How a pair of underclassmen helped lead Centralia to its first ever Final Four appearance
Following Centralia’s victory over California on Monday, Braylin Brunkhorst didn’t know if she was going to even be able to play in the Lady Panthers 51-39 Class 3 State Quarterfinal round victory over South Shelby on Friday night.
She injured her knee in the third quarter against the Pintos after scoring 12 points. Nevertheless, the sophomore suited up and contributed in the late crucial moments of the game four days later against South Shelby.
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“She’s a tough kid,” Centralia head coach Megan Brinkmann said. “She took it easy the last couple of days to make sure she was ready for tonight. She’s a competitor, she’s a fighter.”
Centralia took an eight-point lead in the third quarter; the visitors from Shelbina, Mo., stormed back to take the lead before the period ended. But as time ticked down in the third stanza, Brunkhorst grabbed the offensive rebound and beat the buzzer, giving the Lady Panthers the lead back 31-30.
It previewed what came in the fourth. Both teams went back and forth to start the period, but with the game tied at 39, Brunkhorst put Centralia back on top for good.
Following a 3-pointer by Morgan Ross, Brunkhorst again executed on the offensive end with a eurostep finish at the cup, forcing the Ladybirds to call a timeout. Centralia, to that point, seized momentum completely. Both Brunkhorst and senior 3-point ace Reagan Anderson iced the game with free throws, clinching a victory.
“I was like my team has it, all we got to do is take care of the ball and play our style of basketball and we’ll be fine,” Brunkhorst said. “I was confident in us. I was proud of us.”
The strong surge in the fourth quarter helped Centralia to its first Final Four appearance in program history. The Lady Panthers made the quarterfinal round in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1991, and 1992, but no team had accomplished what they did on Friday.
“This was just a dream come true,” Brunkhorst said. “We’ve worked so hard together as a team; we've got new challenges and injuries, but we kept working together, and I’m just so proud of it.”
Despite not being 100%, Brunkhorst collected 13 points. This was behind senior Morgan Ross’ 14 points, including her 1,000th in the process. Both players combined for 15 of Centralia’s 19 points in the fourth quarter. Two more came from Anderson, a part of her nine-point performance, while the other pair came from the youngest player on varsity.
As a freshman, the high-pressure environments on the hardwood don’t phase Ryenn Gordon. Centralia defeated South Shelby 62-28 on Dec. 15 but this time around trailed the Ladybirds 16-12 in the second quarter. This was before Gordon recorded a sequence of six straight points for the Lady Panthers, including a drive and finish to the cup.
“She’s my freshman. I love her. She works so hard, she loves the game of basketball. She’s learning every single game. They love her as well, just what a phenomenal kid,” Brinkmann said. “She’s going to be really good these next couple of years and I think she can take anybody, she can do whatever she wants to do. She’s still learning and putting her teammates on her back, she’s not a freshman anymore.”
Shortly after her own personal run, she once again drove inside the paint before dishing off an assist to Shelby Lewis, which gave Centralia its first lead of the game.
“I’m just thinking if it's going to be a close game, I just want to die-hard and score as much as I can and get my team open,” Gordon said.
Gordon finished with 10 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out six assists. Her contributions helped lead Centralia to new heights and likely more to come.
“I’m so happy, I could cry. I almost cried,” Gordon said. “I’m super excited because this is the first time in school history, and let’s just say it doesn’t feel real.”
Centralia returns to the floor on Friday in the Class 3 Semifinals. The Lady Panthers will face El Dorado Springs at Mizzou Arena. The Bulldogs defeated Lathrop 61-51 in their quarterfinal matchup. Both teams will tip off at 4 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How a pair of underclassmen helped lead Centralia to its first ever Final Four appearance
