Words: Giana Han

On Dec. 13, the Lady Eagles celebrated a victory over their rivals, the Mount Hebron Vikings.

The game started out slow for the Eagles, with only four points, consisting of foul shots from Brittany Anderson and Kimberly Eads, and a lay-up from Sara Downing.  The Vikings made out better than the Eagles, but not by much, and the quarter ended 10-4.

However, a different team showed its face in the second quarter.  With 6:37 remaining in the half, the Eagles were able to tie it, 10-10.

“We knew we could play better than that,” said Downing, Centennial’s lead scorer for the night.  “We just had to forget what happened and start over.”

The Eagles were able to extend their lead, and the half ended with the Eagles up, 20-14.

“They played a runner offense, and we let the pressure dictate how we played, but we started to play at our own tempo [in the second quarter],” said head coach Robert Macheel.

The Eagles were able to maintain their lead through the rest of the game. Hebron came close to coming back when they cut the Eagle’s lead to one with six minutes left in the game. However, a three-pointer from Anna Mitchell gave the Eagles the boost they needed to hold their lead to the end of the game. Foul shots in the last minute from Sammy Albornoz, Anderson, Downing, and Mitchell helped the Eagles to increase the size of their lead until the buzzer sounded, and the Eagles won 49-43.

As a varsity team, none of the players or the coach had ever beaten the Vikings until that game. “It always comes down to a close loss for us, so it feels good to finally come out on top,” said Downing. “Beating Hebron has proven to us that we can beat anybody.”

The Lady Eagles are now 4-0 in the county, three of the wins coming from three straight days.

“We have two more games before break. Our goal is to go into break strong,” said Macheel.  “Wins and losses are not as important as the way we play.  We want to keep getting better as we get closer to play-offs.”