Central girls handle Kougars

The lone freshman delivered when danger lurked for the Central girls basketball team.

Chelsea Vinson scored five points late in the final quarter Saturday to help the host Tigers tame Rosati-Kain 49-42.

The Kougars closed within a point at 35-34 with 4 minutes, 26 seconds left in the contest. The Tigers responded by going inside to their freshman forward, who knocked down her shot and got fouled. She connected on the free throw to complete the three-point play.

"Being a freshman doesn't really affect me as much as it used to," Vinson said. "I feel like a part of the team like everyone else. It took me a couple games but I got used to it."

Vinson earned another trip to the line a minute later and buried both free throws to push Central's lead to 40-36.

Central's Paige Smith shoots as Rosati-Kain's Erin Emerson defends during the third quarter Saturday at Central. (Fred Lynch)

"She's not a freshman anymore," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "She's played so hard and she's so intense and that is just contagious for the rest of our team."

The Tigers made just enough of their free throws down the stretch to hold off Rosati-Kain (9-12). Central converted 10 of its 14 free throws in the final 3:24 of the game.

"It was really important because every point counted in that game," Vinson said.

Central senior guard Sadie Pittman, the Tigers' leading scorer, went 5 of 9 from the line in the fourth quarter. She averages 65 percent from the line this season.

"Sadie was a little under the weather today," Shirrell said. "You could tell that she didn't have as much gas in the tank today, but she fought through that and came through when we needed her to."

The game was close throughout, with the Kougars' biggest lead coming at 7-1 in the opening minutes. The game was tied at halftime and neither team led by more than five points in the second half until the closing minute of the contest. Even then, the Kougars closed within four points with Chelsea Crimi at the line for a 1-and-1. But Crimi missed the front end and Central hit 3 of 4 free throws after that to ice the win.

The Tigers took their first lead in the game during the second quarter by using constant motion to get open looks. Chelsea Pannier hit a pair of easy buckets in close by coming off screens to get open. She finished with 14 points.

"We screened really well tonight," Pannier said. "We actually found the person that was guarding our teammate and we set screens."

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers went inside to get their points. Vinson converted her three-point play then Pittman drove and found Paige Smith under the basket for an easy layup.

"We were more patient with our offense," Shirrell said. "When we are patient, our offense works. When we're patient and we run our offense, the inside will open up for us."

The Tigers improved to 13-6 and will turn their attention to rival Jackson. Central and Jackson will play a doubleheader Tuesday at the Show Me Center, with the girls game starting at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7:30 p.m.

Rosati-Kain 12 11 4 15 -- 42

Central 11 12 9 17 -- 49

ROSATI-KAIN (42) -- Allison Benda 5, Erin Emerson 18, Ali Ross 7, Chelsea Crimi 5, Katy Kessler 4, Jill Griebel 3. FG 16, FT 6-11, F 18. (3-pointers: Benda 1, Emerson 1, Griebel 1, Ross 1. Fouled out: Julie Secrist)

CENTRAL (49) -- Chelsea Pannier 14, Chelsea Vinson 8, Farrah Malik 8, Sadie Pittman 15, Paige Smith 4. FG 16, FT 14-21, F 13. (3-pointers: Pannier 1, Malik 2. Fouled out: none)