CHS girls place second, advance to sub-state
Gutsch leads team
in scoring and rebounds
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Centre High School girls' basketball team earned the right Friday to compete in the championship game of the 1A regional tournament at Burrton. They defeated Burrton, 52-37.
They played top-seeded Olpe on Saturday. Olpe is rated one in the state in 1A and entered the tournament with a record of 17-1.
Centre was playing without starter Selena Seifert, who was injured in Friday's game. The Lady Cougars could not counter the strong defense and good shooting by Olpe and were defeated by a whopping 41 points, 36-77.
However, both teams are entitled to go on to sub-state. Centre, with a record of 17-6, will play at 6 p.m. Friday against St. Paul (19-3) at El Dorado. If Centre wins, they will play in the championship game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Aggressive defense by the Lady Cougars Friday against Burrton frustrated them and created numerous turn-overs. Almost half of Burrton's points were scored at the free-throw line.
Centre led 8-0 at 2:37 in the first quarter on field goals by Megan Gutsch, Teaira Turner, and Seifert. Burrton completed four free throws and Centre added seven more points to give the Lady Cougars a 15-4 lead.
By halftime, Centre had increased their lead to 26-8. Burrton staged a comeback in the third quarter and outscored Centre 21-10, 10 of those points coming from the free-throw line. They were within seven points, 29-36, at the end of the quarter.
But the Lady Cougars turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, outscoring Burrton 16-8 for a 15-point win.
Team statistics tell the story: field goals, Centre 35-of-60, Burrton, 8-of-55; free throws, Centre 9-of-17, Burrton 20-of-30; rebounds, Centre 41, Burrton 45; blocked shots, Centre 12, Burrton 4; steals, Centre 31, Burrton 11.
Megan Gutsch was leading scorer with 15 points. She also led at the boards with 11 rebounds. Jenna Beneke scored eight points and provided four blocked shots.
Olpe
The game against Olpe was a different story.
Gutsch gave Centre an opening 2-0 lead, but Olpe began piling up points on good rebounding and numerous Centre turnovers, to lead 15-4 at the end of the first quarter.
The Lady Cougars struggled to control the ball and score as the game progressed. They were down 11-30 in the second quarter when they staged a brief comeback on a trey by Turner and field goals by Krista Heiser and Jackie Klenda. The score stood at 18-32 in Olpe's favor at halftime.
Things went downhill from there. Centre was outscored 22-7 and 23-11 in the final two quarters for an embarrassing 41-point loss.
Centre was just 16-of-56 in field goals compared to 31-of-63 by Olpe, including five treys. Olpe was 10-of-15 from the free-throw line compared to 3-of-8 by Centre.
No Centre player scored in double digits. Gutsch again was top scorer for Centre with nine points, and she led in rebounds with eight.
Fortunately, the Lady Cougars have a second chance to prove themselves as they face St. Paul Friday at sub-state. With Seifert expected to be back in the lineup, good things could happen.
