Balanced Centennial gets past Valley View, Long
Centennial’s Kersen Marshall. right, and Valley View’s Tiana Washington look at the ball during Thursday’s playoff game.
CORONA >> Valley View’s Ari Long sank a free throw and exited the game to applause from the entire gymnasium with 10.4 seconds left on the clock.
Long, a 6-foot senior guard who has signed with Washington, delivered another sensational performance Thursday evening, as she scored 52 points to finish with 3,084 career points. Long scored 21 of those points during the fourth quarter to keep any hopes of a comeback alive for the Eagles.
Centennial’s depth proved too much for the Eagles, however. Aniyah Offutt scored 20 points and Karsen Marshall added 19 more to lead a balanced scoring attack for Centennial, which walked away with an 82-66 victory in a CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener.
Sydni Summers and Morgan
Hawkins each finished with 13 points for the Huskies (20-9), who will travel to Oaks Christian (18-6) on Saturday.
“If we get around 15 points from all of our starters, not too many teams are going to be able to beat us,” Centennial interim coach Clifton Knox said. “We know that having that kind of balance has led to a lot of success, so we’re trying to get everyone involved.”
The offensive portion of the equation was the easy part for the Huskies on Thursday night. How to defend Long proved a much bigger problem.
“You just have to try to make it tough on her,” Knox said. “She’s going to get hers, but you have to make her work hard for everything.”
Long made 17 of 38 shots from the field, including 7 of 17 from behind the arc. She also made 11 of 15 attempts at the free-throw line. Long’s point total increased each quarter, as she went from eight points in the opening quarter to 11, 12 and 21 in subsequent periods.
Outside of Long, however, Valley View (19-10) struggled offensively, as the rest of the team combined to make only 5 of 29 from the field.
Centennial had a 12-10 advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the first period, but the Huskies closed out that quarter with a 14-0 run to extend their lead to double digits. Offutt scored 11 in the quarter, and Gabrielle Robinson added eight points.
Centennial also dominated in the rebounding department, finishing with a 54-38 edge in that category. Marshall, Offutt and Robinson each finished with nine rebounds to lead the Huskies.
Emma Perez had seven points and seven rebounds for Valley View. Long also had a game-high 14 rebounds.
Long closed her career with a phenomenal run, averaging 48.4 points per game over the final seven games and ending her final season with a 35.2 scoring average. She finished this season with 1,021 points and joined Cheryl Miller (Riverside Poly) and Chloe Briggs (Ontario Christian) as the only Inland players to score at least 1,000 points in one season. Briggs, who will be Long’s teammate at Washington next season, was in attendance Thursday. Briggs needs 75 more points to break Miller’s section record for career points (3,446).
“This has been a special four years,” a tearful Long said after the game. “I had the chance to play for my mom (Leigh Ann) and with my sister (sophomore guard Mason) . ... I grew up playing with all of these girls. We’re just a homegrown team over here at Valley View, and I wouldn’t want to be out there with anyone else.”