HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Centennial girls dealt rare rout in semifinal
It’s not uncommon to see an 18-point margin at the end of the first quarter of Centennial’s girls basketball games.
But there were more than a few stunned looks and slacked jaws at Centennial on Wednesday when it was the Bulldogs who trailed 23-5 after eight minutes.
Dobson (Ariz.) used runs of 12-0 and 11-0 in the first quarter and stunned the Bulldogs 77-58 in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.
“I think it’s called 'Are we awake yet? Can we get moving?’ ” Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. “We played only as hard as we needed to play, like kids like to do.
“All of a sudden, a quarter was gone, and it was, 'Oh, we need to play harder.’ Then you’re playing catch-up the whole time, and against good teams, you’ll never come back to beat them.”
The Mustangs used a great mix of speed and size to bully Centennial early in the game, stretching the lead to 38-14 midway through the second quarter.
Centennial finally started to show some signs of life with a 10-0 run to close within 38-24 at the half, but the Bulldogs couldn’t sustain it.
Dobson’s Kameron Knutson, a 6-foot-4-inch handful, gave Centennial fits, scoring 25 points and drawing enough attention to free up her teammates.
The Bulldogs, who have no players taller than 5-10, got into deep foul trouble trying to keep the ball away from Knutson.
“We don’t see a lot of height, so when you do, it’s hard for kids to adjust to it,” Weitz said.
Johnelle Hannah added 23 points for Dobson.
Courtney Hayes scored 17 points and Shannon Brown 15 for Centennial, which finished 4-1 in the tournament.
“We’re just trying to learn and grow,” Weitz said. “We just have so much learning and understanding to do. The work ethic was a little better this tournament. Now we have to start getting much, much smarter.”
Coronado 52, Lincoln County 44 — Sofie Cruz scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half to help Coronado down the Lynx.
Sarah Dexter’s jumper just before the halftime buzzer started a 10-3 run that put the Cougars up for good.
Caitlin Trost added 11 points, and Nicole Ruffino scored 10 for Coronado.
Marissa Smerek paced the Lynx with 19 points.
Tech 49, Douglas 47 — Mesha Phillips’ 3-pointer with eight seconds left allowed the Roadrunners to come back from a 32-17 halftime deficit.
Julie Harless led Tech with 18 points. Phillips scored 14.
Valley 34, Elko 28 — Jessica Walton scored nine points, and Valley held the Indians to single-digit scoring in each quarter on its way to a win.
Christina Davis added eight points for the Vikings.
Carson 55, Pahrump Valley 40 — Pahrump couldn’t overcome a 28-17 halftime deficit and fell to the Senators.
Toi Simmons led the Trojans with 11 points. Alyson Kunzi added 10 points for Pahrump.
Santa Fe (Calif.) 41, Arbor View 38 — Santa Fe scored the final 11 points of the game to nip the Aggies.
Jenna Valenzuela scored 14 points, and Ashley Yancey had 12 for Arbor View.
All-Tournament
Among the players named to the all-tournament team were: Tech’s Philliips; Centennial’s Hayes; Valley’s Davis; Lincoln County’s Mary Culverwell; Coronado’s Ruffino; Arbor View’s Erika Lang; and Pahrump’s Ashley Lindgren.
Among the players named to the all-tournament team were: Tech’s Philliips; Centennial’s Hayes; Valley’s Davis; Lincoln County’s Mary Culverwell; Coronado’s Ruffino; Arbor View’s Erika Lang; and Pahrump’s Ashley Lindgren.
