Cougars place fifth at tournament
Centre High School boys' basketball team played in the Eisenhower League tournament at Bennington this past week.
After losing an extremely close game to arch-rival Hope on Tuesday, the Cougars defeated St. John's Military on Friday and Bennington on Saturday to take fifth place.
Hope won the tournament by defeating Solomon, and Tescott defeated White City for third place.
Coach Russ Hake said he is pleased with how his team is doing. He said they can compete with any other team in the league.
"I think we're playing pretty well," he said. "We've lost a lot of close games."
Hake noted that the team does well defensively, but success seems to hinge on their shooting.
"We had a chance to win it all, but we did well after losing in the first round," he said.
Hope
The first round game with Hope was the third time the Cougars faced the Lions. They were hoping to avenge an earlier four-point loss, but were defeated by one point, 53-54.
After being neck-and-neck all the way, with quarter scores of 16-15, 28-29, and 34-37, Hope gained a seven point lead over Centre in the fourth quarter. The Cougars battled back and had several opportunities to go ahead, but could not pull out a win.
Three Centre players were in double digits. Curtis Gutsch and Justin Garrard had 15 points each and Todd Stahlecker, 11.
St. John's Military
The win against St. John's Military was relatively easy as Centre jumped to a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter and a half-time lead of 41-26.
However, St. John's challenged the Cougars in the second half, coming within five points at the end of the third quarter, with the score 52-47.
The boys managed to hang onto the lead and won the game 66-60.
The Cougars were 42.1 percent from two-point range and 30.4 percent from three-point range.
Leading scorer was Todd Stahlecker with 28 points. He was followed by Curtis Gutsch, 15, and Travis Burns, 13.
Bennington
The game with Bennington was another close one. Scoring was almost equal in all four quarters with points of 14 and 16, 21 and 21, 17 and 13, and 14 and 14. The four-point advantage in the third quarter allowed the Cougars to win the game by the score of 66-64.
It was a good shooting night for Centre. Six players completed one three-point goal each, 50 percent overall. The Cougars were 42.9 percent from two-point range and 44 percent from the line.
Todd Stahlecker and Justin Garrard, with 19 points each, combined for more than half the total points. Travis Burns also scored in double digits with 11 points.
Centre 53 Hope 54
Points: J. Garrard, 15; Gutsch, 15; Stahlecker, 11; Burns, 8; Derek Belton, 2; Bryant Gutsch, 2.
Two-point goals attempted/made: Garrard, 10/3; Gutsch, 10/6; Stahlecker, 4/1; Burns, 9/4; Belton, 2/1; B. Gutsch, 4/1.
Three-point goals attempted/made: Garrard, 2/2; Gutsch, 7/1; Stahlecker, 3/3.
Free throws attempted/made: Garrard, 6/3; Gutsch, 3/0.
Assists: Gutsch, 6; Stahlecker, 1; Burns, 4; Andrew Hajek, 1.
Total rebounds: Garrard, 3; Gutsch, 7; Stahlecker, 5; Burns, 5; Belton, 1.
Steals: Gutsch, 4; Stahlecker, 1; Burns, 4; Belton, 3.
Turnovers: Garrard, 2; Gutsch, 4; Stahlecker, 3; Burns, 4; Belton, 1.
Fouls: Gutsch, 4; Stahlecker, 1; Burns, 3; Belton, 4; B. Gutsch, 1; Hajek, 2.
Centre 66 St. John's Military 60
Points: Stahlecker, 28; Gutsch, 15; Garrard, 9; Burns, 13; Belton, 1.
Two points attempted/made: Stahlecker 4/3; Gutsch, 11/4; Garrard, 7/3; Burns, 10/6.
Three points attempted/made: Stahlecker, 13/5; Gutsch, 8/1; Garrard, 1/1; Burns, 1/0.
Free throw attempts/made: Stahlecker, 8/7; Gutsch 8/4; Burns, 4/1; Belton 2/1.
Assists: Gutsch, 8; Burns, 4; Belton, 1.
Total rebounds: Stahlecker, 5; Gutsch, 6; Garrard, 6; Burns, 8; Belton, 3.
Steals: Stahlecker, 2; Gutsch, 5; Garrard, 2; Burns, 5; Belton, 1.
Turnovers: Stahlecker, 1; Gutsch, 2; Garrard, 1; Burns, 3; Belton, 4; B. Gutsch, 1; Tad Remy, 1.
Fouls: Stahlecker, 4; Gutsch, 2; Garrard, 4; Burns, 1; B. Gutsch, 3.
Centre 66 Bennington 64
Points: Gutsch, 7; Garrard, 19; Stahlecker, 19; Belton, 7; Burns, 11; Aaron Barney, 3.
Two-points attempted/made: Gutsch, 6/2; Garrard, 13/5; Stahlecker, 13/6; Belton, 3/2; Burns, 5/3; Barney, 2/0.
Three-points attempted/made: Gutsch, 4/1; Garrard, 1/1; Stahlecker, 4/1; Belton, 1/1; Burns, 1/1; Barney, 1/1.
Free throws attempted/made: Garrard, 7/6; Stahlecker, 6/4; Belton, 2/0; Burns, 2/2.
Total rebounds: Gutsch, 1; Garrard, 3; Stahlecker, 4; Belton, 6; Burns, 5; Barney, 2.
Turnovers: Gutsch, 2; Garrard, 1; Stahlecker, 3; Burns, 5.
Fouls: Gutsch, 3; Garrard, 1; Stahlecker, 1; Belton, 2; Barney, 3.
