CENTERBURG – Centerburg girls basketball coach Bo Glenn ripped up his seven-page scouting report. The 14th-seeded Trojans had just fallen, 34-28, to 12th-seeded Columbus Academy in the first round of the Division III district tournament.
The Vikings were forced to play on the road because of a no-fan policy at Columbus Academy.
“We were prepared,” Glenn said, slapping another copy of the scouting report against his hand. There was a whole pile of them on his desk.
Glenn’s frustration stems from a familiar theme this season.
“For us, the bottom line is taking care of the basketball,” he said. “That’s where my frustration lies. You tell me we hold them to 34, I tell you we win by 15 because we’ve been scoring a whole lot more (this season). Our previous low was against Columbus Academy. That’s where my frustration lies.”
The Vikings won 39-34 at Centerburg on Dec. 29.
The Trojans were without one of their top players in freshman Clara Johnson, who suffered an ankle injury in practice. Allie Beekman started in place of Johnson and took a pair of charges in the first half, and Stella Weisbrod played most of the way and pulled down six rebounds.
Amelia Smith scored 12 points and added five rebounds and four steals, and Chloe Goulter had eight points and eight boards to lead Centerburg.
Avery Tucker added six points and three rebounds, and Rebecca Scholl had four assists and three boards for the Trojans, who were held to a pair of Smith baskets in the first quarter and trailed 18-9 at the half. The lead swelled to 25-12 with a little more than 5 minutes left in the third quarter.
Smith scored the last five points of a 9-2 rally from there, including an and-1 with 8.2 seconds left that pulled the Trojans within 27-22 through three. She knocked down Centerburg’s only 3-pointer midway through the fourth that closed the margin to 30-27, but that’s as close as the Trojans would get.
“The first half was definitely not what I expected going into a tournament game,” Glenn said. “(When) teams zone us, we’re not very good shooting outside. We’re not a very good shooting (team). That’s what we’ve lacked in this program since I’ve taken over is a knock-down shooter. When you have a knock-down shooter, the focus goes to that girl and it opens it up for everybody else.”
Claire Cahall had 11 points, four rebounds and three blocks to lead Columbus Academy. She hit a couple of 3s in the first half to help the Vikings take control.
“I felt like in general — except for those spots in the third quarter — we did have a lot of poise,” Columbus Academy coach Heather Rakosik said. “They did have some defensive pressure; but I think we handled, we worked together and we stayed in what we planned to execute. So that was the big key.”
Kayla McClendon had nine points, four rebounds and two steals. She had a key basket in the fourth quarter that gave the Vikings a two-possession lead.
Sophie Spolter had seven points, five assists and four rebounds; Claudia Warstler had four rebounds and three assists and Chloe Gouhin had eight rebounds for Columbus Academy.
Centerburg loses Smith, Scholl, Olivia Ross and Makenna Martindale from this team. But Johnson, Goulter and Tucker proved to be key players this season, giving Glenn reason to be excited for next year.
“Experience-wise, we got a lot coming back next year,” he said. “I expect us to be alright. But the bottom line is that if we don’t do anything in offseason, everybody else will and they’ll pass us.”
