Centennial defense defangs Grizzlies

Centennial girls basketball coach Karen Weitz talked a lot about her team’s offensive balance after Friday’s 64-20 victory over visiting Spring Valley.

But it was the Bulldogs’ defense that stole the show.

Top-ranked Centennial held the Grizzlies without a field goal for more than 25 minutes and ran away from one of the Sunset Region’s top teams.

“We pride ourselves on the defensive end,” Weitz said. “To be a well-rounded team, I think we’re lucky to have a lot of scorers right now, but I don’t want to just sit back and rely on scorers all the time. I want to make sure that our defense is solid.”

Nine players scored for Centennial (4-1), led by Samantha Thomas with 11 points, three rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Justice Ethridge had 10 points, three rebounds and two steals — all in the first half — and Pam Wilmore added 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.

No. 4 Spring Valley (1-1) had more turnovers (27) than field-goal attempts (21) and made only three baskets.

Kayla Harris scored with four minutes remaining in the first quarter to cut Centennial’s lead to 9-6, but the Grizzlies’ next field goal didn’t come until Essence Booker’s 3-pointer with 2:43 left in the fourth.

Booker had seven points and five rebounds, and Harris finished with seven points, four rebounds and two steals for Spring Valley.

“We really get into people and we disturb what they want to do,” Wilmore said. “We know their weaknesses, so we just do what we’re supposed to do on defense.”

Centennial closed the first quarter on an 11-0 run and went up 27-6 early in the second when Jayden Eggleston dribbled coast to coast after a steal and found Ethridge open for a 3-pointer.

Eboni Walker (nine points, 10 rebounds) knocked down a baseline jumper off a feed by Wilmore — Centennial had 15 assists on 23 baskets — to put the Bulldogs ahead 41-8.

The final 17:27 was played with a running clock.

“Sometimes we have a problem being aggressive from the tip, so we’ve really been focusing on that and having good starts,” Weitz said. “As long as we go hard and stay consistent with our game plan, even if we have rocky starts we usually will find a flow.”

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.