Graney: Centennial girls avenge state title loss to Gorman — PHOTOS
Nation Williams agrees there was a chip on their shoulders. That over the spring and into the summer and beyond, the Centennial High girls basketball players felt it.
Remembered it. Wanted to avenge it.
It’s not a state title, but it’s a beginning.
Centennial beat Bishop Gorman 41-39 in the Big City Showdown at Coronado on Saturday, a rematch of the Class 5A state championship game won by the Gaels in dramatic fashion last February.
Williams is the four-star prospect as a sophomore from Centennial, the talented forward who had 15 points and 19 rebounds Saturday, who has more scholarship offers than she likely knows what to do with.
South Carolina. UCLA. Notre Dame. Tennessee.
Yeah. Just a few of the high major programs that have come calling.
Parity isn’t bad
“It’s a new year, so we knew what we had to work on,” Williams said. “(Bishop Gorman) is always going to be our main competition, so we just wanted to get this one and get better.”
Fact: Bishop Gorman in winning the matchup last year snapped a run of eight straight state championships by Centennial. It might not have meant a total changing of the guard, but it did mean 5A was opening up.
And that’s not such a bad thing.
Bishop Gorman is there. So is Democracy Prep. Centennial and coach Karen Weitz still own all kinds of talent, but so do others. Makes for a more interesting division. Makes for more games like Saturday, when things came down to the buzzer and a defensive stop from Centennial (9-2, 5-0).
When things were physical throughout and there wasn’t an easy basket to find. When two of the state’s best players in Williams and Bishop Gorman junior guard Aaliah Spaight were featured. When the largest lead by either side was seven.
“You never like to go down, but, you know, the ball bounces a little differently on certain things and we don’t have some defensive glitches, the game is different,” Bishop Gorman coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. “It’s not how you start. It’s about how you finish. We have some things to clean up and fix for the next time we see them.
“You want there to be some (parity). You don’t want just one dominant team. I feel like there are three or four or five teams that can knock anybody off at any given time.”
Centennial beat the Gaels by 11 at last year’s Big City Showdown. Bishop Gorman returned the favor 57-53 in the state final. We’ll see how things play out this season.
The Gaels (8-5, 3-1) lost four players off their championship team, but any side with Spaight has a fighting chance. She finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists Saturday, 12 points under her scoring average.
Williams scored just two second-half points but made her presence known on the boards and at the defensive end. The Gaels did a much better job on her over the final 16 minutes. Her team still got the win.
“(Class 5A) has definitely gotten better, but we’re just focused on ourselves and getting better for the next game,” Williams said. “We definitely played together today and kept our energy up and didn’t get down when things got close. We finished together.
“It feels good. You definitely keep that (state championship loss) with you, which is why we’re so happy with the win today.”
Improving off loss
You could see it. Centennial players celebrated the final buzzer and their win like it might a playoff game. Meant a lot.
You can also improve off such a loss, which is what Krmpotich hopes occurs with her team. The deficit was 39-32 with 3:48 left when Bishop Gorman went on a 7-0 run to tie things. Wasn’t meant to be. Centennial made the key plays when winning was on the line.
“This can absolutely help us,” Krmpotich said. “A (loss) always makes you aware of what you need to work on. We did so last year, and now we know we need to prepare differently for this one. We’re going to revamp and regroup and readjust.”
A rematch for state would be something. Long ways to go.
Suddenly, there is some competition in the 5A division.
Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.