Central girls rebound with consolation title

The Central girls basketball team bounced back nicely from a first-round loss in the Saint Francis Medical Center Holiday Classic for the second straight year.

Two seasons in a row the Tigers fell to Sparta, Ill., in their opening tournament game.

And two years in a row Central rebounded with a pair of wins to claim the consolation title, or fifth place in the eight-team event.

Fourth-seeded Central rolled past sixth-seeded Perryville 52-33 on Wednesday at the Show Me Center. That was also the matchup in the 2008 fifth-place contest.

"It's good to get a couple of wins going into the [holiday] break after losing the first one," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "We played better today, but we're still a work in progress. We have a lot to work on."

Senior point guard Sadie Pittman led the Tigers with 19 points. Senior forward Machaela Durham added 12 points.

"It was good to come out and get two wins to add to our season," Pittman said.

With a 6-3 record, the Tigers are off to one of their better starts in several years.

"That's pretty good," Pittman said.

The Pirates (1-4) got a game-high 21 points from junior forward Natalie Bauwens. No other Perryville player scored more than five points.

Central led just 11-10 after one quarter before steadily pulling away. It was 23-16 at halftime and 42-27 entering the final period.

The Tigers used their press to come up with numerous turnovers.

"Our press was better tonight than the first two games. We forced a lot of turnovers," Shirrell said.

Pittman wreaked havoc on both ends of the court with her speed and quickness.

"I use my speed. That's what I'm known to do," said a smiling Pittman.

Perryville 10 6 11 6 -- 33

Central 11 12 19 10 -- 52

PERRYVILLE (33) -- Morgan Mueller 1, Abbie Schilli 2, Catie Oberndorfer 3, Megan Moldenhauer 1, Emily Hanquist 5, Natalie Bauwens 21. FG 9, FT 14-18, F 12. (3-pointers: Oberndorfer 1. Fouled out: none)

CENTRAL (52) -- Allie Hardesty 6, Sadie Pittman 19, Farrah Malik 4, Amy Kinnison 2, Chelsea Pannier 2, Paige Smith 5, Starr Harris 2, Machaela Durham 12. FG 22, FT 8-15, F 15. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)