College Basketball: Trail Blazers Cough Up Late Lead to Edmonds

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With a 22 point lead and just 13 minutes to play here Saturday the Centralia College men’s basketball team nearly had themselves a win in their home opener.

That storybook first chapter was ruined by the Trail Blazers flat finish, though, as they allowed Edmonds to tie the game in regulation before losing 89-80 in overtime. That mind boggling momentum swing was powered in large part by Centralia’s 28 turnovers.

Centralia held a 35-24 advantage after the first half and doubled that lead in the first seven minutes of the second half. After allowing their lead to elapse in the final minutes of the game the Trail Blazers were then outscored 20-11 in extra time.

Centralia managed to shoot nearly 42 percent from the field despite connecting on only two of 11 three point shots.

Centralia’s Marqus Gilson led all scorers with 36 points on 12 of 16 shooting and an 11 for 13 mark at the free throw stripe. Gilson also pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. LaBrandon Price added 16 points for Centralia while Collin Prangley chipped in seven points and a team-high four assists.

Edmonds had a pair of players, Sean Kirk and Drew Magaoay, turn in twin 29 point performances in their win.

Centralia (2-2) will face Peninsula College at Edmonds on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Friday



Centralia Drops Nail-Biter to Peninsula

The Trail Blazers women’s basketball team dropped their first game of the season in painful fashion here at Michael Smith on Friday as Peninsula one-upped them 56-55 in non-conference play.

Centralia fell behind early but managed to battle back with a stout defensive effort to best the Pirates 15-7 in the second quarter. That run gave the Trail Blazers a 29-26 lead at intermission and both teams played to a 15-15 draw in the third quarter.

The final frame settled the outcome as Peninsula bested Centralia 15-11 for the one-point victory.

Centralia’s Megan Cash led all scorers with 18 points. Piper Cai added 10 points for the Trail Blazers while Jamie Connally and Lindsey Nurmi each chipped in eight points for the home team. Cai added a team-high seven rebonds.

The Pirates were paced by Kuutuuq Danner’s 14 points.

Centralia (1-3) hits the road to face Clark at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in a non-divisional game.