By PATRICK MEEHAN, Centenary Sports Information Director
Basketball season is over at Centenary but as temperatures finally rise, there’s lots of sports action to enjoy – including home baseball this evening at Shehee Stadium — and several local high school products are playing prominent roles.
GYMNASTICS: The Ladies posted a season-high team score of 189.00 at home on Saturday in a Midwest Independent Conference dual meet against the Texas Woman’s University Pioneers and recorded season highs on both bars (47.800) and beam (46.650).
Junior Claire Flores is this week’s recipient of the Coaches’ Choice Award, the MIC announced on Wednesday. Flores earned one of the four individual honors that the conference chooses on a weekly basis and received it for the first time in her career. She is the fourth Centenary gymnast to win the award this season. Flores scored a season and career-high 9.775 on bars on Saturday at home against TWU to earn a tie for second place.
Centenary is back on the road this weekend to face host Illinois State, Central Michigan, and Bowling Green in a quad meet in Normal, Ill.
LACROSSE: Centenary won its second in a row on Sunday dumping the Huntingdon Hawks 17-9 in Montgomery, Ala.
The Gents (2-1) completed a perfect weekend after recording a 13-10 win on Friday against LaGrange (Ga.) College.
Freshman Gamble Harvill, an Airline product, scored a game-high five goals to lead the Centenary offense, senior Jordan Cook scored three, and sophomore Ethan Hewett, a Parkway graduate, sophomore Gibson Harvill (Captain Shreve) and senior G’Colby Spivey each scored two. Senior Dylan Miller (Captain Shreve) went the distance in goal for the Gents and made 13 saves.
Centenary will return to action on March 5 at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.
BASEBALL: The Diamond Gents split a SCAC doubleheader on Monday evening with the Austin College ‘Roos, winning 12-1 and falling 9-3 in the nightcap at Baker Field in Sherman, Texas. Centenary (4-5, 2-4 SCAC) won the series over the ‘Roos (1-8, 1-5 SCAC) after an 18-6 romp in the series opener on Saturday.
The Diamond Gents take a break from league play to host Vermont State Castleton today at home at 6 p.m. and then return to conference action this weekend at home versus St. Thomas with a single game on Friday at 6 p.m. and a pair Saturday at 1 and 4 p.m.
SOFTBALL: The Ladies were swept by the visiting St. Thomas Celts in a conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
The Ladies (2-4, 0-2 SCAC) fell 6-1, 10-2 to the Celts (6-3, 5-0 SCAC). The series finale was rained out on Sunday and a makeup date is TBD.
Centenary will be on the road this weekend in SCAC play to face the University of the Ozarks Eagles. The series begins on Friday with a doubleheader at 4 and 6 p.m. and concludes on Saturday with a single game at noon.
STUNT: The team was tested over the weekend in the Southern Nazarene Tournament as the Ladies played several tough matches inside the Sawyer Center.
In four matches, the Ladies fought hard to improve their performances and accomplish several goals which Centenary head coach Kaylee King considered “non-scoreboard wins” for the first-year program.
Centenary’s challenging schedule includes a mix of junior colleges, NAIA, and teams from all three NCAA divisions. The Ladies’ season is set to conclude on March 16.
MEN’S GOLF: Centenary finished 10th at the Space City Classic on Tuesday as the Gents opened their spring season in the event held at Gus Wortham Park Golf Course in Houston. Senior Andrew Bennett, an Airline product, led the way for the Gents as he shot a 9-over par 222 to finish 17th.
Centenary will return to action in the FST Pinecrest Invitational March 10-11 in Longview.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: The Ladies capped their season last weekend on the road with Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference losses at Austin College and the University of Dallas. Centenary finished 2-22 overall and 1-15 in SCAC play but one of the bright spots of the season was the play of freshman Shyanne Phillips.
Phillips closed her sensational rookie season with a pair of double-doubles last weekend and with her 14 rebounds in each game, she became the all-time program single-season leader in rebounding average (12.0, 14th this season in NCAA Division III). In 29 seasons of the program’s existence, Phillips stands alone above all other players whether Division I or Division III in the category.
Phillips reached double figures 14 times this season, had 13 double-doubles (20th nationally), and recorded 14 double-digit rebounding performances. She is the second-leading rebounder in the conference and ranks in the top 10 in scoring (14.1 PPG) and was the Ladies’ season leader in both categories.
She scored 20+ points three times, shot 43.6 percent from the floor, 73.3 percent from the free-throw line, and was in the top 15 in the conference in blocked shots, shooting aim from the field and free throw line.
Phillips’ 277 rebounds are the second-most in by a Centenary player in the Division III era (2012-present) and she scored 324 points to rank 10th in the program’s D3 era.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: The Gents’ season ended with an 88-68 loss to the Dallas Crusaders on Saturday evening in league play in Irving, Texas. The Gents finished 6-19 overall and 4-12 in SCAC play.
The Gents, the defending conference tournament champions, were picked fourth in the SCAC preseason poll but uncharacteristically struggled and finished the season on an 11-game losing streak and will miss the SCAC Tournament for the first time in the D3 era. Centenary suffered its first losing season under eighth-year head coach Chris Dorsey.
Contact Patrick at pmeehan@centenary.edu