Last night a match-up that you won’t often see went down at Centralia with the Silver Lake Eagles coming into town. The Silver Lake Lady Eagles had sustained a perfect stretch of twenty-eight straight wins and were eyeing to continue it, but the Centralia Lady Panthers were seeking yet another Big-East upset for their third game in a row. The Silver Lake Boys were 2-0 trying to stay undefeated and the Centralia Boys had dropped both of their games so far to be 0-2, aiming to capture their first win, but fell short. 

Girls - Centralia over Silver Lake 68-58

Silver Lake enters the night ranked #2 in the class of 3A while the Panthers are marked #2 as well, in class 1A Division 1. The first quarter started with a Centralia bucket, in which a lead change would never occur for the four remaining quarters of the game. The opening quarter ended 19-7 and the Panthers were yet again hot early against a powerhouse 3A opponent. Oen Deters rattled away two threes in the first quarter while settling in with eleven points to start the game. Tava Gibbs dominated inside the paint for the Panthers with four rebounds alone in the first quarter. 

The second quarter was still in Centralia's favor with the Panthers out-scoring the Lady Eagles 9-7 in the quarter to lean into a 28-14 half. Some of the most shocking stats from the first half came from the points scored, and more specifically, the lack of them from the Eagles. Kailyn Hanni the all-star Junior was just held to two points, despite being a near nineteen points-per-game average whilst two other big-time scorers for the Eagles couldn't find themselves on the board either; However, this would all change drastically in the second half.

The Lady Eagles busted out to a dominant third quarter to reel the game into just a four-point game heading into the fourth quarter 41-37, with Silver Lake out-scoring Centralia in the third quarter 23-13. The Freshman, Karys Deiter, had two massive money shots from outside the perimeter to cash in for threes alongside the D1 prospect Junior, Kailyn Hanni, who knocked one in as well. One of the biggest bruises of this quarter for Centralia is that Oen Deters was held scoreless and just couldn’t get into the hoop, but it was what she did next in the final quarter that stapled home why she is committed to being a Benedictine Raven next fall. 

The final quarter was an absolute showdown despite what the final tally of 68-58 might imply. At one point the Lady Eagles were in it just by two with a score of 53-51, but unfortunately were out-matched in the final quarter by the Panthers being out-scored 27-11 in the fourth. It was this quarter that it truly felt like if you were there to watch the game, you were watching college-level basketball. Kailyn Hanni had had twelve points alone in this quarter and Deiter had six points in it as well, however, the spotlight took a different angle, shining right on down at Oen Deters. Deters finished the fourth quarter with twelve points by going nine-of-ten at the free-throw-line and capturing the other three points from a massive splash that came off a side-step three which was followed suit with a crowd roar out of the Panthers. 

Possibly, one of the greatest regular season games of all time to remember if you are a Centralia fan; the incredible upset win now makes it three straight victories against larger tough-class opponents. Oen Deters finished the game with a masterclass performance, dealing twenty-seven points, ten-for-twelve at the free-throw-line, multiple rebounds, and five three-pointers. Tava Gibbs finished with nine points and thirteen rebounds, while Hayden Kramer had an outside thirteen points with nine alone coming from the fourth quarter. Tatum Kramer had a stout eight-point performance as well. For the Eagles, the First Team All-State selection in Kailyn Hanni finished with nineteen points, seventeen from the second half. The freshman in Karys Deiter had the best game in her young career with nineteen points and nailing four threes. And Taylor Zordel was third in scoring for the team with five points. The Panthers went twenty-one of twenty-five from the free throw line while also hitting five total threes on the game, while the Lady Eagles hit six threes. The Lady Panthers also won both the turnover and rebounding battle (ALL STATS NOT APPROXIMATE). 

Boys - Silver Lake over Centralia 67-44

Silver Lake Boys put on a clinic to open the game against Centralia with a 25-8 game coming out of the first quarter. In the opening quarter alone the star junior in Dayne Johnson had ten points while shooting two-for-two at the charity line. Brody Deiter also dominated early from around the quarter in the first with seven points. The Panthers were on a short bench for the majority of the game with only about seven players coming in at most, starters included; Whereas the Eagles had eleven guys nearly all playing a role in the victory. 

The second quarter was a bit better for the Panthers, only being outscored 19-14 with the half coming to an end at 44-22. It seemed that early on that shot selection was hurting the Panthers from around the arches, just barely being able to connect on the three-point shot, with only one landing in the first half. Brody Deiter had another stellar quarter performance with ten points this time, all coming from inside or around the paint. 

The third quarter was a burst of life for the Panthers having out-scored the Eagles in the singular quarter 16-10, creating a closer gap heading into the fourth just 54-38. Ben Haverkamp truly shined for the Panthers in this quarter with his twelve points trying to help tighten the lead. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they’d be out-scored 13-6 in the final quarter, getting it to the final tally of 67-44. Final minutes of play both teams put their JV squads out onto the court.

The Eagles found yet two more great games coming out of their two-star guards, Dayne Johnson and Brody Deiter. Johnson ended the game with twenty-four points, having gone six-of-eight from the free throw line and also hitting two threes. Brody Deiter, older brother of Karys Deiter, had an outstanding performance on the night as well with twenty total points, and hitting his four rebounds per-game average. Aemon Coffman was impressed with his fifteen-point work for the Eagles too. Ben Haverkamp led the way in scoring for the Panthers with fourteen points and four boards while Henry Heidenman was right behind him with eight points and three rebounds (ALL STATS NOT APPROXIMATE). 

Summary

The Silver Lake Lady Eagles' twenty-eight-game winning streak comes to an end, Now 2-1 on the season. The Eagles will try to bounce back on Tuesday against Rossville, once again on the road. The Lady Panthers have done nothing but continue to impress and are making stronger arguments by the day as to why they could be ranked one in all of class 1A Division 1, they are now 3-0. Silver Lake boys now improve to a flawless 3-0 while on the other side of the table, the Centralia Boys are now 0-3. Centralia will look to try to bounce back as they are set to play ACCHS on Tuesday. The Panthers will play their first league opponent next Tuesday at home against Valley Heights, which will also be on 92.1 KMZA.