Cougars close disappointing season
Centre High School boys' basketball team dropped the final two games of the season last week, ending with an over-all record of 8-12.
Centre vs. St. John's Military
It was a battle to the finish Feb. 12 when Centre played St. John's Military Academy at Salina.
The Cougars had a slow start as St. John's outscored them 17 to 11 in the first quarter. The team picked up its play in the second quarter scoring 14 points compared to St. John's 15, for a half-time score of 25-32.
During the second half, the Cougars crept ever closer to St. John's, ending the third quarter down by one, 47-48.
An exciting fourth quarter saw both teams score three three-pointers and a total of 22 points, leaving a disappointed Centre team down by one at the end, 69-70.
Centre completed eight three-pointers, 21 field goals, and three of 14 from the free-throw line. Four players were in double digits.
Despite fouling out of the game, Kyle Luna led scoring with 17 points and had nine rebounds. Travis Burns and Grant Garrard had 12 points each, and Todd Stahlecker had 11.
Individual statistics
Scoring: Luna, 17; Burns, Garrard, 12; Stahlecker, 11; Makovec, Carmen Mille, 6 each; Brian Klenda, 5.
Offensive/defensive rebounds: Luna, 2/7; Garrard, 6/2; Burns, 4/0; Makovec, 0/2; Stahlecker, Klenda, 0/1 each.
Fouls: Luna, Garrard, 5 each; Makovec, Belton, 2 each; Burns, Klenda, 1 each.
Turnovers: Burns, 1; Garrard, 1.
Steals: Makovec, 3; Luna, Mille, 2 each; Stahlecker, Garrard, 1 each.
Assists: Makovec, 6; Garrard, 3; Burns, 2; Luna, Mille, Stahlecker, 1 each.
Blocked shots: Garrard, 1.
B team
Justin Garrard led the junior varsity to a 49-44 victory over St. John's. He scored 19 points.
The game was close all the way until the fourth quarter, with quarterly scores of 15-13, 29-26, and 37-39.
Down by two at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Cougars outscored St. John's 12 to 5, giving Centre the five-point win.
Other scorers were Aaron Barney, 9; Derek Belton, 8; Eric Peterson, 6; Chris Peterson, 4; and Andrew Hajek, 3.
Centre vs. Herington
The varsity game with Herington got off to a fast start. Despite two threes from Makovec, the Cougars were behind 8-9 with 4:50 to play in the first quarter.
Centre went ahead 18-11 following three-pointers from Garrard and Stahlecker and a lay-up by Gutsch. However, Herington came storming back with five points of their own. The first quarter ended with Centre up by two, 18-16.
Makovec had a couple of steals as the second quarter began, leading to a Stahlecker three-pointer and a Gutsch two-pointer and the Cougars' second seven-point lead, 25-18.
Herington responded with an 11-point run to take the lead, 29-27, with 3:30 remaining in the half. The score at the buzzer was Centre 32, Herington, 38.
The Cougars couldn't seem to get it going in the second half, falling behind 43-53 by the end of the third quarter. They came back to within seven, 48-55, but then lost momentum. The final score was 54-68.
Garrard scored 20 points and had nine defensive and three offensive rebounds. Justin Makovec also was in double digits with 11 points.
Individual statistics
Scoring: G. Garrard, 20; Makovec, 11; Gutsch, Stahlecker, 9 each; Burns, Klenda, 2 each; Belton, 1.
Fouls: Makovec, 4; Burns, 3; Mille, Gutsch, Klenda, J. Garrard, 2 each; Stahlecker, Darrin Hajek, G. Garrard, Aaron Barney, 1 each.
Rebounds: G. Garrard, 3/9; Klenda, 1/5; Makovec, 3/1; Burns, 1/1; Gutsch, 0/2; Stahlecker, 1/2; J. Garrard, 0/1.
Turnovers: Makovec, Stahlecker, Klenda, G. Garrard, 1 each; Burns, Mille, Gutsch, 2 each.
Steals: Makovec, Gutsch, 3 each; Mille, 2; Burns, Klenda, 1 each.
Assists: Mille, 3; Burns, Gutsch, Stahlecker, Klenda, Hajek, 2 each; Makovec, G. Garrard, 1 each.
Blocked shots: G. Garrard, 1.
B team
The junior varsity narrowly defeated Herington, 54-52. After being behind 13-14 and 23-27 the first two quarters of the game, the team pulled ahead 43-42 at the end of the third quarter and 54-52 at the final buzzer.
Aaron Barney scored a whopping 21 points including five out of seven three-pointers in the game. He was followed by Justin Garrard with 17. Other scorers were Derek Belton, 5; Trent Hajek, 4; Brent Carlson, 3; and Andrew Hajek and Chris Peterson, 2 each.
