Centennial girls remain perfect after showdown with Boise

Centennial girls remain perfect after showdown with Boise
BY RACHEL ROBERTS - rroberts@idahostatesman.com © 2010 Idaho Statesman
Published: 12/22/10

For a half, at least, it looked as though the unbeaten Centennial girls basketball team had finally met its match.

But the Patriots scored 49 second-half points on their way to an 80-67 victory over Boise in a matchup of the top two teams in the 5A Southern Idaho Conference on Tuesday night at Centennial High.

“After the first half, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Centennial coach Emery Roy, whose team trailed 36-31 at halftime. “But when they get rolling, they get a lot of confidence.”

From the tipoff, Boise (10-2, 8-2 5A SIC) exploited its height advantage inside.

Six-foot-2 Braves senior post Jacqueline Luna-Castro posted a double-double before the break with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and a 5-for-7 performance from the free-throw line. She had 12 rebounds before halftime, including eight on offense that helped produce 16 second-chance points.

“It was almost shocking for us,” Centennial senior guard Sofia Huerta said. “We realized that we were down and we were like, ‘OK, now we have to pick it up.’ Which is not good, but the fact that we were able to pick it up and beat them was good.”

A defensive adjustment at the half that limited Luna-Castro’s damage in the final two quarters combined with foul trouble for Boise senior point guard Aleah Lowber allowed the Patriots (12-0, 10-0) to make up ground in a hurry.

Lowber went to the bench with four fouls with 3 minutes, 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the game tied at 40-40. Centennial answered with a 20-2 run to close out the quarter.

“We had some kids who were handling pressure the first two quarters and then all the sudden they just didn’t handle pressure,” Boise coach Kim Brydges said. “… It kind of feeds on itself. You have one bad turnover and the next play down you are still remembering that one.”

Luna-Castro finished with a game-high 31 points and 20 rebounds, but would have traded her individual accomplishment for a team victory.

“We lost, but we are going to move forward and work really hard in practice,” Luna-Castro said. “... Two losses won’t stop us from moving forward.”


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