CENTERBURG – The loudest cheer of the night came when Amelia Smith walked into the Centerburg girls basketball locker room on Friday, Dec. 11.
Smith, a senior, had just led the host Trojans to a 39-30 win over Highland in Knox Morrow Athletic League play and did it in a variety of ways — with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists.
“She has really worked on her shot … and tonight, shots fell for us,” an excited Centerburg coach Bo Glenn said.
There’s a lot of excitement around the Centerburg program. The Trojans (3-2, 2-2) already have tripled their win total and have two more league wins than they did all of last year.
“We got three wins,” Glenn said with a big smile on his face. “The kids are so pumped; the locker room was loud … it was just fantastic. How can we not be? One win (last year) and now we got three.”
Smith is the poster child for hard work paying off. She spent a lot of time in the gym this summer working on her game.
“I worked on my shot a lot over the summer,” Smith said. “I’ve just been waiting to see my shots fall, and tonight they did. Working with the team and just really pushing myself — it paid off really well. It feels amazing. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m so glad my hard work has paid off.”
Glenn said the work has gone back even farther than that.
“All she could do her freshman year was stand on the block and do post moves,” he said. “I’ve tried expanding her game and begging her to be in and out with more focus on her jump shot, trying to create more opportunities for her.”
The Trojans did it as a team, winning the rebounding battle 36-31, which included 15 boards on the offensive end. They also displayed a stout defense with 13 steals.
Chloe Goulter had 11 points, four steals, two rebounds and a pair of blocks; Clara Johnson added six points and six rebounds; and Rebecca Scholl had five points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to back Smith.
It was a team effort for Centerburg as Olivia Ross pulled down seven rebounds, Allie Beekman had four rebounds and Avery Tucker had four steals — all in the first half.
“It’s so doggone hard to win a varsity game,” Glenn said. “(I thought) if we got to 40, we’d have a really good chance of winning the game because our defense and our effort and energy has carried us through the first five games of the year. That’s how we’ve won.”
Highland scored the first four points of the game. But Centerburg responded with a 12-0 run, and the Scots couldn’t climb back out of the hole.
“That seems to be our kryptonite — the first quarter,” Highland coach Whitney Levering-Smith said. “Every single game that we’ve played in, we have a hard time coming out and being the dominant scorer.”
Emma West had 13 points and eight rebounds; Brylinn Tuggle had six points, six rebounds and two steals; Guinevere Jackson had six points and five steals; Ryleigh Howard had five points and five boards; and Maddy Gordon had seven rebounds, five blocks and a pair of assists to lead the Scots (2-3, 1-3).
