A late run in the third quarter set the Lady Panthers ahead.
Centralia put up a 12-0 run spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, building to a 62-46 win against the Capital City Lady Cavaliers on Tuesday night at Capital City High School.
Natalie Allison grabbed two offensive boards and turned them into two made free throws, two of her team-high 20 points, to bring the Lady Cavaliers within 34-32 with 2:51 left in the third quarter, then the Lady Panthers got to work.
Ellie Berendzen turned an offensive rebound into a reverse layup, then Harper Sontheimer hit a free throw and grabbed an offensive rebound for two second-chance points to put the Lady Panthers up 39-32.
Morgan Ross then used a Jozelynn Bostick assist for a long jumper, helping build her game-high total of 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, then Jade Lawson hit a shot in the post to send Centralia into the final break with a 43-32 lead.
“Offensively, we’ve just got to do a better job,” Capital City coach Ashley Agee said. “That’s back to preparing at practice and making sure we’re paying attention to detail. … I do think we had some good looks that didn’t fall.”
Centralia added another 19 points in the fourth quarter, 10 of which came from Ross, including one of her five 3-pointers, to keep the Lady Panthers ahead late.
The Lady Panthers jumped ahead quickly to start the game.
A Kambry Pistel 3 from the left corner off one of Addison Jones’ three assists put the Lady Cavaliers ahead 3-1 less than a minute into the game. Then the Lady Panthers scored 16 consecutive points on the strength of nine points off steals, leaving the Lady Cavaliers trailing 17-3 with 3:22 left in the first quarter.
Kourtney Blatz found Allison cutting through the middle of the Lady Panthers’ zone for a short jumper to end the streak, then Kyla James grabbed an offensive board and sank a free throw before Allison drove through the lane to a floater to bring Capital City within 17-8.
Rylea Sanning assisted Jones on two fastbreak points, then Pistel found Jones for a mid-range jumper that rattled off the rim and backboard before falling with a second left in the quarter.
After a 9-0 run, the Lady Cavaliers went into the first break down 17-12.
James grabbed an offensive rebound and turned it into two points to start the second quarter, then Allison assisted Jones for a left-wing 3 to tie the matchup at 17.
A Bostick 3 from the top of the key put the Lady Panthers back in front, but two James free throws got the Lady Cavaliers back within a point.
One of Ross’ 3s pushed the Centralia lead to four, but an Allison left-wing 3 she banked in and a Jones steal-turned-assist to Allison for a fastbreak layup put the Lady Cavaliers ahead for the first time since 3-1 at 24-23 with 2:34 left before halftime.
Centralia powered ahead for a 32-26 lead going into halftime.
After a Lady Panther floater, the Lady Cavaliers scored six consecutive points, three from Allison on a deep left-wing 3 and three on free throws, to get within 34-32 before Centralia’s run.
Centralia outrebounded Capital City 31-26 and forced 15 turnovers, helping lead to a total shot advantage.
“Cut everything else out and you can see rebounding has been losing us ballgames,” Agee said. “Teams have been getting 20 more shots than us not because of turnovers, but because they’re getting offensive boards and stopping us from getting them. I thought we did a lot better today.”
Centralia made 22-of-49 shots overall, including 6-of-17 from 3, while the Cavaliers hit 14-of-38 total shots, including 4-of-14 from deep. Capital City added 13-of-24 free throws, Centralia hit 12-of-19 from the charity stripe.
Allison complemented her 20 points with three rebounds and three assists, while James came off the bench and neared a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds for Capital City. Jones added seven points, three rebounds and three assists.
Ross added five rebounds to her 26-point performance for Centralia, while Bostick had 15 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Capital City (6-10) plays host to Class 6 No. 2 Rock Bridge at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Centralia (5-4) hosts Palmyra at 6 p.m. Friday.