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'We executed': Centennial holds off Africentric to win City League girls basketball title
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- 'We executed': Centennial holds off Africentric to win City League girls basketball title
A City League girls basketball championship game largely played as an exchange of runs ended with Centennial leaning on its defense to make history.
The Stars missed their first seven shots and committed five turnovers in the first five minutes Saturday to fall behind nine-time defending champion Africentric 6-0.
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They then used an 18-6 run to take the lead, gave up a 19-2 run to trail by as many as nine points and forged ahead for good on the strength of a 12-0 third-quarter run before holding off the Nubians 52-47 at Mifflin to capture their first City title.
It was a far cry from last year's City final, when Africentric – which went on to win its second consecutive Division III state title – invoked a running clock in an 81-48 rout .
"Ever since then, we've just worked and worked and tried to get back here," Centennial sophomore guard Kennedy Houston said. "We had to lock in mentally. That was the toughest part. We could make all the plays, but if we had a weak mind, we weren't going to finish.
"Basketball is all about runs, and we executed."
Centennial's Kennedy Houston cuts the net as she and her teammates celebrate their City League title Saturday at Mifflin.
A game-high 25 points from Houston, 13 from senior guard Kayla Houston and nine from senior forward Aza Corbett powered Centennial (16-1) in front of a standing room-only crowd.
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The Stars, who went 12-0 in the North Division, handed Africentric (15-7) its first loss to a City League team in 143 games dating to Jan. 23, 2015.
No North team had won the City championship since Northland in 2012.
"It's all about withstanding the punch, and we didn't do that initially, but we got better," Centennial coach Ernest Bell said. "We had to challenge each other at halftime and fix it if we were going to get out with a win. Defense has been our calling card all year. We just had to be us."
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Centennial girls basketball coach Ernest Bell raises the City League championship trophy after Saturday's 52-47 win over Africentric at Mifflin.
Junior guard Jeniya Bowers' 11 points and 10 from junior forward Jae'Veyonna Brown led Africentric. The Nubians trailed 41-35 after three quarters and got within two at 49-47 on a Bowers 3-pointer with 1:50 left, but they missed their final four shots from the field.
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Centennial guard Jayla Benjamin sealed the win with two free throws with 2.5 seconds left.
"We really worked on denying their bigs and closing out on their shooters, limiting their shots so we could produce our own points," Corbett said. "I tried to locate (Brown) at all times, keep one eye on the ball and one hand on her jersey. My biggest worry was they'd lob the ball over my head and I wouldn't be there, but I think I did a good job and denied her in the post."
Jeniya Bowers and Africentric play Creston Norwayne in a Division V state semifinal Saturday at Mansfield Senior.
Africentric fell short of its 17th City title in 20 years.
"We just left too much on the table," Nubians coach Janicia Anderson said. "A couple more possessions go our way and we fight harder for certain things, we put ourselves in a position (to win). It's never a loss, always a lesson."
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Saturday, that applied to both teams.
"Last year, it was all a blur," Corbett said. "We're not the same team we were. We showed up today. Last year, we were underprepared and I think we overestimated ourselves a bit.
"Today, we were down and came back even stronger. That was the difference."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA: Centennial basketball wins first Columbus City League title
