By Rowena Plett

Staff writer

Centre winter homecoming was celebrated Friday, and both basketball teams impressed the home crowd with decisive victories. The boys won, 58-26; girls, 43-15.

Boys

The Peabody-Burns Warriors got off to a positive start. They led for almost five minutes before the Cougars took over and never trailed again. Dalton Stika made a basket and free throw, and Espinoza had a layup to tie the game at 9-9. Jensen Riffel and Jacob Hird combined for the next seven points, and Centre led 16-10 after one quarter.

Centre led 29-20 at halftime. The bottom dropped out of the Peabody offense in the second half. Numerous turnovers and missed shots limited them to two points in the third quarter and four points in the fourth.

Lane Methvin and Tanner Wiggans joined Riffel, Espinoza, and Stika in scoring for a total of 17 points in the third quarter. The clock ran continuously in the fourth quarter after the Cougars led by more than 20 points, and Centre finished with a 32-point victory.

Centre outrebounded Peabody, 38-16.

Riffel had his best performance of the season with 16 points and nine rebounds. Espinoza scored 14 points, had seven rebounds and six assists. Stika scored 12 points and nine rebounds.

Scoring summary – Riffel, 16; Espinoza, 14; Stika, 12; Hird, 7; Methvin, 5; Wiggans, 2; and Mathew Madron, 2.

Girls

The game wasn’t much of a contest for the girls. They took the lead early and led 25-9 at halftime. The Warriors scored nine points in the second half while the Cougars added 18 points for a 28-point victory.

Six of the seven team members added points. Hett scored 25 points including eight of 14 free throws.

Scoring summary – Hett, 25 points; Alyssa Espinoza, 8; Samantha Espinoza, 4, and Carly Deines, Allie Hird, and Emily Casey, 2 each.