Central holds off Mater Dei in battle of Breese

It was another night and a typical battle for bragging rights in the city of Breese on Monday at Mater Dei High School.

Central senior Breanne Jansen helped ignite a sluggish offense with a pair of 3-point baskets to spark a 16-4 second quarter surge. The Class 2A state power Cougars never trailed after that as they went on for a hard fought 43-36 win in the annual early season city showdown.

With sophomore Myah Beckmann scoring six first-quarter points, Mater Dei (2-3) led 8-6 after one-quarter. But when Jansen, a 5-8 guard, nailed the first of her two 3-point baskets to start the second quarter, the Cougars (6-1) were off and running.

Wilken, a St. Louis University recruit, added a 3-point basket and scored six of her 19 points during the period as Central took a 22-12 lead at halftime.

“I thought both Breanne (Jansen) and Carley (Albers) both came in and gave us good minutes tonight,” Cougars coach Nathan Rueter said. “This type of game is what you expect when we play Mater Dei. It’s always close and it’s for bragging right in town. We’re just happy to be able to come in here and get the win.”

KEY SEQUENCE

Jansen’s 3-point basket started an 8-0 Cougars run in the second quarter as Mater Dei, which committed seven of its 13 first half turnovers, was unable to score a point.

Kaylee Schrand and Albers, who scored seven points off the bench, helped increase the Cougars lead to 13-8. Wilken, showing her increased shooting range, then nailed a 3-point shot as Central’s lead reached 16-8.

Junior guard Kelsey Gerdes then got Mater Dei on the scoreboard, but a free throw and a layup by Wilken followed by Jansen’s second 3-point shot, gave Central a 22-12 lead at halftime.

Rueter felt the lead should ben even more than 10 points at intermission.

“We had some opportunities get away from us in the first half. I felt like we could have been up by 15-16,’’ Rueter said. “Then in the fourth quarter our decision making left a little to be desired. We just had a couple of times when our shot selection wasn’t the best.”

KEY PERFORMERS

Wilken, Jansen and Albers combined for 33 of the Cougars 43 points, while Mater Dei was led by three players in double figures.

Gerdes paced the Knights with 13 points and teammates Beckmann (11 points) and Logan Braundmeier (10) also had solid nights for Mater Dei.

Despite the loss, Knights coach David Kohnen thought his team played well.

“I thought we played a good ballgame and I just told that to the girls. We rebounded well, we did a good job of rebounding and I thought we had some good shots that just wouldn’t fall. But they will,’’ Kohnen said. “For a lot of these kids this was the first time playing in a game like this before this big of a crowd.”

“We had 16 turnovers, but I think 13 of those came in the first half. We cleaned it up in the second half. We’ve still got work to do. But Central is a very good team. I’m pleased at how we played.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 11:11 PM with the headline "Central holds off Mater Dei in battle of Breese."