Centennial girls stay unbeaten

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2000 | 9:53 a.m.

Just how good is Centennial's girls basketball team?

That seems to be the question on the mind of every coach, player and casual observer in the state as this month's regional and state playoffs draw near.

Wednesday night's game at Cimarron-Memorial might have provided the answer everyone has been looking for. Despite playing one of their sloppiest games of the season, the Bulldogs cruised from start to finish in a 54-32 win over the state's No. 8-ranked club.

The first-year school improved to 25-0 (6-0 Northwest Division) and moved within two victories of a perfect regular season.

"Getting to 25-0 is unbelievable," Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. "I knew we'd be competitive, but there's a lot of good talent in the city and a lot of good talent we've played from out of town.

"Mentally, going 25-0 is really tough to do."

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 1 in the Sun's statewide poll for the third straight week, seized control of Wednesday's contest in the first quarter, holding the Spartans without a field goal for more than six minutes.

All told, Centennial's stifling defense forced the hosts into dreadful 1-of-15 shooting, along with five turnovers, in the opening quarter. The Bulldogs took a 14-3 lead after the first eight minutes and never looked back.

With the visitors holding the same 11-point margin coming out of halftime, the third quarter began much like the first for Cimarron. The Spartans (12-6, 4-2) went scoreless for nearly five minutes, allowing the Bulldogs to build a 32-15 edge to all but seal the win.

"The first and third quarters are what we push for," Weitz said. "We feel the key is to get out to a good start (in each half)."

Still, the evening was far from perfect for Centennial. The Bulldogs turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 19 times and looked out of sync offensively for long stretches.

But the state's top-ranked squad got its usual balanced scoring, with point guard Tenecia Jackson tallying 16, forward Rachael Schein adding 13 and forward Darci Sandoval and center Heather Thorson each chipping in with seven.

The Bulldogs also dominated the boards on both ends, as Schein (11 rebounds), Thorson (10) and Sandoval (10) -- a one-time Cimarron player -- cleaned up the barrage of misses by the two clubs.

Marianne Napoli was a bright spot offensively for the hosts, scoring 12 points off the bench. Nikki Richards added eight points and eight rebounds in the losing cause.

After a bye on Friday night, Centennial will try to finish off a perfect regular season next week with a Wednesday home game against Cheyenne -- Weitz's former squad -- and a Friday contest ay Palo Verde.