Lady Bulldogs continue winning ways

In 2002, the Centennial High School girls basketball team apparently had no intentions of ever letting go after it derailed a 21-year streak of state championships that went to Northern Nevada teams.

The Lady Bulldogs beat Reno, 51-45, on Feb. 26 at the Orleans Arena for their fourth straight NIAA title as Sierra Chambers scored 14 points.

After breezing through the regular season, the Lady Bulldogs (32-2), trounced Clark, 102-44, on Feb. 14 in the Sunset Region quarterfinals. The Bulldogs then topped Palo Verde, 98-34, in the semifinals, setting up a showdown with Bishop Gorman (29-2).

Centennial was upset in the Sunset title game by the Lady Gaels, 60-54, as sophomore guard Italee Lucas suffered a strained tendon in her left foot in the contest.

With the loss to Gorman in the regional championship, Centennial needed to defeat Desert Pines -- the loser in the Sunrise title game -- to play itself back into the state tournament.

With Lucas still recovering from her injury, Centennial ousted the Jaguars, 104-68, to advance to the state playoffs.

In the state semifinals on Feb. 24 at the Orleans Arena, Centennial advanced to the title tilt after downing Coronado, 76-49, as senior Whitley Cox set the pace. She scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

The Bulldogs then met and defeated the top-seed from the north, Reno, in the championship to capture their fourth straight state title.

In winning the title this season, Centennial broke several scoring records along the way, including topping the old girls scoring mark of 2,290 points in a season set by Mineral County in 2000, as well as the boys mark of 2,513 set by Bishop Manogue.

The Bulldogs also set a single-game scoring record on Dec. 14 when they beat Cimarron-Memorial, 112-28.

Centennial, which has still never lost a league game and has only lost two straight games once in the program's history, gained national attention. The team was ranked No. 24 in the nation and No. 4 in the West by USA Today at press time.

All five of coach Karen Weitz's seniors signed letters of intent to attend Division 1 schools.

Ashley Blake (Cal-State Northridge), Chambers (St. Mary's), Jordyn Bowen (Idaho State), Whitney Price (Colorado State-Pueblo) and Whitley Cox (Southern Idaho) all will stay in the west and will likely have big impacts at the schools they have chosen to attend.

Helping the five seniors and Lucas bring their fourth title back to Centennial were juniors Kristina Kline and Sunike Bullen, sophomore Lisa Bernau and freshman Raven Hicks. Assisting Weitz on the bench were Dana Massengale and Carminda Ranches.

Centennial's girls basketball program, which has been coached by Weitz all six of its years, is now 181-10 since the school opened its doors back in 1999.