Centre girls advance after first-round win
Raschelle Jirak
leads scoring with 15
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Centre High School girls defeated Wakefield, 51-39, Feb. 24 on their home court to advance to the semi-final round of the 1A regional basketball tournament.
They entered the tournament with nine wins, 11 losses.
The game was close in the first quarter, with Wakefield having a slim two-point lead, 14-12 at the end of the quarter.
A lay-up by Megan Gutsch at 5:15 in the second quarter tied the game at 16 all. This was followed by a trey from Raschelle Jirak to give the Lady Cougars a three-point lead.
By the end of the first half, the girls had a 25-20 lead. They extended that lead to six points in the third quarter, 39-33, and added 12 compared to six by Wakefield in the fourth, to win by 12 points.
Both teams shot 32 percent from the field, but Centre had three treys and was eight of 12 at the free-throw line compared to three of five by Wakefield.
Jirak was leading scorer with 15 points, followed by Gutsch with 13. Laura Klenda also was in double digits with 10 points. Jill Fenske provided eight assists.
Gutsch led at the boards with seven rebounds.
STATISTICS
Centre 12 14 13 12 - 51
Wakefld 14 6 13 6 - 39
Total points: Selena Seifert, 3; Jill Fenske, 4; Megan Gutsch, 13; Raschelle Jirak, 15; Brianne Stahlecker, 4; Brittany Owens, 2; Laura Klenda, 10.
Assists: Ashley Griffith, 1; Seifert, 2; Fenske, 8; J. Klenda, 1; Jirak, 1; Jenna Beneke, 2.
Rebounds: Griffith, 2; Seifert, 4; J. Klenda, 6; Krista Heiser, 4; Gutsch, 7; Jirak, 3; Stahlecker, 3; L. Klenda, 6; Beneke, 3.
Blocked shots: Heiser, 1; Gutsch, 1; Jirak, 1; Stahlecker, 1; Beneke, 1.
Steals: Griffith, 2; Seifert, 3; Fenske, 2; J. Klenda, 3; Heiser, 1; Jirak, 2; Stahlecker, 3; L. Klenda, 2.
White City
In a re-match from a week earlier, the girls played White City Friday at Wakefield in a semi-final game. They were defeated 50-37.
Laura Klenda scored a lay-up to start things off, and followed it up with two free-throws to give Centre a 4-0 lead.
After White City tied the game at four all, the lead changed hands several more times before the end of the first quarter.
A 10-10 tie at the end of the quarter was broken by a last second, disheartening trey by White City, giving them the lead, 13-10.
The girls continued to fall farther behind in the second quarter. White City added 14 points compared to six by Centre to produce a half-time score of 27-16.
The Lady Cougars picked up their play in the third quarter, scoring seven unanswered points to come within six points, 29-23, with five minutes to go in the quarter.
However, White City came back with two consecutive treys to destroy most of the gain. Both teams scored 11 points in the quarter, to leave the Lady Huskies in the lead, 38-27.
The Lady Cougars got within seven points, 44-37, with two minutes to go, but White City scored an additional six points, mostly at the free-throw line, to give Centre a 13-point loss. It was the fourth loss of the season to White City.
Laura Klenda was the only Centre player in double digits. She scored 17 points. She also rebounded the ball 20 times and blocked it three times. Jill Fenske provided five assists.
The girls ended the season with nine wins and 12 losses over all.
"We had a fair season," Coach Greg Wyatt said. "It was better than last year. We had a lot of young players. Hopefully, they will have learned from their experiences and we can look forward to a better year next year."
STATISTICS
Centre 10 6 11 10 - 37
Wte.Cty. 13 14 11 12 - 50
Total points: Jill Fenske, 2; J. Klenda, 3; Megan Gutsch, 7; Raschelle Jirak, 5; Brianne Stahlecker, 3; Laura Klenda, 17.
Assists: Fenske, 5; J. Klenda, 2; Stahlecker, 1; L. Klenda, 2.
Rebounds: Ashley Griffith, 2; Selena Seifert, 1; Fenske, 5; J. Klenda, 3; Krista Heiser, 1; Gutsch, 11; Jirak, 5; Stahlecker, 2; L. Klenda, 20; Jenna Beneke, 1.
Blocked shots: Fenske, 1; J. Klenda, 2; Gutsch, 1; Stahlecker, 1; L. Klenda, 3.
Steals: Fenske, 2; Gutsch, 3; Jirak, 1; Stahlecker, 1; L. Klenda, 2.
