Just because the Centennial Centaurs missed the latest rankings heading into their annual top-drawer Top-10 Shootout next week doesn't mean they're going to settle for being shutout.
In fact, the Cents could well be a sleeper team as hosts of the prestigious 16-team senior girls high school basketball tournament, which runs Jan. 12-14 at their twin gym on Poirier Street.
The Cents are coming off a standout performance at last week's Douglas Winter Classic, in which they rattled off three straight victories and flew to first place in the four-team round robin. In the process, they knocked off the host New Westminster Hyacks -- ranked No. 8 in the B.C. AAA poll -- by a 73-66 count Wednesday, then handled Abbotsford's W.J. Mouat Hawks 58-52 and the MEI Eagles of Clearbrook 63-46 on Thursday and Friday respectively.
"Our main goal is to be as competitive as possible," Centaurs head coach Rob Sollero said of his team's mission heading into the Shootout. "We are coming off a really good tournament [and] I'm hoping we carry the success we had into our tournament. We really need contributions from all of our players to be successful. We will also need some secondary scoring."
The Centaurs boast a wealth of experience, with post Shayna Litman leading a pack of four Grade 12 players by averaging 25 points-plus thus far this campaign. Other go-to seniors on the Cents include point guard Shanice Fuoco-Guy, her athletic backcourt mate Olivia Aguiar and six-foot-two forward Nicole Medic.
The Shootout competition will be fierce, however, with the top 10-ranked B.C. AAA teams competing, including the No. 1 Riverside Rapids.
"There are a lot of contenders this year," Sollero said. "Right now, Riverside is the team to beat. They have a lot of experience and play great team basketball."
Rounding out the main opposition for the Cents at the Shootout are the No. 2 Oak Bay Breakers of Victoria, the No. 3 Handsworth Royals of North Vancouver, the No. 4 Brookswood Bobcats of Langley and the No. 5 York House Tigers of Vancouver.
Don't count out the No. 6 South Kamloops Titans neither, Sollero warned, as the Interior squad started season atop the provincial poll. And the list goes on, and on, and on.
"South Kamloops will be looking to make a statement at our tournament," he said. "They have their whole team here and will be looking to regain their top ranking. York House features a great backcourt combo and will be challenging. Oak Bay is another very strong team [and] Brookswood also has a strong team that can contend. They are disciplined and can shoot the ball very well."
FREE THROWS: The Cents open tournament play 11:15 a.m. (Blue gym) Thursday versus Handsworth. Riverside meets the unranked Chilliwack Storm at 9:30 a.m. (Blue), while the other Tri-Cities competing team, the Gleneagle Talons, face North Vancouver's Argyle Pipers (Red) at 10 a.m. in a battle of the current co-No. 7 seeds in the province...Riverside head coach Paul Langford reported Monday that the Rapids' Tournament for Emily on Dec. 15-17 raised more than $6,000, with the money to be donated to BC Children's Hospital in the name of Nicole Eidsvyk.
