Salina, KS

1A D1 Girls State Quarterfinal

For just the second time in recent memory it was the Centralia Panthers taking on the Quinter Bulldogs, with the previous meeting being in the 2017 State tournament, a win for Centralia.

These two teams pride themselves on defense and that showed early with only a combined total of fifteen points scored in the opening quarter as Quinter led Centralia 9-6 at the end of one. In the second it was the bulldogs who frustrated the Panthers defensively as shots wouldn't fall for Centralia. Quinter would extend their lead heading into the halftime break leading 20-16. Centralia shot just 20% from the field in the half, led by Junior Hayden Kramer who had six, and only three steals in the half which is what Centralia prides themselves on for easy run-out buckets.

Coach Dusty Thompson asked his girls at the break "what do you want to do defensively?" Their response? More pressure. The Panthers ramped it up defenisvely and flipped the script defensively, holding Quinter without points in the third until the 3-minute mark of the quarter. Centralia outscored Quinter 22-10 in the quarter to reclaim the lead and never look back. Centralia's lead would get as large as 18 in the second half as their season continues into the State Semi-Finals on Friday with their 53-39 win over Quinter.

The Panthers outscored the Bulldogs 37-19 in the second half forcing 16 turnovers with 13 being steals in the final half. With the win, Centralia's title defense will continue with a likely rematch of the 2025 title game vs Little River in the 1A D1 Semi-Finals from Dodge City on Friday at 5:30. The game will be broadcasted on 92.1FM KMZA, download the MSC Radio App or listen live on www.mscsports.net

Centralia Scoring Leaders - 

H. Kramer - 17, M. Becker - 16, J. Haverkamp - 13, T. Gibbs - 6, K. Rempe - 1