CdA lets one get away against Centennial, 43-40

Sometimes a high school basketball team can do everything but win. Sometimes if a team loiters long enough, something good happens.

The Coeur d’Alene and Centennial girls were examples of both Friday as the visiting and third-ranked Patriots overcame a 13-point deficit to slip past the No. 5 Vikings 43-40 in a non-league game at Elmer Jordan Court.

The smaller Vikings (1-2) zipped to an 11-0 lead and led 26-13 in the early moments of the third quarter. The Patriots (4-0) got their first lead early in the fourth quarter, and the game remained tight until the end.

A basket by Betsy Conklin off a nice back-door cut gave Centennial the lead for good at 41-40 with 1 minute, 21 seconds to go.

CdA freshman Amy Warbrick’s jumper from the baseline with 35 seconds left rolled off the rim and the Vikings had two more chances to take the lead on putbacks. Centennial’s Blake Reynolds was fouled with 28 seconds remaining and she made both free throws.

Vikings coach Dale Poffenroth twice called time out to set up a 3-point attempt for junior Jenna DeLong, but the Patriots wouldn’t allow her loose for a shot. Finally with time slipping away, junior Lindsay Stark fired away from well beyond the 3-point arc, but the shot never had a chance as the horn sounded.

Longtime Centennial coach Emery Roy thought his team stole a win.

“There were a few plays there where it could have gone either way and we just came out on the right end of it, I guess,” Roy said. “We got off to a slow start and they came out firing the ball. It looked like it was going to be a long night, but they lost their shooting touch in the second half and we came around and made it a ballgame.”

While CdA certainly attacked the basket better in the first half, the Vikings never really found the range consistently from the perimeter. The Vikings shot 27 percent, hitting 14 of 52 attempts including just 5 of 18 in the second half.

Equally troubling for the Vikings were turnovers. CdA pressured the Pats all over the court in the first half, forcing 16 turnovers. But the Vikings couldn’t apply the same pressure in the second half because of poor shooting. Meanwhile, CdA committed 15 turnovers in the final two quarters, nine coming in the third.

“We just didn’t finish,” Poffenroth said. “We’ll get there, and the young kids will get there.

“It was one of those things where you had it and you let it get away and you never like to let that happen.”

Poffenroth started one freshman – Kama Griffitts, younger sister of CdA’s lone senior a year ago, Jenna Griffitts – and Warbrick and Sadie Simon saw considerable time off the bench. They combined for 12 points.

“They play well,” Poffenroth said. “They’ve just got to get used to each other.”

DeLong led CdA with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Reynolds, who had just two points in the first half, finished with 13 to lead the Pats.

Roy said he can see CdA making big strides by season’s end.

“They do some good things,” Roy said. “They penetrate and they hit the boards hard. They outhustled us in the first half. They’re going to be tough come tournament time.”

Centennial takes on Lake City (2-1), a 51-45 winner over Eagle on Friday, at 11:30 a.m. today, while CdA plays host to Eagle (3-1) at noon.