centre in both quarters.
One Centre player, Tad Remy, scored in double digits with 10 points. He was followed by Trent Hajek with six. Andrew Hajek, Bryant Gutsch, Jeremy Kristek, and Vegim Krelani had two points each.
