Top-ranked Central hopeful of another long postseason run

BREESE

The Central Cougars enter the start of the postseason this week as the top-ranked Class 2A team in the state — a position they have held all season long.

Coach Nathan Rueter’s squad has one of the St. Louis area’s premier post players in St. Louis University recruit Kendra Wilken and three of the top guards in the metro-east in Grace Yaunches, Faye Meissner and Breanne Jansen — who all played huge roles in helping the Cougars place second in the 2015 Class 2A State Tournament.

On Wednesday, the Cougars — although a little battered and bruised — will begin their 2016 postseason journey with similar aspirations.

Heading into its first round game at the Central Regional on Wednesday against either Cahokia Conference rival Carlyle or Roxana, the Cougars (23-5) expect to have both Meissner and Wilken back in the lineup after both missed the regular season finale on Thursday at Belleville East with injuries.

“They both could have played. We took precautionary measures with both of them, especially with Faye to make sure she’s ready to go in the postseason,” Rueter said. “It’s not that all the games aren’t important because they are, but considering what we’ve got the tournament coming up which will define our season, we felt it was best we rest them both.’’

“With what is ahead we feel like we made the right decision for everybody concerned.’’

While Wilken sat out with soreness after a recent game with Wesclin, Meissner has been bothered by painful shin splints in recent weeks. The Cougars have also been without senior guard Alicia Book for the entire season after the senior guard suffered an ankle injury during the preseason.

Still, the Cougars have been the dominant Class 2A team in the state. Led by Wilken, the 6-2 senior, who went over 2,000 points and became Central’s all-time leading scorer (boys or girls), late in the season, the Cougars won the Highland Tournament and placed second in the Mascoutah Holiday Tournament.

A first-team all-state selection last season, Wilken leads the Cougars in scoring at 17 points per game and has been a force on the backboards and on the defensive end of the court. Wilken said she thinks the Cougars are ready for another good postseason.

“Losing Alicia (Book) hurt because she played so well last year and is still a big part of this basketball program,’’ Wilken said after breaking the Cougars scoring records. “:But we’ve had some others step up. Grace (Yaunches), Faye (Meissner), Breanne (Jansen) and Kaylee (Schrand), they’ve all picked up their games. It’s been a team effort.’’

Yaunches, one of the top ‘big game’ players in the metro-east has also had a good senior season, while Meissner, only a sophomore, has also been a key on both ends of the floor.

“Faye has been bothered by the shin splits and the only thing that really helps is to rest and so that’s what we did against Belleville East,” Rueter said. “She’s not going to be 100 percent with them, but we want her to be ready for next (this) week as best as she can.

“But I saw some good things the other night. Grace hit some shots, Breanne hit some shots and so did Abby Ratermann. If we’re going to be successful we have to be effective from the perimeter and we were on Thursday. I also thought Kaylee (Schrand) and Breanna (Beckmann) did some good things.”

But are the Cougars ready for another lengthy postseason run?

“We’ve got to get healthy,” Rueter said. “But on the court I like what I see. We’re doing some good things right now.

“I think the kids know what they have in front of them and they are excited and ready for the next few weeks.”

This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Top-ranked Central hopeful of another long postseason run."